Ron Rael: Reactivating/Activating the BorderWall.

Water Infrastructure: collecting water and desert rain; creating a dam and fence.

"The Border Wall Project tries to prepare the world post the existence of the 'line'..... in hopes of creating a conceptual dematerialization." -- Ron Rael

By Cesar Murillo

Rascuache, a Spanish word meaning: poor, penniless, tacky, usually of/or relating to bad taste. A word used by Ron Rael to describe the typical aesthetics of homes, stores, and impoverished communities in Mexico; especially in border towns. Despite this negative connotation, the word observes a limited architecture that can potentially become something better; an improvised architecture that quickly ameliorates a problem on-hand.

Rael introduced the BorderWall presentation with a very particular project: an installed sculpture that creates a mirage in the middle of the desert of Marfa, Texas (image below). Prada Marfa (2005) resembles a store-front, but it is only a facade that tries to "converge between the convergent and nonconvergent" as Rael describes. What goes with what, what doesn't, and where? The facade becomes a criticism of what Prada might be, "luxury capitalism."

Ironically, the most basic building materials, adobe and mud-bricks were used for this construction and made reference to the West Texas desert-site and juxtaposed the usual glamor of Prada. And a photograph of glass, or "non-glass" was used to mimic the transparency of real glass. "This becomes a symbol of excess in the middle of nowhere...ridiculousness in the middle of nowhere...Prada Marfa makes reference to wealth... famous people's houses located in the middle of nowhere...the real versus the unreal," states Rael.

By artists Elmgreen and Dragset; Assistance of Ron Rael and Virginia San Fratello.

Prada Marfa is popularly described as "quirky," yet it is best described as satirical. His statements criticize the narrow/limited perspectives on how we approach social or political issues. Similarly, Rael describes the US-Mexico Border Wall spanning through 700 miles and costing 49 billion dollars per year on maintenance and security, as a ridiculous object in the middle of nowhere. This proposal addresses issues of National Security and provides solutions for water conservation, renewable energy, and social integration. "As a designer, I'm not protesting for, or against the wall..just embracing the wall for what it is, " Ron describes the wall as a migration inhibitor for animals, students, families that cross the border on a daily basis.


Social Infrastructure: Urban Park creates ramps for walking or sports. Various hot spots promote social integration, like libraries or theaters---allowing people to be on either sides of the wall.

Rael described the various design proposals, starting with the Water Infrastructure (most-top image). Located in the city of Nogales, this fence would act as a dam and actually block people from moving in-and-out a great portion of the wall. Along the fence, various programs would encourage gatherings. For instance, theater spaces for binational sports or musical performances, or even linear water parks. Further, this water-solution-wall would include a waste water treatment plant to create a linear path dealing with chemical runoff, including: flow of sewage, heavy materials, and diseases. The same water would integrate solar energy, or photovoltaic panels to create shelters with running water for both families and animals.

"What I seek to convey is the historic truth that the United States as a nation has at all times maintained clear, definite opposition, to any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient Chinese wall while the procession of civilization went past. Today, thinking of our children and of their children, we oppose enforced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the Americas."

Ron Rael concluded his lecture with the above quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address. Ron addressed the need to look beyond the wall--to not take political sides, but instead embrace the wall and understand the ridiculousness of his project itself, and the existence of a wall in the middle of nowhere.




Burrito Wall: Creates a comical/satirical solution allowing those on the Mexico-side to make and sell local food for people on the US-side.

Similar approaches (not pictured) include: The Communion Wall- allowing people to engage in mass or Catholic ritual of holy communion; The Xylophone Wall- allowing people to play music on both sides of the wall.

All approaches try to bring out the most positive aspects of the current issues by increasing social interaction and making the wall less visible.











More about the Border Wall Project and Ron Rael ::: www.rael-sanfratello.com





Ron Rael is an architect, author, and Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Master's of Architecture at Columbia and also taught at the University of Arizona. Rael's research examines the convergence of digital, industrial, and non industrial approaches to making architecture.

He is the author of "Earth Architecture," examining the contemporary history of the oldest and most widely used building material on the planet-- dirt. Our conversation with CASA discusses different design proposals that examine different strategies for the US-Mexico border wall.

Carlos Rodriguez: A Story from Barrio Logan

Teddy Cruz: The Formal-Informal,learning from Border Cities

By Cesar Murillo

Locked out from our scheduled lecture room on a Saturday morning, we gathered, instead, around a corner-table of the Wurster Hall lobby. Using a nearby board as  projector, a thread of power-cords to provide energy--the setting for Teddy Cruz's presentation was not as formal as expected. We adapted to the needs and space, while improvising our gathering space in the middle of a hallway and making use of everything. Something similar to what Teddy Cruz might do, improvising/creating  architecture that addresss the issues and politics of the border cities between San Diego and Mexico.

Ironically, the informal setting created an informal lecture; a more-conversation with Guatemalan-born architect and founding principal of Estudio Teddy Cruz in San Diego. Cruz introduced his own dissatisfaction for architecture's high and blind value of aesthetics. Working in Downtown San Diego has allowed him to be close to neighborhoods trapped in the extremes of wealth and poverty. Like most designers, Cruz wishes that a "sexy building"(as he called it) could transform these cities of waste-and-recycling."I had to make a detour to set the ground for this type of architecture by providing the research to mobilize new technologies for these areas," he realized. Cruz explained that the new urbanism triggered by corporations becomes the greatest threat to our cities. Their lack of support for small communities creates an architecture only about scale, facade, or style. "New urban development has become superfluous to what use to make the fabrics of a city interesting," says Cruz.

"There's a seduction for the shanty towns, a seduction for the informal as a topic," Cruz described his work as a "re-collage" of materials. His main objective is to create graphics that convey issues beyond the scope of his architecture; reflecting political ideas, or perhaps issues of homeland security. The images illustrate laboratories; the creation of individual units into systems. "What is behind the drama of these images?" he asks.

Humorously, Cruz recognizes himself as a "Cultural Pimp," as he hopes to become a translator of procedures by producing systems of designs of collaboration, and designs for economic and political trends configured into architectural spaces.

"How do we camouflage housing economies? How do we control political apathy? How can we engage social activism?" Cruz knows that these complexities must be understood for designers to reactivate cities. "In expanding our modes of practice, we can rebuild ways of thinking.." he stated. Teddy understands that each city has different issues and requires specialized research, but unfortunately research becomes marginalized in poor cities like San Isidro. Research is taken for granted, as it requires time and does not create the immediate results of sociopolitical change that the Border population might expect. People then become easily amused and content by the creation of a lavish building that will visually mimic their culture.


His work becomes a collection of materials, a recycling of uses, a re-collage of images that speak of the greater political and socioeconomic issues that should be addressed by designers.



In building cities for Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, or Latinos, the debate of aesthetics and style always emerges. When entering certain neighborhoods, the public expects a packaging of identity through a said-style. "People want to see a Costco wrapped with an Aztec temple or Spanish colonial facade," Cruz admits. Innovation in some communities becomes a struggle, as people want to perpetuate stereotypes and create icons around their cultures.



"Let's not talk about style... We should ask: what does a facade do, not what does it look like?" Teddy believes that there exists a tension between style-image and procedures created by Latino designers. He asks that designers dwell deeper to find metaphoric relationships by investigating contradictions. "Rather than an object, create space..only certain cities need an iconic building--others require transitional or gathering spaces," Cruz battles against the iconography represented in Latino culture.

"We need a negotiation between the formal and informal..a stitching of systems. The trash of the suburbs can become the building material for new cities," he explained. "Neighborhoods should become a site of production and display... and we can only do this by acknowledging the unrecognizable...the voids." Finally, Teddy Cruz recognized that only architects can be the facilitators to provide recognition of these social gaps. "Filling in the social voids will create density--and density means people and neighborhoods working in collaboration," he understands that only as a whole can we enable change and take on the challenges created by sociopolitical systems that will probably take a long time to instill change.




Cruz has been committed to advancing architectural and urban planning projects that address the global, political, and social problems existing in the cities like Tijuana and San Diego. Cruz is known for his articles and research that inspire a practice and theory emerging from the singularities of these impoverished and bicultural cities. He is part of the Visual Arts Department at UC San Diego, recipient of a Rome Prize, a P/A Award, the Robert Taylor Teaching Award from the ACSA, and numerous AIA Honor Awards.

Luis Barragan mirrors a modern past, but not the present.

By: Cesar Murillo

"Mexican politicians and educators should follow in the footsteps of those like Barragan who employ our popular tradition with intelligence.. (for) to be truly modern we must first come to terms with our tradition, " a tradition that Nobel laureate Octavio Paz recognized in the work of architect Luis Barragan. By the late 1950s, Barragan's main focus was not the revival of traditional forms, nor the transmission of a prehispanic past. Instead he wanted to create an ambiance, a reflection of himself as a space and an incidental representation of a true Mexican identity. His work lacked unequivocal symbols of Mexican tradition; as an alternative, he incorporated his learning of European and American modernism to create an architecture that identifies itself with a specific folklore. Accordingly, works like the Jardines del Pedregal allowed him to address the simple aesthetics and meanings of modernism to create a form of Critical Regionalism. Although Barragan's modernism reintroduces and innovates upon a past of traditions to create an unprecedented architectural identity for modern Mexico, works like El Pedregal also proved to be high-end projects that reflected only the values of the elite, disregarding the greater population and not entirely representing the true context of his people successfully.

Episodes throughout El Pedregal explicitly create Critical Regionalism that uses the preexisiting nature and history to create a fusion with the modern architecture. This nexus is not established by copying older styles or decorations of Mexico, but instead by using folklore and ideas to create an experience and give new meaning to a space that can tie in with its regional people. Luis Barragan makes a unique display of postmodern thought that takes into consideration the past and traditions, but forgets to include the majority of the current people and processes that he hoped to represent. Instead, Barragan creates a lavish display of modern architecture and pretensious garden spaces that are difficult for the common person to understand. Critics like Henri Lefebvre argued that modernism in its whole sense could not harbor the everyday of the common folk. "A rejection of avant-garde escapism, pretension, and heroicism in favor of a more sensitive engagement with people's everyday environments and lives is actually needed." Lefebvre, similar to other Postmodernist critics, rejected Modernism in all social aspects aspects because its rigid order did not engage with individual needs and processes. Instead, the monotomy of modern architecture created a template that should be re-used over and over, despite any other individual, cultural, or topographic element. The houses created in El Pedregal were in a sense more modern than what Barragan's postmodern style hoped to achieve. These simple and linear elements created a rigid prototype similar to the bureaucratic systems regulating the order of the social everyday in modernism. Barragan creates uniformity in the exterior design of his houses and inevitably produces a standard of living for this wealthy class of estate owners.

Luis Barragan was uncritical about the population he hoped to represent through his critical regionalism. He was moved by economic gain and fame, yet created an architecture that was not there before him., Barragan has given Mexico a chance to be part of the 21st century's modern movement and has merely begun and architectural revolution for Latin America. Whether or not his works can be seen as true and complete Critical Regionalism, architects and critics should move beyond that point and rather focus to direct his work and ideas into a more powerful scheme. Works like El Pedregal are only the beginning of a form of Critical Regionalism that can be further exploited. By learning from his methods of discretely reflecting upon the past and oneself to create a modern scheme of nostalgia, memory, and mysticism, we will be able to reach out to the heart of the present. The present should not be about making aesthetics for the sake of luxury or beauty for an elite group, but instead to create aesthetics that can tell not only a past or a story, but instead the larger context of social issues that affect us the most. Barragan's Critical Regionalism can become more critical if we learn to incorporate the everyday, not only for Mexico, but for the ever-so-changing identities and issues rising in this new decade for immigrants, Chicanos, and all Latinos, alike.

Rogelio Hernandez on the creation of CASA.

By Cesar Murillo

A house without a toilet in the slums of San Isidro in Tijuana; growing up with none of the comforts he has today--"Roy" Rogelio Hernandez introduced his path from zero to hero.

Beginning in 1972 along with a small group of Chicano student designers: Anne Cervantes, Carlos Rodriguez, Oswaldo Lopez; Roy helped establish the Community Design Outreach Program with a mission to increase the recruitment of Chicanos in the College of Environmental Design (CED); as well as offering design services to Latino and low-income communities of color in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Roy explained his role in Latino activist movements in painting the CASA mural titled 'Adeltante y Nunca Pa'tras, Huelga de Estudiantes' on the fifth floor of Wurster Hall in 1977 which was painted over in the late 1980s. As well as playing a role in the creation of RAZA Day, the first successful recruitment efforts advocating Latinos for higher education done at a university--later adopted by other schools in the nation. Rogelio designed the first three Raza Day posters in '76, '77, and '78, and also collaborated with CASA to provide very popular seminars at CED on the study of architecture and community design. Finally, Hernandez helped greet highschool students with an incredible slideshow soundtrack--'War's LowRider'--produced by Carlos Rodriguez and Oswaldo Lopez----as well as organizing 'pachangas' as fundraisers to raise money for community and non-profit organizations in the Bay Area.

In sharing his work experience, he described his interest for pursing a multidisciplinary career. He started his work in designing different building-types to specialize in different aspects of building construction, but he moved on to pursue a career in digital software. "Firms that are different have better and more chances of surviving recessions," Roy suggests. He told the story of how he trained himself to learn AutoCad and introduce it's use for architecture design for his firm and was then hired to train others in firms nation-wide. Since then, Roy has worked with companies like IBM to become more involved in learning and expanding the use of different software in fields outside of architecture.

mi casa es tu casa: since 1973

The image above is a mural created by CASA members in the 5th floor lobby of Wurster Hall in the early 1970s. The association was founded upon ideas of reform and activism of that era---- in 2011, a spec of the mural remains on the left door--- a spec remains, but enough to instill the spirit of CASA.

David Diaz: "Latinos are already sustainable"

By Cesar Murillo

David Diaz presented the role of Latinos in the urban setting, the role of institutions like 'el barrio'--these 'special' neighborhoods that organize in a unique-but-mundane way in big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. These neighborhoods are notoriously linked to high levels of poverty, gangs, drugs, violence, and happily known for children playing about the streets, families hanging out in the patios, street vendors, parks of musicians and holiday parties; perhaps known as 'the ghetto' or 'the hood.' Nevertheless, these are the streets where most Latino families are created; a 'home' for many of us.

David Diaz introduced the discussion with a narrative of his Southern Californian youth, "As a carpenter's son... a professional, in city government, the political universe; and an academic, attending a racist urban planning program in the 1970's (UC Berkeley) and a somewhat progressive program in the late 1980s (UCLA). " (Diaz, 'Barrio Urbanism')

As part of our audience, Anne Cervantes--architect, community activist, and also CASA alumna, shared the racial differences that existed at the College of Environmental Design during the early 1970's. Diaz agreed that the role of all cities is to create a more sustainable one. Despite the location or demographics, making good use of our resources is an important value for the future.

Humorously, Diaz thinks that Latinos have 'been raised' to be sustainable. He says that Latinos know how to live tightly, shop locally, recycle, walk, use public transit, and engage in social/outdoor recreational activities. Diaz says, "Latinos are already sustainable,"---ironically, Latinos have been forced to consider affordability in their way of living and learned to make good use of their resources for survival in the urban setting; but really, with what life-style should you approach a big city? What should be our role in making our cities (especially LA and SF) more sustainable in the next generations?

Francisco Pardo: Towards a New Mexican Architecture.

Francisco Pardo is co-founder of At103 in Mexico D.F. and also a visiting professor this semester, Fall 2010. Prior to establishing his own firm, he worked for ChoSlade Architecture in New York City and for TEN Arquitectos in Mexico City and New York. He has a Master's of Architecture from Columbia University and a Construction Direction Degree from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain) and Anahuac University (Mexico). He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Pratt Institute in New York, the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and the Universidad Anáhuac. Currently, he is the leading architecture professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.


By Cesar Murillo

In our conversation led by Francisco Pardo, he introduced a neighborhood redesign for an international competition. The design included the restoration of existing buildings in the poorest communities of Mexico D.F. These building-types are commonly known as a 'Vecindad'--a building containing several (often low-income oriented) housing units. Initially, as a form of housing created through the subdivision of vacated elite housing in historic parts of Mexican cities, where rooms around a central patio allow families to share facilities (such as lavatories and/or kitchens) with other tenants.


[typical vecindad type in Mexico D.F.]

The study explored the possibilities of adding levels to create skyscrapers on the existing structures. As a way to revitalize these parts of D.F., the vecindades would integrate commercial and living spaces. Thus the creation of new vehiclular and pedestrain transit, and even street vendors, would help promote a new sense of security--as the residences would become vigilantes, or 'street-watchers'--as Pardo called them. This project addresses the 'social responsibility' of Pardo's architecture to the sometimes-forgotten communities of Mexico. Similar to the ideas of David Diaz's Barrio Urbanism, Pardo concluded that these communities are incidentally sustainable. These people share common spaces in form of patios-acknowledging a traditional Spanish typology of form. The patio becomes the central space of community and interaction among residences. As integrating the forgotten neighborhoods of one of the biggest cities in the world, Pardo hopes to one day see more projects like 'La Nueva' Vecindad in urban habitats. Pardo explained that the types of projects and design values that he advocates create the 'Modern Mexican' architecture. "It's not about aesthetic..there is no real Mexican aesthetic," Pardo acknowledged. "Why do we need one? ...who decides what Mexican looks like?" he concluded.


[other works by at103, check out their site: http://www.at103.net/]

Firm Tour: GENSLER

Paz Gutierrez: Resourcing Latin American Architecture.

by Cesar Murillo

Paz Gutierrez, Chilean architect and architecture professor at UC Berkeley, founder of BIOMS: an interdisciplinary research initiative intersecting architecture and bio-engineering with principles of design and bio-physics, presented a discussion about her research and work as an
architect in Latin America and now professor in the US.

In this informal discussion, we hoped to discuss the differences between the Latin American VS. Western(American) approach to architecture, how one's background influences/shapes our
design values, how she combines the life of a woman and mother in the usually-male-dominated field.

Paz admits that the differences between US and Latin American architecture exist in the actual practice, rather than any said style. The rigidity of existing codes in our country. She believes that the specificity of these and the large-sized projects in the US create too many conflicts, as these become more difficult to handle and worsens communication among parties.

In South America, projects are not on the classification of high-end 'contemporary architecture'--yet have a closer relationship with the skill of laborers and smaller scale of towns. "There's a finer attention to details," says Paz.

US architecture does not have a defined aesthetic, for projects become a product of multiple backgrounds and identities. On the other hand, she uses the Spanish word 'sobrio'--(or sober, moderated) to define Latino work, "more exquisite, differences in taste...less cheesy and flashy."

Nonetheless, she concluded by stating that the US has more rigid rules for creating architecture, yet a stronger framework of leadership. Unfortunately, Paz recognizes that in Latin American countries like Chile, Peru, and Brazil, have very little funding. "We need new generations, new leaders who will fund these projects."


[check out more about Paz, http://www.bioms.info ]

Abel Morales: Reaching out + Teaching Design to Local Elementary School Students.

Abel Morales graduated from the Berkeley M.Arch program in 2006 and is designer/partner of TASK: A multi-disciplinary design studio. Additionally, he's worked closely with students--as a graduate student instructor for Structures at CED, and more recently in a summer design studio with local Bay Area middle schools: First Graduate. Abel shared his experiences as student--transitioning between his undergrad and graduate years, and what he has done since then. Along with CASA members Carla Arechar and Daniel Malagon, they discussed the challenges of reaching out to people at a young age.





[more about Abel, check it out: http://taskisdesign.com/]

Celebration of Life, Death, and, Art.

[para pintar lo que sigue]

By Cesar Murillo

No person shall live forever-- but the spirit of One, the essence of an era can be eternalized through the magic of a single painting; thus provoking our feelings, suggesting new dimensions, and inspiring new uses for people, buildings, cities, nations, and dreams. In celebration of the dead, CASA: Chicano/Latino Architecture Student Association acknowledges the lives of painters like Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, David Siqueiros, Jose Clemente Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, Andres de Santa Maria, and architect-painter Luis Barragán. We believe that painters are able to transform a canvass into an illustration of dreams, or any emotion. In this celebration, our altar depicts the paintings of the artists, because we want to remember them for their talent, their ideas, and perspectives of the world—rather than just as faces. Their work is important to us as architecture students for it allows us to see the world visually, and inspire us to create spaces, volumes, needed to create architecture. Similarly, by depicting Luis Barragán and the tools he might have used to produce his work, wood, paint, and brushes, we commemorate his life, and our current hopes as future designers/architects.

[what is dia de los muertos?]

by Eli Leonardo

Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) is an annual celebration dedicated to commemorating ancestors and loved ones now gone. It is a community focused event as it brings together families and friends. The celebration features ofrendas, or altars, as a way to respect, love, and commemorate those who have passed. Altars have marigolds, candels, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), and images, favorite foods, and drinks of those we are commemorating. There are many different ideas for altars. There are altars that commemorate people that made an impact in their lives whichcan include historical figures and/or family members. Some altars have themes with concepts such as the death of education to undocumented students. This year CASA celebrated the life and death of Latino Artists: Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera,

Step on Your Questions, Before They Step on You!

Fall Semester 2010.

Fall Semester 2010 CASA Officers:

Eli Leonardo- CoChair
Cesar Murillo-CoChair
Cecilia Cardenas-Activities Coordinator
Silvia Roberston-Activities Coordinator
Albert Orozco- Outreach
Leslie Valencia- Educational Awareness
Matt Mojica- Historian
Manuel Valdez-Treasurer
Jesus Barajas- Treasurer
Luis Ochoa- Secretary

[fundraisers]



// Raza Tuesdays at Sproul and fundraisers at Wurster.

[retreat]









Out in the wilderness! // Lake Chabot, Oakland.

[bowling]




// Albany Bowl


[nights-OUT]



// El Rancho

[banquet]