Mario Cardenas - Architecture Portfolio

ESCOBEDO
To fix a state we had to look first at the cities and understand how they work and could be improved.
As part of the exercise each team was assigned a municipality to cover Monterrey Metropolitan area.
Escobedo’s a municipality with a population of almost 500 thousand habitants and shares a border to
the south with Monterrey, Santa Catarina and San Nicolas de los Garza, to east with Salinas Victoria and
Apodaca, to the west with Garcia and to the north with Hidalgo and El Carmen.
When you look at the city layout you can see a highly dense south area compared to the north side of
the city, this as a result of how the industry took possession and how bad the distribution of services
was proposed.
The city also host important natural elements that are key in maximizing the city’s operation, Pesqueria
river crosses the municipality from west to east and is home to two mountains, San Miguel and Topo
Chico.
A deep study of the municipality was made starting with the main square with the objective of bringing
order and planning to the city starting from its very heart, by restoring its plaza and planning where to
build what, we could control how the city grows and behave to improve the quality of life for its residents
and visitors.
Concepts such as green areas, connectivity and adequate distribution of services were key in designing
a new city layout.
Escobedo’s city layout.
Image taken from Google Earth.
Before starting to design the new square we had to identify its surroundings as well as its contents; the
main square host the City’s hall and a church that is considered as city’s cultural heritage.
Escobedo’s main square.
Image taken from Google Earth.
Escobedo main square.
Escobedo’s city hall. Image taken from Google.. San Nicolas de Bari Church. Image taken from Google.
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