Mexico's Ciudad Juarez has one of the highest crime rates in the world, in stark contrast to El Paso, its neighbor across the US/Mexico border, which is one of the safest cities of its size in America. It is not surprising that more and more people are fleeing Ciudad Juarez for El Paso.

Because of this trend, I focused on celebrating Ciudad Juarez and its culture, developing this cooking school, market, restaurant, meeting space and library as a means of empowering its citizens to stay and to activate change. In contemplating the structure and qualities of a culture I thought about the building-block game of Jenga. In the beginning the Jenga structure is sound, but it changes during the game. Similarly, the inter-related nature of the "blocks" of a culture impact its constant evolution.

I then considered the interior the Jenga structure, and how each different configuration creates a different environment, especially when intersections and layering occur. I decided to introduce transparency and reflectivity, rather than using solid blocks, in order to enhance the impact of different configurations, and to provide a way for people to actually experience the space. Varying degrees of opacity and transparency relate to the public or private nature of a space. I have also created volumes within volumes in the space to imitate this experience without transparency.

Faculty for the project: Kevin Estrada & Cary Ng

Because of this trend, I focused on celebrating Ciudad Juarez and its culture, developing this cooking school, market, restaurant, meeting space and library as a means of empowering its citizens to stay and to activate change. In contemplating the structure and qualities of a culture I thought about the building-block game of Jenga. In the beginning the Jenga structure is sound, but it changes during the game. Similarly, the inter-related nature of the "blocks" of a culture impact its constant evolution.
I then considered the interior the Jenga structure, and how each different configuration creates a different environment, especially when intersections and layering occur. I decided to introduce transparency and reflectivity, rather than using solid blocks, in order to enhance the impact of different configurations, and to provide a way for people to actually experience the space. Varying degrees of opacity and transparency relate to the public or private nature of a space. I have also created volumes within volumes in the space to imitate this experience without transparency.

Faculty for the project: Kevin Estrada & Cary Ng