Trained at the Autonomous University of Yucatán in Mexico, Mariana Ordóñez
Grajales started Comunal in 2015, but it wasn’t until 2017 that her current partner
Jesica Amescua Carrera joined. They met while teaching as part of a workshop on
Regenerative Architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana, led by colleague and
mutual friend Juan Casillas. During their first joint project – the Rural Productive
School, a prime example of the studio’s participatory design approach – they hit it
off and have been allies ever since. ‘It was pure magic!’ says Ordóñez Grajales. ‘I had
previously tried to find an associate, but was never able to find someone with the
same visions and goals. I believe much of the success of our alliance is the horizontal
relationship. That would never have been possible with a man in the patriarchal
context of Latin America.’
Although the duo’s office is in Mexico City, the real work happens in the country’s
rural areas, where they collaborate with local communities to improve habitability.
You are a women-run studio
in a country that I feel has
been a springboard for quite
some strong female-led
offices – from Frida Escobedo,
Gabriela Carrillo and Fer-
nanda Canales to Tatiana
Bilbao. What’s the secret?
MARIANA ORDÓÑEZ GRAJALES: Resist-
ance! In our professional life we face daily
challenges for being young women, such
as mansplaining, sexual harassment and
not being given the same credit as our male
colleagues. Beyond our personal experience,
our country is facing a level of violence against
women never seen before. In 2019 there
were almost 3,000 victims of femicide in our
country; in December alone there was one
every 27 hours. Being a woman in Mexico
is resistance. Being a woman who works in
a highly patriarchal industry is resistance.
From Comunal we shout #VivasNosQueremos!
#NiUnaMás! (#LiveWeWant! #NotOneMore!).Besides the issues you face
as females, what are the
other challenges that come
with starting an architecture
practice in Mexico City?
MOG: In our case, the challenges already
started during our academic years. It became
evident that there is quite a hegemonic vision
of the role of the architect. We are taught that
we, as architects, are the only holders of great
ideas and solutions to habitability problems,
which completely excludes other types and
sources of knowledge. We are rigorously
taught the technical and artistic side of archi-
tecture – form, function, composition, spatial
relationships, construction details and so on.But the human aspects – from cultural identity
to people’s ideals and aspirations – are often
overlooked. To us these are the most relevant.
JESICA AMESCUA CARRERA: It
was a battle to find an academic discourse that
approached architecture as a participatory
social process that arises from the exchange
of knowledge between different actors, not
only academics. One that would recognize
the vast amount of building skill that the
native cultures of our country possess. But
we experienced, with great disappointment,
the rejection of some professors who refused
to tutor projects that addressed participatory
and sociocultural aspects in architecture.So the academic landscape- especially architectural
courses – can be limiting?
MOG: Yes and this is directly impacting
the social and professional aspects of life.
In Mexico there is a very large economic
inequality. Very few have the privilege of
going to university and there is only a small
social circle that has the contacts to develop
those great architectural projects taught in
classrooms – think museums, hospitals and
large residential developments.
JAC: So, why do we continue to
train architecture students for the economic
reality of a select few? We believe that both
universities and professional practices should
include and recognize the diverse economic,
political and cultural realities that exist in
our country. Today, 70 per cent of the homes
in Mexico are built without technical advice
and through self-construction processes. Our
practice focuses on improving habitability in
local rural communities, and we do so through
collaborative design processes. »
Introducing 31