"We want students to be able to build — to go to a building or a plaza and be able to analyze what works and what doesn't. And we want them to work within the social context, in this case, of Tijuana."

"Tijuana is our laboratory," says Enrique González Silva, the school's founding academic director. "The idea of the program is that the students understand the reality of being an architect here." [...]

"The theory is very important. But we want students to be able to design and build." — latimes.com

The ruins of a 16th century church have emerged from the waters of a reservoir in Mexico.

The water level in the Nezahualcóyotl reservoir in Chiapas state has dropped by 25m (82ft) because of a drought in the area. The church, known as the Temple of Santiago or the Temple of Quechula, has been under nearly 100ft of water since 1966.

The church, which is believed to have been built by Spanish colonists, is 183ft long and 42ft wide, with a bell tower that rises 48ft above the ground. — the Guardian

A Mexican federal agency has denied the environmental permit to allow the construction of the $105m International Baroque Museum in Puebla, less than a month after the groundbreaking ceremony.

The project, designed by the Japanese architect and 2013 Pritzker Prize-winner Toyo Ito, was deemed “not applicable” by Semarnat’s (the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources) General Directorate of Environmental Impact and Risk. — theartnewspaper.com

A collaboration consisting of Foster + Partners, FR-EE (Fernando Romero Enterprise), and NACO (Netherlands Airport Consultants) won the international competition to design the new Mexico City International Airport in Mexico. The airport's design is surely aiming to set the standard for the airport of the future. Not only is the new structure expected to be one of the world's largest airports at 555,000 sq. meters, it also aims to be the world's most sustainable airport. — bustler.net

Ask almost any of the local architects in this Mexican border town and they will tell you Tijuana has become a hotbed of building activity.

The growing demand for designer homes, they say, is being driven primarily by Tijuana natives returning to the city...

Most of the developments in Tijuana are for upper-middle-class families ... but the spare designs and basic building materials, especially concrete, used by Mr. Medina and others make it possible for more residents to have designed homes. — nytimes.com

As a result of the violence, the local real estate market has bottomed out. Those who flee the city usually can’t sell their homes and businesses, so more and more buildings, including some of Tampico’s largest and most impressive ones, lie abandoned. Buildings that could easily survive for another century are mere empty shells, with huge trees growing through the roofs and out of the windows. Such levels of abandonment are rarely seen in the centre of a major city. — theguardian.com

“To me, this house is the ultimate modernity dream come true,” says Fernando Romero of the two-story, mid-century gem he calls home. “It is extremely flexible for all types of activities: for family, for socializing, for living.” Designed in 1955 by homegrown architect Francisco Artigas, the house is located in the leafy suburbs of Mexico City, adjacent to one of largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere, Bosque de Chapultepec. — nowness.com

Designed by the British architect David Chipperfield, the three-story building is a plain, compact block of light travertine, unornamented apart from a saw-tooth crest on top. It’s a no-nonsense, no-ego structure that seems to look inward rather than outward. — NYT

After passing to the widow of Barragán’s business partner, it was sold in 1994 to a wealthy Swiss couple, Rolf Fehlbaum, chairman of Vitra, the international furniture company and design museum, and the woman who was to become his wife, Federica Zanco, an architectural scholar. In the years since, Ms. Zanco has devoted her life to promoting Barragán’s legacy. But her determination to keep the archive at Vitra headquarters near Basel has rankled many in Mexico... — nytimes.com

We are excited to introduce CoArq's latest competition "New Dwelling Old Context", which launched on Aug. 19. New Dwelling Old Context is an international competition to revamp a vacant lot situated in the historical center of downtown Guadalajara in Mexico. — bustler.net

the 40-year-old architect has emerged as one of the country’s major creative voices, building an eclectic portfolio of work that includes a 10,000-square-foot neo-Brutalist palazzo, the master plan for an art-filled botanical garden and a spiritual refuge in the Jalisco Mountains. The projects vary wildly in attitude and style — NYT

Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, the architect who led many of Mexico’s landmark Modernist construction projects of the mid-20th century, including museums, the country’s largest sports stadium and the shrine that attracts its most important religious pilgrimage, died on Tuesday, his 94th birthday, in Mexico City. — nytimes.com

The Jeju City Council, Korean Institutes of Architects, Jeju People’s Artists Federation and other cultural organizations has argued that even if it is legally justified to take down this work, it would be a violent act that destroys an outstanding piece of art. — english.hani.co.kr

With yesterday’s inauguration, the Baluarte Bridge in Mexico is officially the Guinness World Record holder for the tallest cable-stayed bridge.

The massive infrastructure project consists of 152 steel suspenders supporting over 1100 meters of 20 meter wide roadway, with a central span of over 520 meters. Its four lanes are held up by two 400 meter towers – tall enough to house the Eiffel Tower – which bring the structure its impressive world record credentials. — constructiondigital.com