LEAP Laboratorio en Arquitectura Progresiva

This is a proposal for the re-use of an old cement factory in the Mexican Pacific. The factory stopped producing cement in the 1990s, and the village built alongside the factory suddenly lost its only means of economic growth. As a result, the village rapidly lost population, and only a few workers turned into fishers still live there. The project proposes a new public park for the villagers and new programs inside the old infrastructure of the cement factory: an eco-tourism hotel, living units for scientists and researchers, laboratories, a library, and an environmental research center. The main idea is to bring back life to the site taking advantage of the railroad to connect the new facilities to Mazatlán, México.

Adpprentice is a project to ease the transition between the academic life of architecture students into their professional life. Unfortunately, the rite of passage after architecture school is not easy. Recent graduates find themselves doing meaningless activities in architecture studios during the first years after graduation, disenchanted and wasting time.

Adpprentice is a bridge to help recent architecture graduates to gain real-life experience in architecture studios. It is a program that gives value again to the relationship between a master and his apprentice. It is through direct mentorship from recognized architects that apprentices will learn the craft of Architecture. At the end of the program, a certificate is issued both by Adpprentice and the host studio to the participant. In addition, the project’s credits are shared publicly with the participant. It is essential to mention that the projects done under the Adpprentice program are pro-bono and that these projects have a substantial social and environmental impact on their communities. The host studio proposed the projects in working-class or peripheral communities and donated them to local authorities for future implantation.