 Okay, we're going to basically conclude the morning session with a speaker, Julia Gomez Candela, who is here from Infonavit and who will present a talk about Infonavit and the work more specifically from the perspective of working there. Julia is an architect. She's currently head of Housing Quality Improvement in the Research Center for Sustainable Development, or SIDS, which you've seen referenced this morning, at the National Workers Housing Fund Institute, or better known as Infonavit. I've had the pleasure to work with Julia now for nearly two years, also along with Carlos Sudilio in Infonavit on several projects, also with some of the colleagues who presented this morning. And her sort of daily tasks at any one time are of course talking with all of the architects, but also being on sites, working with contractors and navigating different types of situations, often rather disastrous. And I've had several occasions in trying to reach her to find out she's not in fact there in the office, but out on site and working on weekends. It's, I think, a very tireless job and effort that she undertakes with a lot of responsibility. So it's a great pleasure for us to have you here today. And I welcome you to the podium. Thank you, Hilary. And I will read because I don't speak, well, the English, but I will do my best. First of all, thank you, Hilary and Columbia for the invitation. This is the first time someone invites me to talk in a university. I am very excited and very happy and scared to that. I would like to thank Laila and Lucille for all the help and the travel and everything. I would like to apologize for my English again. I was born in Ecuador, raised in Mexico, and studied in Spain, so you can imagine. I will talk about what we do in front of it, what is the research center for sustainable development. I will show you some projects and our present housing laboratory. Very often, affordable housing is inadequate, inadequate housing is usually unaffordable. As they have been saying, the Mexican constitution indicates in its fourth article that the whole family has the right to enjoy decent and decorous housing. I am speaking of behalf of an amazing team, which is led by Carlos Cedillo, and then it's Jere and Armando. Armando used to study here, but we are like a big family, so I am only here for a short time. We'd like to start our presentations with these images that they have been talking about that all the morning, so I will go through. When we arrived at Infonavit in 2013, the housing problem in Mexico, and it is still something terrible, is repetition, the fireness of the houses that they don't see where they are placed. We have amazing territory in Mexico, and they don't pay attention. All the houses are facing the other way of the mountain, for instance, and then we have building houses in terrible sites with danger and everything. Well, what is Infonavit? The National Workers Housing Fund Institute, or Infonavit, is an autonomous fiscal entity founded in 1972. It was created as a social service organization to administer the National Housing Fund resources, as well as to establish and operate a financial system that allows its account holders to obtain affordable housing. It is structure comprises an equal representation of the workers, the private sector, and the government sector. Since 1992, Infonavit is part of the retirement-saving system, where the employer's contributions are registered in the Bidwall workers' account, and at the time of retirement, the balance is added to the rest of the pensionary monetary resources. So we give affordable housing and we help for them when you retire with the money. Okay, here it is. Our mission is to generate value for workers, their families, and the communities through housing and saving solutions that allow the workers to increase their equity and quality of life in a sustainable manner for a dignified retirement. We are recognized as a Mexican institution that has an autonomy, social solidarity, and tripartite model. How it works. We work to empower each individual entitled to make the best decisions about the confirmation of their equity and better quality of life. We provide financial products in order that each account holder has access to a quality housing solution. The quality is the main focus right now. We provide efficient returns to the account holder's savings to facilitate access to a home and complement savings for the retirement. So Infonavit is an autonomous fiscal entity that administers the housing fund for workers to buy, build, or improve homes, or maybe you can pay back a previously contracted mortgage. Well, some numbers I will give you, well you can read them, otherwise I can read them for you, but Infonavit has a flexibility to overcome challenges over time. So from 1970 to 1980, Infonavit was a market maker participating in both construction and housing financing due to the lack of supply and from buying land to individual credit lending. In 1990, Infonavit became the social mortgage lender leaving housing construction and consolidating as a social mortgage lender. It financed finished dwellings instead of constructing houses. It also developed and implemented dwelling construction rules that was before. From 2001 up to 2012, Infonavit helped in the reduction of housing deficit, consolidating the financial processes by accelerating its role as mortgage lender. All the normative role was transferred to state and municipalities. Now, nowadays, where our institutional strategy evolves to attend housing needs through financial solutions that improve quality of life, and our housing model is orientated to development of competitive and sustainable cities. Carlos, our boss says that if we improve houses, we improve cities. I work in the research center for sustainable development, we call it SEEDS, and as I told you, we are a family of Carlos who is the leader and then three of us. We promote sustainable development of housing financed by Infonavit through research and the implementation of strategies that encourage the integral development of community, maximizing its social and environmental benefits. We are an international entity that facilitates the development of social housing committed to sustainable development. I will go to the next one. What we do, as I told you, we are divided in three big groups. The first one is number 71 that is for the statutes of our institute and its improvement of housing quality and equity value that adds me. Then it's Jere who studied in Yale University who does the applied research and dissemination of methods, and then it's Armando Hashimoto who studied here and he's in charge of the inter-institutional collaboration. Here how it works. In the 71 that it's me, we propose and establish strategies to promote sustainable attributes to be applied to houses with the objective to increase quality of housing and life of the inhabitants. Jere, which is a 72, developed and published applied research, processes, strategies, public policy methods, and technologies that will facilitate sustainability on housing. And Hashi, which is 73, manage and establish a strategic agenda to secure a strong link between the center and the public private sector and also academic institutions. I will show you just a few projects and then I will go to the housing laboratory which I think it's what we are now more interested. We did this project of mejora y ampliación, which is improvement and enlargement, that in order to reduce overcrowding that is one of the most serious social problems in Mexico, Lacedato, which is a ministry of agrarian, territorial, and urban development implemented a strategy called un cuarto más or an additional room that we coordinated at Infornavit and in collaboration with five architects and we developed these five different prototypes to enlarge and improve existing houses with a minimum of nine square meters considering structural soundness affordable price and space efficiency. Here you have some images. All our projects and everything is on our library so if you want further information you can download it from there. Other of our projects is called They already talk about it. This project seeks to find combat strategies to stop the expansion of urban sprawl in different Mexican cities. We create 32 proposals that aims to reconfigure the urban fabric through the reuse of abandoned homes, achieving efficient and compact cities that provide a better quality of life for these inhabitants. So you have here some examples of this. Another of our projects is Regeneración Urbana retrofit it as a lot of names like Mejorando la Unidad, Proyecto Integral de Regeneración Urban y Social, it's a lot of names but it's the same thing that Infornavit in cooperation with architects and other allies implemented this project to carry out physical and social interventions in a preventive manner in housing complexes financed by Infornavit. Here are some pictures of the last four that we five projects that we did last year. This program seeks to retrofit the urban image and the community integration through physical interventions generated from collaborative design processes in housing developments where there is a high concentration of recovered or abandoned houses. I will put on a video that Francisco Pardo an architect did of one of these interventions. It's del territorio al habitante which is already been talked about. This project aims to improve the quality of self-production housing financed by the institute. We did 84 different proposals and through this project we seek to improve living standards for those who receive the mortgage loan intended for beneficiaries with low income and for lower income. Infornavit offer an amount destined for the construction of housing on a land already owned by the account holder. The self-production of housing consists of a process of construction and distribution of housing under the direct control of the user individually or collectively. Here we have the panel of 82 of these 84 proposals from 9-11 which is the first one to Sago architecture. It was an amazing project. We really enjoy it. And now I will talk about the housing laboratory in Apan. Since its creation Infornavit has researched methods and techniques to create affordable dignified and durable housing while optimizing design and construction. In 1982 some housing prototypes were built in La Greca since Infornavit used to build and buy land. They have a lot of available land across the country. La Greca was one of them and in this place they analyze experimental methods of construction and water saving. This showed the importance of research leading to the creation of the first Infornavit Housing Research and Experimental Experimentation Center that operated from 1989 to 1992. This previous center was focused on aspects of I won't be able to say that, and water saving and the use of alternative energies aimed to preserve ecological balance. Nowadays it is of great importance to return to this research in order to improve the quality of the houses that we financed. This is the main reason why Infornavit in our new Housing Research and Practical Experimentation Laboratory was created as an innovation space where the following activities will be carried out. We will support research for housing design. We will research on rationalized construction systems. We will research on water savings and alternative energies and ecotechnologies and it will be a permanent exhibition of research projects. This housing lab will follow up and prove the empirical knowledge that allows workers to improve their housing conditions and increase equity while having a better quality of life. So for this we invited Hilary and Michael from Moz to help us to choose the best prototypes from del territorio al habitante. They also help us to design the master plan and the welcome center. Here are some pictures from the process of selection. First in Mexico in our offices and then here in New York. That is Carlos. There it is. Okay. Then the project is in Apan. Hidalgo is a small town in the state of Hidalgo in Central Mexico, Northeast Mexico City and is meant to develop both new prototypes for single family houses and a new model of urbanism. The master plan followed the traditional processes of designing urban garden but it was re-engineered. Moz was asked to think about how all these prototypes could coexist together in a master plan for a new type of urbanism. Moz also designed the main entrance to this lab. It is a linear building hosting services for this new facility. Moz's proposal is based on a very different model of urbanism related much more to the notion of a vernacular or pictures ensemble. Here things connect via immediate relationships and not through the repetition of exceptional buildings. The most important thing is the space in between. So how do you improve the quality of architecture and induce a new sensibility toward material construction and landscape techniques? 32 projects were selected for their straightforward geometries and proportion. Each proposal exhibits potential for growth by aggregation, repetition or various strategies of extension, infill and addition. Some projects rethink the fundamentals of low income housing special organizations like corridors, courtyards or roofs and some rework labor and construction. Also some recast structure or material. Given the limited resources of low income housing each decision gains greater significance and has greater impact on the design and on the life of the inhabitants. I will show you some pictures of the construction processes of these prototypes. These are the 84. Then I will start with Jorge and Gabriela which I always refer as the palace because it's the biggest plot in all Apan. When architects go there they say why they have more money but no it's only the biggest plot. So Jorge and Gabriela's proposal is largely based on two minimum required elements for making a house that is the wall and the roof. The wall limits private property and the roof offers shelter from sun and rain. Then we have the Villar Chacon it's a Spanish office. I think this is the most experimental of all our houses and they understand occupation to be ephemeral. They propose housing units that doesn't construct its structure with permanent members. Its structure is clading materials of these reeling are rented. They are moved with the owner, recycled or entirely demountable. It is a system of scaffolding that envelopes all the spaces. Then we have Frida Escobedo. It's a multi-storey residence where all spaces fall under a vaulted roof. It was a disaster when I was starting to write this because I don't know how to say bóveda or temple al huevo and all the things that we are having but I hope you understand. Vaulted roof is okay. The primary element of this project is its primitive structural logic. A ground floor floor level for living and services open to the landscape on three sides ensures both private and public social interactions. All growth will occur vertically with the addition of a second story. Then we have Derek and Yashin here with a modular wood construction system that adopts the basic and familiar principles of vernacular architecture. The house is simply assembled and easily constructed. I will define it as elegant modesty. This home is immensely approachable and sociable. We have Rosana Montiel as well that should we design the traditional Morelos dwelling as a large semi-open space with multifunction roof. It is constructed with bamboo. The home is resolutely open offering minimal enclosure of living spaces while foregrounding public and private outdoor living. Then we have Suburbia. Suburbia is an office of Felipe Lorenzanz and Rodrigo Durán. They understood the housing problem as an infrastructural problem. They defined by the precarious access to basic services like potable water. This is a water house or a tank house that could have enough water to meet the weekly intake of 160 people or 35 families. Then we have Tallerda Arquitectura by Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo. They propose a house that explores the vernacular materials like adobe and wood and construction techniques in two volumes intersecting in a portico. It was thought for Tlaxcala. Then we have Alberto Calac, Tax Arquitectura X. This hexagonal form of this house allows for aggregation in multiple orientations. Allows for abundant cross ventilation as no less than three walls on each level always remain open, oriented toward winds from any direction. The scale and orientation define its urban condition. The pre-rotation and grouping plans allow maximum flexibility. Then we have Griffin Enright. He proposed a world home. This project presents flat facade as its public front, but it has an overwhelming roof that has been difficult in construction. Then we have Tatiana Bilbao Studio from Tatiana. She plans separate program volumes around an open and enclosed courtyard. This proposal ties the private home to communal space without the undifferentiated repetition and identical of standard housing types. Most significant for this project is its social character, a result of a free organization of single program volumes around a publicly accessible primary element, which is the courtyard. Then we have Francisco Pardo. He proposed an exterior yard delimited by a standard modular fence. This fence works a community scale creating individual green space. This house has no clear front, and its primary element is a standard typological shape of like a generic house. Then we have Enrique Norden, Orten Architectos. He designed a modular metal frame structure sitting on concrete footings using standard angle connections that are efficient in cost and speed of construction. The house is also raised on this metal frame to avoid flooding. It was thought for Xochimilco. This project will accommodate some solar panels and water collection and storage systems. Then we have Sago. Sago is one of the biggest houses that we will have in Apan. It is arranged around two courtyards, one semi-public and another private. The home expands already generous interior through living spaces toward the exterior. Despite its walled edges, the house claims a more civic presence, and it will have a brightly roof. Then we have the funny proposal of Pita and Bloom, which with their familiar geometries and shapes we appear within these residents are applied to a new party wall or Medianera. I hope it's party walling is correct. In a manner that recasts typically inflexible boundaries between interior and exterior. Front and backyard, open and closed. They recuperate vernacular forms, material and constructive methods. The primary element of this house is the wall, which is almost graphic. Then we have Bernardo Gomez Pimienta or BGP. He designed with a future expansion in mind. This housing unit understands that one cannot limit or condition the characteristics and materials of the expansion. The initial constructive construction allows for significant infill, almost the triple of the initial home square footage. He devotes half of its footprint to outdoor spaces, and it's a very social project proposing commercial activities in it. Then we have Celera and Moye. They proposed a housing where all activity takes place in both interior and exterior. Every day life moves freely between enclosed interiors, semi-open roofed areas, covered terraces, and entirely open exterior spaces. It is a logic of edge-to-edge or corner-to-corner intersection that allows a freely informed arrangement of individual non-programmed volumes across the landscape. Here it is Accidental, Estudio Arquitectura, which is an office by Susana Pantoja and Gerardo Galicia. They constructed out lightweight columns and beams, allowing for easy reconfiguration and assembly. They hang everything in multiple levels from this structural frame. The home shifts ceiling heights based on programming. Spaces are separated without the extensive use of walls or doors and become more private with each level. All the unit growth, horizontal and vertical, occurs within the limits of this frame. Then we have Nuno Magregor and the Wen. It's a portico space created fluid and flexible living between interior and exterior. Its non-structural partitions allow for similar flexibility of the unit interior. It is a straightforward recuperation of vernacular house type. It's generous both in provision of the porch space and the interior layout. The master, Felix Sanchez, which is this one, Felix, begins with a basic square module that can be subdivided or multiplied. The initial building combines four of these small modules around the square central patio to create a cruciform-planned home. The house is open both at its center with a private interior courtyard and it is in the edges with publicly accessible and programmed corners. Then we have Carlos and Paloma Vera, which they propose a highly compact house and an initial seat for future growth. This proposal is designed to expand from its portico by a way of easily constructable, cheap and inhabitant-initiated additions. They use a special block called matching block, which is amazing, but it's also difficult. Here is Fernanda Canales' proposal. She proposed a house formed by a basic 35 square meter module with the ability to add additional modules, all articulated through patios. Patio dimensions are viable, determined according to the requirements of inhabitants and the desired proximity between multiple unit modules. The efficient concentration of facilities allow the organic arrangement of the dwelling and the flexible addition of modules according to future needs. The primary element is a sloped shed roof that can slop, I don't know, in either identical or opposite directions. Then we have Irene Thompson, architecture, that seeks to maximize interior architectural quality with a minimum building. It does not emphasize exterior form, but interior effects, like with a well proportioned and lead spaces. Then we have ProducTora. ProducTora, here the house is organized around three corridor access, one private, one public, and one of services. They are connected with this bolt, and all spaces are independently accessible and need not to rely on other spaces. Then we have Ricardo Agras' proposal. He organized a house around three walls running in its length, intended to reduce the cost and duration of construction by diminishing overall structure. These three walls give clear and efficient structural logic, creating a simple clear span interior. The bolted ceiling element translates the simplicity and efficiency of the building's structural system into an insulated, generously detailed interiors. Then we have Rodkin, who intends to demonstrate and develop the use of local vernacular building materials and systems while maintaining sufficient simplicity to allow from inhabitant-initiated construction. All constructive elements maintain their commercial dimensions to minimize waste. The house foregrounds passive means of environmental control, including burning portions of its facade in areas where interior light and building entry are demanded less. Then we have Táctica, which is an office by Juan Martín and Carlos Morán. They use the smallest possible number of components to achieve a greater economy of means, while using the most adaptable and modified forms possible. This is also the second biggest plot. Then we have Gaeta and Springal from Julio Gaeta and Luis Springal. The house is designed to transform the size and materiality of low-income housing while maintaining a strong relationship with its surrounding environment. This project primary element is its square shed roofed module. It was a mess. We did it last week. It was a mess. Then we have Taier Adegé from Alonso de Garay. He employed Stonewood reclaimed brick adobe and other vernacular materials. This house is composed of six modules, three of housing and three of services. Okay, we'll go faster. Taier 4M is Israel Rodríguez. I will do this proposal revolves around three by three meters structural grid. Here are some pictures. I am almost done. Then here is Cross Studio. Cross Studio is a model that is a double wall construction that assist with passive heating and cooling while full height windows and doors within each model maximize frost ventilation no matter the prevailing wind direction. I like the cold yards. Then we have Juan Carral and Victoria Bergengy. The primary element of these projects are the structure and the expansive roof that it supports. Here are some pictures as you can see it. And finally the CPP that is Alfonso de la Concha and Pablo Pérez Palacios. These proposals was thought for Coahuila. It's proximity to the U.S. by combining the typological characteristics of standard rural buildings with American one-level portico. They created this for the... Okay, now we also developed some project furnish to furnish these prototypes. We work with five industrial designers and develop these special lines of furniture to store, sleep and eat these housing prototypes. There are here are some examples of whatever. This is Ambrosi Echegaray. We have Dele Camp, Tatiana Bilbao and Fernanda Canales. And this is the Welcome Center. And while this special place will be open next November 26th, we want two people to sleep there and research in social housing. So hopefully next year you can come there and we can have this this conference there or something. You can sleep there. We can invite you. And that's it.