Birdsong can be heard from one side, traffic noise from the other. Together with the Mexican architect Fernanda Canales, we are standing at the transition between the two soundscapes. Although one is used to intense noises in the metropolis of Mexico City, this contrast is unusual: a few steps in one direction make either the birds or the street fade away acoustically. This effect is due to the walls of the Monte Albán housing project in the Narvarte district, which was completed in summer 2019.

The connecting patio of the 21 flats

The connecting vecindad

Two very different streets – the quiet neighbourhood street Monte Albán and the street Concepción Beistegui next to the noisy intersection leading to the city centre – are connected by the L-shaped plot created by merging two long, narrow plots. Architect Fernanda Canales points to the two bright yellow entrance gates, each leading to one of the streets. “The residents can choose where they go out. The connecting pathway set between the two elongated buildings is deliberately generous in size and refers to the access patios of the vecindad,” she explains. This refers to the Mexican housing typology that is very common among the working class, and literally translates as neighbourhood. It is usually a number of one-room flats arranged around an open courtyard, which is used as an extended living space or for household activities such as cooking or washing.

Fernanda Canales took this community-based urban typology, which has proven itself over centuries, and created not only two residential buildings with a total of 21 flats, but also outdoor spaces that promote community. Unlike in the traditional vecindad, the flats in Monte Albán are significantly larger, ranging from 70 to 110 square meters, and the residents belong to the upper middle class. Here, the outdoor space is above all an attractive meeting place for neighbours and at the same time it mediates between private and public.

Grey plasticity and tropical plants

The two four-storey buildings are predominantly grey. The exterior walls are made of exposed concrete and custom-made concrete bricks in two depths. Alternately, they are stacked on top of each other in a semi-bond, creating a horizontal, sculptural striped pattern over the entire height of the building and creating light and shadow effects. In the inner courtyard and on the upper floors, magnificent tropical plants enliven the entrances. Large-format plant troughs, also made of concrete bricks and exposed concrete, surround them. The bright yellow of the entrance gates is echoed in the railings, stairs and entrance doors. Yellow, industrial-looking steel beams give the concrete staircase a unique look; it almost feels like climbing into the belly of a machine.

Inside the protective cocoon

A young architect who lives in one of the flats on the top floor lets us enter through her bright yellow entrance door. We enter the living room with its high ceilings and open kitchen. The ceiling traces a shed roof, through which pleasant light falls through the ribbon windows at the top. Canales explains the choice of the roof shape in her usual pragmatic way with the fact that shed roofs, which are mainly used in functional industrial buildings, are known to offer the best light conditions. Why not take advantage of its benefits?

This flat consists of three modules, architect Canales points out. In total, she has developed six flat typologies for this project, she says, consisting of modules arranged side by side or on top of each other in a duplex, promising diversity.