Design Workshop in Mérida, Mexico
New Urban Patterns Inspired by the Mayan Cosmovision of the Yucatán PeninsulaOver nine days, students from Tecnológico de Monterrey (TEC), the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY), Mexico, and Leiden University, Netherlands, developed a vision for new urban occupation patterns and a series of new “solar” typologies for the cities of Komchén, Caucel, and Kanasín. These designs were inspired by the pre-Hispanic Mayan worldview of land use.
I had the privilege of collaborating with an excellent coordination team composed of Prof. Rob Roggema (TEC) and architect Esteban Martínez Hernández (INTBAU, Cuba), under the general direction of Dr. Benjamin Vis, based at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
This renewed vision of urbanism, architecture, and landscape presents a compelling alternative for these communities, which are currently facing intense pressure from urban expansion. Additionally, it helps to recover and highlight the cultural value of the Mayan worldview. The workshop is part of the European project “Making Mérida’s Urban Landscape Viable: Adaptive Vernacular Land Use Patterns for Social-Ecological Living.”
