Tlaloc: An Art + Design School For Mexico City That Examines The Relationship Between Architecture And The City | Masters Design Project

Site Context

The intervention site is located in One City Block, Chapultepec Avenue, in Mexico City. The project is set within a dense microcosm of neighborhoods in a vast metropolis, exploring how these communities exist side by side and how people move through them—along streets and sidewalks—as though the linear path of the street has been vertically folded onto the surrounding architecture.

Design Process

Storytelling holds deep significance in Mexican culture, making it essential to create a formal dialogue between a broad cultural narrative and the everyday experiences of city life. The architectural forms embody two contrasting cultural stories within Mexico City: first, the eye of the Aztec Rain God Tlaloc, fragmented and drifting as if dislodged from the crumbling mosaic of the Torre Insignia; second, a central parallelogram that captures these fragments, symbolically emerging from the enclosed loop of the city’s underground transit network.

Final Outcome

The parallelogram serves as a conceptual street or roadway, while the scattered pod-like forms—appearing as if fallen from the sky—represent the intimate, programmed spaces we enter when stepping off the street. To encourage maximum spatial and experiential diversity, the program is dispersed across the building: an office here, a small library there, a dormitory lounge, a café, and so on. These elements are distributed throughout the various levels and volumes.

The glass curtain wall enclosing the parallelogram brings in ample natural light and ventilation, while the pods begin to open at their edges, forming creases reminiscent of alleyways between the dense volumes. These slivers allow people to glimpse out through narrow passageways or down the central axis of the parallelogram—connecting visually to the larger cityscape of Mexico City.

At the heart of the concept is 24/7 functionality—the building is designed to remain active at all hours. This continuous use is made possible through shared spaces like studios, classrooms, and fabrication labs that are accessible to the broader community. A small café, for instance, might begin the day as a bakery, transition into a coffee shop, and transform into a cozy bar by night. This 24/7 concept is also expressed through integrated urban farming pop-ups that continue to grow even while the city sleeps. 

Visually, the parallelogram is rendered in green to suggest a subtle greenhouse aesthetic and to harmonize with the sage-colored mullions and steel commonly seen across Mexico City. Most of the building is lifted above the ground level to form an expansive public plaza, which features a subway entrance connected to the building’s core circulation and underground stairs.

Conclusion: Ultimately, the project reimagines the urban campus as a living, breathing extension of Mexico City—one that blurs the boundaries between public and private, day and night, architecture and infrastructure. Through layered storytelling, continuous use, and spatial diversity, the building becomes both a cultural vessel and an active participant in city life.

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]