An environment-responsive installation in Mexico City generates its own energy and atmosphere, encouraging closer recognition of the urban climate.

Key features

Underlining ‘the precarity and potential of Mexico’s natural environment’, Departamento del Distrito’s When Models are Systems is an adapted communication tower situated on top of a former lace factory in Mexico City. It was produced for the 2022 Architectural League Prize. The designers modified the tower by adding devices that measure, channel and generate exterior conditions – their functions range from collecting rainwater and grounding electrical currents to monitoring wind flows and reflecting light. Only functional for the duration of time it produces enough energy for – with an 85-watt solar panel linked to a generator and battery – the installation fluctuates with the weather. Its composition of devices also includes mood-making tools, like spotlights and loudspeakers, which turns the surrounding space into one for gathering.

FRAME’s take

In cities it can be easy to ignore the natural factors that make up a climate. Weather is good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant – binaries often decided upon by how much they inconvenience our plans and disrupt our urban systems. Following the ideology that care is born from awareness – and then, hopefully, understanding – Departamento del Distrito’s project emphasizes the complexity of our surroundings and promotes greater attention to the forces that be. Inspiring thought and dialogue should be the ambition behind every installation. When Models are Systems accomplishes that while literally creating space for people to engage with one another and the urban fabric.