Relating with the town

By Caterina Testa - 1 November 2016

TEN Arquitectos was founded by Enrique Norten in Mexico City in 1986. A New York office was opened in 2001. For 30 years the practice has focused on institutional briefs and public spaces. Its architectural projects have become part of the social, political and economic context of their urban setting. The constant search to interact with the specific urban dynamic has consolidated an approach geared to taking new thinking on board and led to projects that fit into their setting but also revolutionize them. The spatial, compositional and functional programs of the Mercedes House in New York, Mexico City’s CENTRO University campus and Business School at the Rutgers University all reveal this same ability to become an integral part and natural extension of their context. The Mercedes House project on Manhattan’s west coast springs from its unique context, referencing both the horizontal stretch of the riverbank and the vertical landscape of Manhattan. The ground floor of this 120,000 sq m retail and residential building is occupied by a Mercedes-auto showroom, urban amenities like retail outlets, a gym, and a parking facility. The upper stories contain apartment units. The sloping mass of the building divides the plot into two communal courts for use by residents, creating a collective private sphere in the midst of a teeming city. The campus of the CENTRO University of Design and Communication, fronting on to one of Mexico City’s busiest thoroughfares, creates a sense of openness onto the inside but protection from the confusion of the outside world. The 6-story building “A” closing the rear of the property houses studios and a cafeteria. Offices, a movie forum and projection rooms occupy the three stories of Building “C” whose main façade fronts Avenida Constituyentes and through which the campus is entered. A raised third building interlocks perpendicularly with the other two. It contains a media library, study...