Abstracts Geography

From Aztec To Médiathèque: Hybrid Contradictions

by Enrique Roberto Sanchez

By employing non-traditional building techniques using refuse, programming an equal green space to building space, as well as relegating an area to public space, will help an architecture manifest the ideas and philosophies of a transnational culture. The médiathèque will also provide education, entertainment, free internet access, public space, and green space as way to help build cultural and symbolic capital. As a result, it fulfills a necessary need for a community in desperate need of educational resources pertaining to technology and desire for green and public space. This thesis project aims to create a Mexican Mid-Western architectural hybridity by integrating strategies and ideas of two different climates and cultures into an architectural identity for the Mexican Mid-West through the auspices of a médiathèque in Little Village, Chicago. Chicago having the third largest density of Mexicans in the United States has fallen short in buildings that convey this transnational culture. Even with the rich history of Mexicans in the Little Village area of Chicago, and its current density of Mexican-Americans, there are no terms or concepts that convey an identity that is specific to Mexican Mid-Western architecture and contributes to the current creative efforts found in Mexican-Chicago.