Nueva Vivienda: New Housing Paradigms in Mexico

n the period following World War II, eminent Mexican architects such as Juan O’Gorman and Luis Barragán were pioneers in adapting a European-American narrative in housing design to their own cultural environment. Seven decades on, Mexico’s architects are more than ready to export their own knowledge and matured idiosyncrasies and to contribute to a global discourse that is aware of local cultural, environmental, and economic concerns. In recent years, Mexican architecture, and in particular housing design, has experienced a renaissance and gained unparalleled international attention, owing to the ideas and ambitions of a new generation of architects.

Nueva Vivienda features twenty-two outstanding housing projects in Mexico from the last ten years through images, floor plans, sections, and views, with scholarly essays providing the corresponding historical and theoretical background. Complemented with three conversations among architects, developers, and researchers, the book sheds light on the particular local context of these projects, highlighting their designers’ new ideas and how they contribute to rethinking housing typologies in Mexico today. Moreover, it also investigates how these concepts have already made their way to Europe, the United States, and beyond.