Centro de Invidentes y Débiles Visuales, Mexico City by Taller de Arquitectura Mauricio Rocha

Bounded by two great avenues in one of Mexico City’s poorest peripheral neighbourhoods, this huge complex provides services to both the general public and the visually impaired, in an effort to improve integration in public life.

It is bordered on all four sides by a tall retaining wall crowned by vegetation, that acts both as an acoustic barrier and to hold back the earth excavated from the former construction dump on which it sits. The plan is set out in a series of parallel bands: the first housing offices and a cafeteria, and the second, workshops, a shop and braille and sound libraries gathered around a plaza. The third band contains classrooms that face onto private gardens and patios, carved from the back of the heavy retaining wall.

Senses of sound, smell and touch are all activated throughout: a water channel runs along the central plaza, its rippling sounds intended to guide the way, different aromatic plants layering further orientation into the perimeter wall and patios. In contrast to the bulky stone of the retaining wall, the workshop buildings shift from a smooth concrete base to rammed-earth bricks at hand height, activating a sense of touch and differentiating the buildings’ programmes.