Practice between for-sale and rent in South America
Practice between for-sale and rent in South America 5/5
Listener Takuto Sando (Tsubame Architects )
Narrator Kenji Lopez(Urvita)
Are there other projects in Mexico similar to Urvita?
We know there are some similar projects that share our intentions but are maybe focused on
different areas of the development process. For example, there are some architects that are
addressing the same issues through creating good designs, but they might be lacking a
sustainable financial strategy or management system. Other projects have good community
managers, but lack good buildings. There are also well-intentioned people who are not buying
good properties. You need to integrate all these aspects to create an effective project, and
that?s why we want to make Urvita a platform that these various professionals can utilize to
connect and collaborate with each other across the whole development process. We are the
only ones doing this in Mexico that we are aware of, but we know there are creative agencies
that are trying to replicate our model in other countries. We find it kind of funny that people
are looking up to us though, as we have only been testing this for five years ourselves. But
it?s encouraging to know that more people are starting to think about the same issues as us in
other parts of the world. This also only proves that our concerns are indeed global issues and
that there is potential demand for our model in places outside Mexico.
What do you think are the possibilities for sharing and shared spaces in the postpandemic
world?
I think that people will continue to be open to the idea of sharing because many people have
learned that life is fragile and appreciate the value of human connections more than ever.
However, we probably should shift our focus from thinking about how to make private spaces
that can be shared by different people to thinking about how to make spaces that can be
shared by different uses, because, as we have learned through the pandemic, adaptable
spaces are more resilient than spaces designed for a specific use. Also, we need to give more
consideration to the balance between sharing and privacy. There are different scales to
privacy?first there is your body, then your personal space, then your private room, etc.?so,
when you?re designing, it?s important to provide the right balance of spaces that people do
and don?t feel comfortable sharing. This is something that differs between cultures. For
example, here in Mexico, it?s super important for students to have their own bathroom. It?s a
private space that many aren?t willing to share. But maybe students in Spain are more open
to sharing a bathroom, but less open to sharing a bedroom, for example. Related to this, I
think there is a lot more to be explored with the way we design the line between private and
public space. I believe that line doesn?t need to be defined that strictly, and it doesn?t always
need to be marked by a fence or a barrier. The spaces between buildings have the potential to
become spaces that we share. And then there is the street?the biggest and most important
shared space of the city. We have to give more attention to the quality of street we are
creating. Here, there are people who say that nobody walks in Monterrey because there are
no sidewalks. However, I tell them that there are no sidewalks along most of the streets in
Japan, too, but everybody walks because they know how to share the street. When I visited
Tokyo a few years ago, I saw streets where people were walking, riding bicycles, and driving
cars without a problem because they were all respectful of each other. The streets there are
also fun to walk, because you can discover all sorts of things and places. They are good
illustrations of how shared spaces, whether private or public, should be diverse, flexible, and
fun.