LAR 507 is an advanced studio on urban design principles applied to an infrastructurally complex site in Mexico City. This context offers introspection on the deep history of the Aztec Empire and Tenochtitlan, the floating city located on Lake Texcoco, the urbanization of Mexico City over the past seven centuries, and valuable environmental, social, and economic implications and opportunities.

Mexico City is one of the world’s densest cities, with 22 million inhabitants living in a compact area susceptible to natural hazards and disasters, earthquakes, flooding and subsidence, infrastructural degradation, and a lack of potable water, coupled by economic and social inequality. The city is also blessed with natural resources and a rich biodiversity that require a renewed narrative to move past its colonial history and instead flourish as a resilient urban mecca.