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  • Book
  • Dec 2005

Prinz Eisenbeton 5: techo en mexico / the mexican roof

96° 13' W. 16° 33'N

Authors:

  • how can imported high-tech be combined with regional low-tech?

  • the process of building a large and demanding structure in a totally foreign context is presented

  • students of Wolf D. Prix’s Studio a3 designed and built themselves a community centre in Mexico

  • 499 Accesses

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages 1-7
  2. 96° 13′W/ 16° 33′N

    • Wolf D. Prix
    Pages 8-13
  3. Immutable Velocity

    • Raimund Abraham
    Pages 14-23
  4. Critical Assessment

    • Alejandro D Ácosta
    Pages 24-97
  5. Trading the Borderline

    • Bärbel Müller
    Pages 98-109
  6. No Excess Baggage

    • Reiner Zetti
    Pages 110-133
  7. What is the Instituto Tonantzin Tlalli?

    • Cesar Lopez Negrete
    Pages 134-143
  8. Back Matter

    Pages 144-144

About this book

"The Mexican Roof”, built as an architectural signal for an organisation promoting sustainable agriculture, is one of the few examples where a very ambitious project, conceived in the architecture design studio at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, has been successfully translated into reality. Executed by the students themselves in a remote province in Mexico it is basically a roof made out of bamboo that shelters the new community from the sun and collects water, the basis of any kind of growth. It is a conspicuous landmark that also serves very practical functions. The book presents the building process in Mexico starting with the finished roof and going back in time as well, an index that lists the various notions of the conceptual work in Vienna. Special attention is given to a specific method of teaching that encourages students to go for their visions, even if difficult, by providing methods, experience and determination necessary to solve the problems associated with this endeavour.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Institut für Architektur, Universität fü angewandte kunst Wien, Wien

    Wolf D. Prix

About the author

WOLF D. PRIX. Studied at the Technical University, Vienna, the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles and the Architectural Association in London, England. Founder member in 1968 of the architectural office Coop Himmelb(l)au; head of the Studio a3, School of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna.

Bibliographic Information