The changing face of Tijuana's art and architecture landscape

building
Among the slew of bold new buildings and cultural initiatives in Tijuana is the Modulo Prep Library, nicknamed ‘Las Casa de las Ideas’, designed by CRO studio
(Image credit: press)

Tijuana, the Mexican border town south of San Diego, has had, until recently, a reputation as a lawless enclave of vice and drugs, a destination for debauched American tourists and the turf of violent cartels. Despite dwindling tourist numbers and high crime rates - which spiked in the late 2000s - the city's creative class has been keeping busy, and its rising stars in architecture and cuisine are now earning international attention. In recognition of a rash of bold new buildings and cultural initiatives across the city, the LA-based gallerist Steve Turner recently launched Art Baja Tijuana, an annual festival of contemporary art.

Its first incarnation may have been modest in size, but Turner hopes to attract international collaborators in the future, and is planning to host festival events in various architecturally remarkable buildings around the city each year. For its inaugural outing, the main exhibition took place in a new residential house designed by Jorge Gracia, one of the city's most exciting architects.

Some of the artists involved in the festival, such as Petra Cortright and Fabiola Torres-Alzaga, were chosen from Turner's gallery roster; others, such as New Yorker Aaron Aujla, were picked for their relevance to the show's architectural theme. New talents included the emerging LA-based sound artist Tyler Adams and the Tijuanan street artist PANCA. All showed new work, some of which, like Pablo Rasgado's installation 'Anulación', was specially commissioned. Across town from Casa GS, Rasgado had sealed the windows and doors in a derelict pharmacy to transform the building into a giant, site-specific sculpture.

In tandem with Art Baja Tijuana, a food and architecture tour took us on a journey around notable buildings across the city. The first stop was the striking extension to CECUT - the Centro Cultural Tijuana - designed by Eugenio Velázquez in 2008. The giant sphere of CECUT's central IMAX cinema, built nearly 30 years ago, has become one of the city's landmarks, alongside its 200-foot steel arch (which replicates St Louis' Gateway Arch in the US) erected to celebrate the millennium.

Aside from some impressive Spanish Revival architecture dating from Tijuana's heyday as a gambling capital in the 1930s, much of the city seems unplanned and carelessly constructed. Many residential neighbourhoods grew from temporary migrant settlements, especially after the devastating Mexico City earthquake of 1985. Gracia says he sees Tijuana today as a blank canvas; there is plenty of cheap land, low labour costs, few building regulations and clients are open to experimentation. 'It's like a lab,' he says. His elegant Culinary Art School building, now three years old, combines affordable materials such as rusted steel, poured concrete and garapa wood.

The poor Camino Verde neighbourhood has been particularly afflicted by gang violence. A new community centre, designed by Ramón Guillot, and an award-winning digital library known as Casa de las Ideas, by CRO studio, are both sited on reclaimed land between two gang territories, next to a new park, outdoor gym and skate-park.

At the other end of the economic spectrum is Guillot's 14-floor office building, VIA Corporativo. It is Baja California's first LEED-certified, 'green' building, and also contains the high-end restaurant Mision 19, run by Tijuana's acclaimed chef Javier Plascencia. The marriage between gastronomy, architecture and art promises to drive Tijuana's future, as new businesses open, the art fair raises its profile and culinary empires - such as Plascencia's - continue to grow.

Deliberately open to its surrounding

Deliberately open to its surroundings, Modulo Prep Library's pristine white walls have yet to be tagged in an area plagued by graffiti

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An aerial view of Modulo Prep Library

An aerial view of Modulo Prep Library

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Jorge Gracia

Jorge Gracia, one of the city's most exciting architects, designed Casa GS for his brother on a plot of undeveloped land with sweeping views. Board-formed concrete contrasts with the rusted steel siding of the building

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Art Baja Tijuana

Casa GS is a typical Gracia building in that it deliberately ignores the aesthetic of its surroundings; ‘I don’t care about what happened before,’ says the architect. The house served as the main exhibition space for Art Baja Tijuana

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A mural by Tijuanan street artist PANCA

A mural by Tijuanan street artist PANCA, specially commissioned for Art Baja Tijuana, occupies an interior wall in Casa GS

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bat

This other mural by PANCA has been painted directly onto the scraps of waste wood that were left over from the construction of Casa GS

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furniture

In the basement of Casa GS, sound artist Tyler Adams played amplified frequencies through furniture, making it move across the floor as it vibrated

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walk and talk

The roof of Via Corporativo has a ‘walk and talk’ track, inspired by the Michael J. Fox film ‘The Secret of My Success’

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The Camino Verde community centre

The Camino Verde community centre, is built on reclaimed land over a canal that runs along the bottom of a canyon

(Image credit: Ramón Guillot)

Rival gang members

Rival gang members, from opposing sides of the canyon, now meet to take their kids to dance classes at the Camino Verde community centre

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office building

At the other end of the economic spectrum is Ramón Guillot’s 14-floor office building, VIA Corporativo. It is Baja California's first LEED-certified, 'green' building. One side of VIA Corporativo is convex, to repel the hot inland Santa Ana winds, while the opposite side is concave, to harness the cooling ocean breezes

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A huge vertical cavity rises from the 4th floor to the roof

A huge vertical cavity rises from the 4th floor to the roof, allowing light and air to reach inside the building

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Water runs over black basalt steps at the entrance

Water runs over black basalt steps at the entrance to the Culinary Art School by Jorge Gracia. The building is an enclosed sanctuary for study and discussion

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dinning hall

The floor of a cool basement conference and dining room in the Culinary Art School is formed from loose black gravel

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restaurant

Chef Javier Plascencia’s flagship restaurant Mision 9 is surrounded by windows, so diners can never forget they are in Tijuana

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'Telar', by Tania Candiani

'Telar', by Tania Candiani, an installation from the 'Teoría de la Entropía' exhibition, curated by Bárbara Perea, on show in El Cubo, which occupies part of the CECUT (Centro Cultural Tijuana) building

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