the city above the city competition: romero+santana's rooftop houses

as part of metsä wood’s the city above the city competition (plan B), architects carlos romero and bernardo santana present their ’a city’ proposal entry. as a goal, the project seeks to revitalize the urban architecture and satisfy housing demands in mexico city.

view from the back: hallway terraces

according to romero and santana, metsä wood‘s the city above the city competition offers an opportunity to re-imagine the way urban environments are built and lived in. therefore, mexico city is a good example to show how this challenge can be approached. spanning over 1,495 sq.km and ranking 12th most densely populated city in the world, the mexico city has a total of 20,230,000 inhabitants and a population density of 3,500 inhabitants/sq.km. nowadays the urban fabric witnesses a chaotic and unlimited growth, negatively impacting local mobility and services. this is mostly reflected in the poor quality of life of a large number of inhabitants.

view from the public space towards ‘la profesa’ church

as a city recovery process, the designers have decided to take housing to the historic centre of mexico by bringing life to the rooftops and stop new constructions at the city boundaries. through this strategy, the city becomes more compact, public spaces are transformed,infrastructure is updated, and buildings are ‘recycled’. furthermore, bringing in more people requires the creation of a contemporary public lifestyle — where residents can live comfortably and fully. under this premise, romero and santana chose to develop their proposed structure over more than one rooftop without covering the entire surface — thus providing a free floor plan. the design model can be placed in most of the roofs of the city, or be taken to other cities in other countries. this system allows a progressive growth where urban fabrics can develop at their own rhythm

proposed interior space

the new building has a maximum number of 6 floor plans to avoid overpopulation and with its modular design, the structure fits in different roof dimensions and heights. the architectural alignment follows a pattern that retracts from the façade in order to keep a balance between heights, street width and human scale. by using a triangular-shaped wooden structure, the building anchors the major wooden columns — leaving a central double-height public space where a series of balconies converge.

view from the hallway terrace to the latino-americana tower / roll up wooden door

25 apartments per building with 3 different floor plan arrangements are proposed based on user requirements. the modules are naturally heated by taking advantage of the crossed ventilation and correct insulation. an artificial topography is placed on the cover to implement vegetation and hide technical facilities and structural elements. the proposed rooftop design also allows for rain water collection.

rendered section showing the triangular shaped passageway

localization and urban growth

proposed inventory of the modular structure

structural isometric view

progressive growth proposal 

project info:

project title: ‘a city”
sponsor: mestäwood (plan b competition) “city above the city”
designers: carlos romero // bernardo santana
program: architecture
date: september, 2016

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom