How a Mexico City Housing Complex Reclaimed Its Public Space

In the southeast of Mexico City lies CTM Culhuacán, the city’s largest public housing complex, built in the 1970s to serve over 100,000 working-class residents. Once a flagship of Mexico’s social housing efforts, its public spaces—intended to promote community life—had fallen into disrepair after decades of unclear administration and neglect.

© Photography by Andres Cedillo, Courtesy of AMASA Estudio.

© Photography by Zaickz Moz, Courtesy of AMASA Estudio.

© Photography by Andres Cedillo, Courtesy of AMASA Estudio.

One such space was a crumbling plaza near the complex’s tenth section, bordered by two public schools. Once meant to be a vibrant communal area, it had become a hotspot for informal use, waste, and antisocial behavior. The deterioration of such spaces across the city reflects a broader issue: shared areas in public housing often suffer from legal and administrative ambiguity, making their maintenance and governance uncertain.

© Photography byAndres Cedillo, Courtesy of AMASA Estudio.

© Zaickz Moz, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

© Andres Cedillo, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

In response, Infonavit—the national housing agency—launched a design-build initiative in 2023, commissioning upgrades at several sites, including CTM Culhuacán. The winning proposal for Culhuacán came from AMASA Estudio, led by architects Andrea López and Agustín Pereyra. Instead of imposing a top-down vision, the team consulted with residents to understand their needs and aspirations.

© Andres Cedillo, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

© Andres Cedillo, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

© Zaickz Moz, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

The resulting design features a colorful central pavilion that anchors the space, flanked by basketball courts, a calisthenics area, a children’s playground, and a 600-meter running track that doubles as a pedestrian loop. Designed in collaboration with Desarrolladora de Ideas y Espacios, the project prioritized accessibility, budget efficiency, and environmental sustainability—adding rainwater infiltration zones and adapting to natural foot traffic patterns.

© Gerardo Reyes Bustamante,
Courtesy AMASA Estudio

© Andres Cedillo, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

© Gerardo Reyes Bustamante,
Courtesy AMASA Estudio

Through simple materials—steel, concrete, and color—the team transformed a forgotten lot into a lively public space. Today, it hosts students after school, families on weekends, and neighbors of all ages throughout the week. More importantly, it has become a symbol of community pride.

©Andres Cedillo, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

© Andres Cedillo, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

© Andres Cedillo, Courtesy AMASA
Estudio

This small but powerful intervention shows how design, when done with empathy and participation, can revive not just physical spaces, but the social bonds that hold communities together.

AMASA Estudio

AMASA Estudio is the life project that Agustín Pereyra and Andrea López started in 2016. Their vision starts with understanding design from three tangible scales: objects as tools for interaction, architecture as an integrating object, and the city as a connector of these relationships.