Undergraduate Thesis
Fall ‘14 + Spring ‘15
Due to rapid growth of the population, new developments are occurring on the outskirts of Guadalajara, Mexico. Historically the Spanish used the city as a space for urban experimentation, planning and implementing the cuadrìcula and its surrounding building types, creating what is today the historical center (Wagner, Box, Morehead, 2013, 41-43). After the Spanish, the city grew informally away from the formal structure. Today, although the ad-hoc developments continue to develop in the margins of the city, the identity of suburban spaces is changing. Some areas purposefully mimic the American approach to urban sprawl. Originally, the identity of the City of Guadalajara was heavily influenced by the Spanish in its founding. The native Tapatìos or Guadalajara residents developed the rest of the city based on the means they had available to build on the land and have modified the historical centers to their needs. Today, the American influence is
evident in the exurban fringes of the city, now growing quite rapidly. The informality created
by the Tapatìos in the city are unique to their identity. This thesis proposes to draw upon the informality of the TapatÍan culture in the form of residential and commercial program in the
confused suburbs of the city in order to create a contemporary and local sense of identity.

DESIGN STRATEGY

Due to the nature of the site, the planning of the area was prioritized. The site developments act as a response to the planning implemented by the Spanish and the Mesoamerican’s.  The Spanish implemented what they believed, was the best organization for the city. The cuadrìcula is still used, yet the building typologies are not used  for the original intention. The grid basis is consistent through most of the city. The organization works to an extent-depending on the programming of the system. Therefore, a grid system is implemented through the site on order to continue with the preference of the grid system. Existing site conditions influence the movement within the chosen site. Two access ways are extended to bridge the stadium side with the judicial side. This would ultimately create cross circulation from what exists today. Pedestrian traffic is very common, although there is much vehicular traffic. The current planning tries to incorporate pedestrian friendly areas. The programming development originated with the idea of incorporating the proposed market, residential, and public spaces. In developing the programming, the average ratios taken from the city centers were incorporated into the site. The layout of the programming is determined by usage and public and private access. The planning of the site is a criticism of the existing planning on the city, whether historic or a mimicry of the global suburb. Thus there are three systems that are developed, the intervention, an individual system, and a larger scale system. The systems that were developed do not act as a static method of planning but rather as an example of how these systems could be placed on the site to achieve a better organization adaptable to the Tapatìans. The first area, the Judicial City, mimics the global suburbs is not accessible by the everyday pedestrian. Because of this a structural system that works on the implemented grid is distributed within the campus to generate usage by everyone. Unlike the city centers where people settle within the surrounding spaces of the buildings, the judicial city will have spaces where informality could occur. The second system uses the structure from the first system to create a residential space allowing the housing units to be constructed when necessary. A mass with the basic necessities acts as the core in which the structure is added. The added structure can be enclosed creating rooms for the residences. The goal is to create residential spaces that are unique and adaptable to the owner. Lastly, the same structural system is enlarged to create a market space. This space attempts to incorporate aspects that are commonly seen in Mexican markets but adaptable to the user. Although the programming is not strictly proposed, the three systems incorporate the area types used in those programs. The three systems are a response to the existing and future method of Mexican planning.