Emerging Voices 2019

In 2019, Ignacio Urquiza, Bernardo Quinzaños and CCA obtained the Emerging Voices recognition, which is awarded to eight architects or studios based in the United States of America, Canada or Mexico. The program seeks to highlight the distinctive voices of design with the ability to influence the field of architecture. The Emerging Voices awards have been considered one of the most prestigious in North American architecture.

Each year, the Architectural League of New York organizes a series of conferences with the winners of the prize. Ignacio and Bernardo talked about their ten years of career and their most outstanding projects. Yo can watch the video here.

Casa de Ángela y Juan

Several organizations helped communities affected by Mexico’s September 2017 earthquakes, such as Ocuilan in the State of Mexico. We participated in one of the reconstruction initiatives organized by Pienza Sostenible, to provide a new home for Ángela an Juan’s family.

The family plot has a central patio around which different public and private constructions have been developed, responding to the needs of its inhabitants. Four families live on the site, which includes some communal spaces such as the bathroom, the kitchen, the laundry area and the central courtyard. Ángela, Juan and their children were spread out in three separate rooms, a situation that affected the family dynamics. The proposal was for a private and compact space with bedrooms that could be adapted to their needs and stages of life, including the future growth of a fourth module. Likewise, an adjacent service tower contemplates a shared bathroom and shower for all the families that live on the site. The new construction links to the existing complex via an open, plant-filled courtyard, establishing a new, central space where the nuclear family can relax and also be in contact with their wider community.

 

Ocuilan de Arteaga, Estado de México, 2018

60 sqm

Arbolada Metepec

 

The intervention adapts to the gaps between the trees. As a result, the entire program is enclosed in a single, L-shaped body with the access road and parking. The rigorous order and the modulation make full use of the space and optimize occupation of the ground surface.

In total, 300 homes, together with their respective amenities, are grouped in a single, 18-story volume organized around three vertical circulation cores, in turn arranged around three patios. This configuration ensures all the different apartment types have views, and concentrates the plumbing installations at the entrance to the apartments, which is very efficient in terms of clustering the installations.

The housing types vary by floor area and number of bedrooms by adding half and full-sized modules; one module is equivalent to the space between bays. The design of the interior spaces restores the human scale, which risks becoming lost given the complex’s size and the module’s repetition.

 

Metepec, Estado de México, 2017

88,620 sqm