{"id":3937,"date":"2016-08-23T18:03:02","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T18:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.gsd.harvard.edu\/mci\/?p=3937"},"modified":"2026-08-23T18:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T18:30:15","slug":"2016-fellows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.gsd.harvard.edu\/mci\/2016-fellows\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 Fellows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2016 Fellows<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n

Semiotics of Urban Empowerment Through the Lens of Open Spaces\u00a0in Mexico City<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

Anna Falvello Tomas<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Going<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Today, open spaces in Mexico City increasingly divide along social and economic lines. For typical residents of the DF, the private domestic patio is vanishing amid overcrowding, while public spaces like the Zocalo face growing contestation and policing. The economic elite retain patios within private homes or access them through exclusive “public” spaces, as businesses turn away from the street toward patios reserved for those who can pay. Open spaces in the city are thus segregated by purchasing power rather than truly democratic. Our project examines the semiotics of the semi-public patio across varied uses, economic strata, ownerships, histories, and accessibilities, focusing not only on economically exclusive patios but also on those that empower less privileged communities. The patio, straddling public and private, becomes a lens for examining broader issues of open space in the DF.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Domestic Labor: The Invisible Paths<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

Jesica Bello<\/strong>| Master of Architecture in Urban Design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Rosenthal<\/strong> | Master of Architecture in Urban Design<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

The investigation situates domestic workers in Mexico City to illustrate imbalanced power structures, problematic mobility infrastructure amid rapid urban growth, and the resilience of these laborers. Through interviews and everyday urbanism, the project maps workers’ individual stories, residential zones, and daily city paths, connecting them to their families, dwellings, and labor networks, while examining how work formalization policy and transport networks affect their commutes and right to time. In collaboration with UN Women, ILSB, CACEH, SINACTTRAHO, UNAM, Mapat\u00f3n, and Aliada, the project also connects organizations empowering domestic workers, making visible their situation as transport users, city immigrants, and urban sprawl victims.
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Yucat\u00e1n Initiative<\/strong>: Informing decision-making\u00a0through mapping analysis of cultural\u00a0assets in the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

Alejandro Fern\u00e1ndez-Linares Garc\u00eda<\/strong>|\u00a0Master of Architecture<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Duffy<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master in Design Studies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arianna Gal\u00e1n<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture II<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Liao<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Landscape Architecture<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marysol Rivas Brito<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture II<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

This research aimed to develop a visual dictionary for the cities of the Yucat\u00e1n\u00a0Peninsula. The final product seeks to inform stakeholders about the existing built environment of the region as a supporting guide for future urban interventions.\u00a0\u00a0Students from Harvard GSD and the Universidad Marista conducted research and gathered data over 5 weeks on a dozen selected cities, developing and feeding a digital platform as well as a publication.\u00a0The project was also supported by the Bakt\u00fan Alliance (constituted by \u201cUniversidad Marista\u201d, \u201cINAH\u201d \u2013 National Institute of Anthropology and History \u2013 and \u201cTransformaci\u00f3n Arte y Educaci\u00f3n\u201d), by Infonavit and by UNESCO.\u00a0
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Holding It Together: Self-Provision and Institutional Management of Trash and Mobility Networks in Kanas\u00edn, Yucat\u00e1n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

Caroline Filice Smith <\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture in Urban Design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Schoen<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master in Urban Planning, Master of Landscape Architecture<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juan Santa Mar\u00eda <\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture in Urban Design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruben Segovia <\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Within a national context of rapid urbanization fueled by under-regulated social housing development and rural-urban migration, state-led liberalization and decentralization policies have created severe infrastructural service gaps across Mexico’s urban-periphery municipalities. Kanas\u00edn, the second fastest-growing and most densely populated urban center in Yucat\u00e1n, struggles with both rural-urban and intra-urban migration from increasingly unaffordable M\u00e9rida, making it a foundational case study for understanding service provision issues nationwide. Per the UN’s “\u00cdndice B\u00e1sico de Prosperidad Urbana,” Kanas\u00edn lacks the institutional capacity to fund infrastructural upgrades, creating gaps in trash management and mobility networks. This project examines institutional and citizen responses to these gaps, investigating the social and political repercussions of infrastructural insecurity.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2016 Fellows Semiotics of Urban Empowerment Through the Lens of Open Spaces\u00a0in Mexico City Anna Falvello Tomas\u00a0|\u00a0Master of Architecture John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":3960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-3937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mci"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2016 Fellows - Mexican Cities Initiative<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.gsd.harvard.edu\/mci\/2016-fellows\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2016 Fellows - 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