Regrowing Casa Albino Ortega 

/PRECEDENT STUDY/ Spring 2024

GSAPP Adv VI Studio
Instructors: Rachaporn Choochuey + Lucy Navarro

In Tepoztlan Mexico, the conflict between tradition and tourism prompts a shift towards new communal initiatives in embracing its future. The project reimagines a private residence as a communal cooperative, bridging traditional construction and craft with tourism. By blurring the lines between leisure and labor, the project foregrounds indigenous knowledge and production as cultural and economic opportunities. The private lot becomes an extended public street network, accommodating permanent and flexible programs to generate cultural revenues, fostering pride and sustainability. The half-permanent duality of the original house is transformed into a dynamic framework, producing building and craft components as both commodities and communal distribution.