Architectures With

THE PROJECT

The 2024 OBEL AWARD has been awarded to a body of 36 public works by Colectivo C733. The projects, all of them located in Mexico, were completed in just 36 months – an extraordinary achievement. Initiated as part of a nationwide effort by SEDATU (Mexico’s Secretariat for Agrarian, Land, and Urban Development), the 36×36 projects revitalised vulnerable urban and rural areas across Mexico through a collaborative and community-focused approach.

According to the jury, the strength of the collective partly lay in the fact that, by designing together, ‘with’ a constantly fluctuating roster of stakeholders, and while utilising shared skills and resources, they were able to bring together 30 architects and a multidisciplinary team of consultants, learning to compress a process that previously could have taken years into just a few months — something practically unheard of by today’s industry standards.

See Projects

36 Projects in 36 Months

The work of C733

**01 Matamoros Market:** In an abandoned lot within a residential neighbourhood, the market organises commercial traffic that flows through an oasis bordered by a clay quarry. Matamoros, Tamaulipas (2019)

**02 Helios Sports Complex**: A multipurpose sports space that, through its walls, organises public space, creating porches, seating areas, and extended shadows with a single architectural element. This design transparently defines boundaries with the landscape and democratises access to sports events, integrating itself as a true public space. Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila (2019-2020)

**03 Guadalupe Market:** A commercial space that takes advantage of existing trees and connects a neighbourhood through a main promenade defined by light and vegetation. The lightweight roof, made of bamboo from local communities, manages wind, light, and water for the benefit of its inhabitants. Tapachula, Chiapas (2020)

**04 Tapachula Station:** Through the repetition of a structural frame, two scales of spaces are defined along an urban void previously occupied by the train station. The vibrant design of the section recognizes the urban fabric and modifies its facades, either inward or outward, as required by the program. A flexible space is managed for various activities, primarily focused on migrants and the local population. Tapachula, Chiapas (2020)

**05 Tamulté Sports Complex:** A new topography, built with local clay, manages a series of sports spaces that adapt to rising water levels caused by climate change. This allows activities to continue while promoting the culture of tree planting and encouraging playful interaction with the aquatic landscape. Tamulté de las Sabanas, Tabasco (2020)

**06 Nacajuca Sports Complex:** A topography defines the river’s course, manages pedestrian paths, and organises new sports activities such as handball, tennis, and an athletics track, using local clay to create a new relationship between residents and the water. Nacajuca, Tabasco (2020)

**07 House of Music:** With three inclined planes and eight axes oriented toward the river, the project addresses water in all its dimensions: collection, treatment, recycling, and returning clean water to the river. It opens the city through a public plaza that connects the main hall with smaller rooms and defines a materiality suitable for its acoustic program, using coconut wood and local clay, promoting cross ventilation and natural light. Nacajuca, Tabasco (2020)

**08 Tenosique Market:** Located on one of the main corners of the public square, it features commercial spaces on the ground floor and dining spaces on the upper floor, surrounding a central patio and creating public balconies with tables and chairs for diners enjoying the view of the city. Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)

**09 Casino:** Located on the corner with San Juan Park, it breaks urban boundaries with two axes creating a public porch built with brick and vegetation. The social program is defined by this porch facing the street and another porch with rooms for cultural workshops, integrated into gardens. In its centre, a large space allows for multipurpose activities. Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)

**10 San Juan Park:** The park connects, through its compositional axes, with the Casino and defines, through a brick and vegetation porch, the structure that covers the multipurpose court. Other activities, such as the bike park, bowl, and children’s games, intertwine with the planting of over 100 precious wood trees typical of the area, forests that have been severely deforested in the last century. Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)

**11 Colosio:** The lack of water in the neighbourhood and the presence of a wetland led us to propose a series of flexible and commercial spaces that revolve around the existing wetland, fostering a new relationship between water and its inhabitants. Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)

**12 Palenque Park:** The small scale of this park and its proximity to various schools promoted the idea of creating a shade structure that also serves as a playground with diverse activities like swings, natural slides, and climbing frames. It is a playful space built with three triangles and a topography that channels water. Balancán, Tabasco (2021)

**13 Graciela Plaza and Viewpoint:** The Viewpoint occupies a privileged site next to the Usumacinta River. The original structure created a distance between the water and the adjacent plaza. Thus, Graciela Viewpoint addresses a cultural and community program elevated from the sidewalk, allowing the river to extend toward the public plaza, which features children’s areas, rest spaces, and exercise areas for all residents. Finally, the upper floor of the clay thatch, which also serves as a sun lattice, offers residents a view of the river from above. Balancán, Tabasco (2021)

**14 Balancán Baseball Field**: A brick platform connects the street with a series of commercial spaces. The end sections connect the ground floor with the upper floor, where the bleachers are located, through ramps that create a path. Finally, a lightweight roof made of wood and metal floats over this topographic piece to provide shade. Balancán, Tabasco (2021)

**15 Balancán Mercatram:** Two long volumes connect pedestrians and public spaces with commercial and community service areas for the elderly in the neighbourhood. A square-shaped volume frees up its ground floor to create a flexible area for various activities and a waiting area for a multimodal public transport connection. On the upper floor, roofs allow natural light and air circulation, offering community services such as a library and workshops for young people and children. Balancán, Tabasco (2021)

**16 Balancán Riverside Plaza:** Through a simple strategy of widening the pedestrian path, adding vegetation and lighting, a new softer pavement, and the ability to descend to the river at four stations, a new strategy is built to connect people with the river at various levels. The descent consists of public plazas that also serve as seating areas to enjoy the natural water breeze. Balancán, Tabasco (2021)

**17 Bacalar Central Plaza and Streets:** Through a strategy of filtering galleries, this public space becomes an underground infrastructure that cleans black and grey water runoff due to the lack of drainage and prevents it from reaching the seven-colour lagoon. These pathways also become pedestrian paths with different surface materials in the plaza. A central kiosk made of grass connects all the paths. Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)

**18 Bacalar Mercateca:** A system of four porticoed spaces with concrete columns and three porticoed spaces with a lightweight steel structure separates pedestrians from vehicle traffic and houses commercial spaces, while at its heart, a library surrounded by gardens is housed. The lightweight roof takes on the colour of the seven-colour lagoon to blend into the landscape. Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)

**19 Bacalar Playground and Soccer Field:** The access point and boundary of the commercial space are marked by a recreational and playful area, along with a series of walkways that connect the heart of the block with a public soccer field. These connections are essential for providing flexible spaces and childcare for parents who accompany their children to work. Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)

**20 Bacalar Sports Field:** A vegetated embankment defines a baseball field within a complex that also includes a basketball court, children’s play areas, exercise equipment, and tree-lined public plazas in the heart of Bacalar’s residential zone. Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)

**21 Bacalar Baths:** Following the natural topography of the terrain, a sequence of stepped platforms toward the lagoon serves both as a free-access recreational area and as rain gardens that clean the water flowing down from Bacalar’s higher areas into the lagoon. Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)

**22 Ecoparque Bacalar:** Located in one of the last remaining mangrove territories in Bacalar’s urban area, a wooden boardwalk traverses the site, offering a biodiversity observatory for learning and protection. The journey through the jungle, mangrove, and lagoon is complemented by museum pieces that explain the site’s history and are part of a broader program of classrooms, workshops, and public services. Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)

**23 Xpujil Municipal Hall and Public Plaza:** At the town’s centre, a topography built between limestone walls and native vegetation combines office and public service areas with open-air plazas and gardens. Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)

**24 Xujil Cultural Center/Sports Space:** Under the same clay roof, a multipurpose sports court surrounded by classrooms and workshops enhances the public spaces available in the town centre. Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)

**25 Xpujil Library:** In a small plot in the residential area of Xpujil, a terrace with a gabled roof rests on stone walls, offering public services such as a library and café amidst surrounding gardens. Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)

**26 Xpujil Mercatram:** Sixteen modules of truncated pyramids, suspended on slender metal columns, provide flexible spaces for commercial activity and create a central mobility axis for local public transportation. Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)

**27 San Blas Public Plaza:** In the heart of San Blas, between the main church, town hall, shops, and restaurants, a clay pedestrian topography connects to surrounding streets and buildings. In the centre of the plaza, a lightweight metal structure supports a clay lattice that offers shaded areas for outdoor activities. San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)

**28 San Blas Corridor:** On the main street connecting the central plaza of San Blas with the Old Customs House and pier, pedestrian mobility is prioritised by widening sidewalks and reducing vehicle traffic. Tall trees are added for shade, along with a lighting system that encourages nighttime use, and benches that promote public activity. San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)

**29 San Blas Old Church:** A 16th-century church in the town centre is restored to its original state and repurposed as a space for local artistic expressions. San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)

**30 Aduana San Blas Cultural Center:** The remains of the former customs house at the port of San Blas have been transformed into the new Customs Cultural Center. The existing building has been restored to function as an art gallery, and the remains of an old staircase core made of clay are preserved as a historical relic. A new contemporary intervention includes a staircase core reinterpreting the clay as lattices, along with a new building for workshops, also built with clay, which complements the cultural offerings. An elevated walkway crosses the site at rooftop level to connect the buildings. On the ground level, the lush vegetation coexists with clay carpets inspired by local pre-Hispanic designs. San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)

**31 San Blas Pier:** An urban-scale public park inspired by the geometry of natural formations, such as marshes, combines pedestrian walkways, gardens, and bodies of water, forming a transition between the access street and the existing piers. At the end, a 96-metre-long canopy reminiscent of old wooden ships serves as a shaded area by the sea, a sports court, a ferry station, and a covered public plaza. San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)

**32 Ayoxuxtla Access:** A polyhedron of compacted earth marks the entrance to the town, with three visible sides symbolising land, liberty, and justice—principles of Zapatismo and the Plan of Ayala. Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)

**33 Ayoxuxtla Elementary School:** The school consists of six new classrooms, complemented by offices, restrooms, and storage spaces. These areas are arranged around a roofed plaza that serves as a multifunctional space for cultural, educational, and sports events. The structure, made of steel and pine wood, incorporates clay walls for thermal insulation. Additionally, it includes a soccer field and a community dining hall that provides services to both children and the community. Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)

**34 Zapata Museum:** This restored space houses objects, photographs, and historical memorabilia from the Mexican Revolution, collected through interviews with local families. Today, it functions as a library and public media centre, serving as a living testimony to the historical significance of the town during the Revolution. Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)

**35 Ayoxuxtla Central Plaza and Streets:** The plaza functions as a connector within the complex topography, linking the existing commercial spaces, the tortilla production centre, and the church. It creates two flexible spaces for multiple uses, taking advantage of the terrain and constructed with the local marble owned by the community. Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)

**36 Ayoxuxtla Clinic:** A public porch connected to the street provides a solution for people waiting outside, while inside, the three main structures create an interior garden overlooked by an inner portico designed for patients to wait. Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)

JURY’S STATEMENT

For the 2024 focus – Architectures with – the Jury wishes to emphasise the urgency of rethinking conventional mindsets and ways of practice in collaboratively and collectively responding to the ever growing vulnerability of people and planet. We can no longer think of simply designing ‘for’ communities and stakeholders, but must do so ‘with’ them.

In a time when architects and designers must find ways to manage ever greater complexities in order to secure healthy, safe and responsive environments for diverse communities to thrive, both human and non-human, it is promising to witness innovative examples like this year’s winner. Colectivo C733 points towards new approaches to the practice of designing and shaping our collectively built environment.

By designing together, ‘with’ a constantly fluctuating roster of stakeholders, and while utilising shared skill sets and resources, this architectural meta-collective has been able to compress processes that might previously have taken years into just a few months, usually unheard of within today’s industry standards.

This strategic approach enabled C733 to generate a modular, flexible and low-cost building system which allows for numerous combinations and iterations to be contextualised, resulting in a family of works with a distinct architectural kinship.

The commitment and dedication to community, and the informed, responsive and rapid design that Colectivo C733 have produced, is a hopeful approach that the Jury believe can be learned from and adapted around the world.

"Colectivo C733 exemplifies the power of collective action and collaborative design to rapidly respond to urgent urban and rural needs. Their ability to transform communities through thoughtful, resource-efficient, and dignified architectural interventions is a blueprint for future public works projects worldwide."

ABOUT C733

Colectivo C733 is composed of the offices of architects Gabriela Carrillo (Taller Gabriela Carrillo), Carlos Facio y José Amozurrutia (TO), along with Eric Valdez (Labg) and Israel Espin. They came together as a meta-architectural collective to design and deliver the projects under complex social, political, environmental, and financial constraints.

Colectivo C733 was established in 2019 to develop public projects. Many of its members are current or former students, as well as faculty from the UNAM School of Architecture. The collective’s first project emerged from a competition organised by SEDATU (Mexico’s Secretariat for Agrarian, Land, and Urban Development) in collaboration with UNAM. Their work focuses on addressing social inequalities and conflicts in highly vulnerable cities across Mexico.

Gabriela Carrillo Valadez

Carlos Enrique Facio Gaxiola

José Gabriel Amozurrutia Cortés

Israel Espin Rubio

Eric Valdez Olmedo

The Collectivo

About the Collectivo

2024 Obel Award Winner

Colectivo C733 was established in 2019 to develop public projects, bringing together the architectural studios of Gabriela Carrillo, Carlos Facio and José Amozurrutia (TO), Eric Valdez, and Israel Espín. Many of its members are current or former students, as well as faculty from the UNAM School of Architecture. The collective’s first project emerged from a competition organised by SEDATU (Mexico’s Secretariat for Agrarian, Land, and Urban Development) in collaboration with UNAM. Their work focuses on addressing social inequalities and conflicts in highly vulnerable cities across Mexico.

**GABRIELA CARRILLO VALADEZ**

Gabriela Carrillo started her namesake studio in 2019 as a collaborative and interdisciplinary space focused on architectural practice. She is a co-founder of Colectivo C733, developing public projects in Mexico, and was a partner at Taller Rocha Carrillo for over nine years. With more than twenty years of experience, she has received numerous accolades, including the Emerging Voices Award in 2014, the Federico Mariscal Chair—the highest professional recognition granted by the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM—the Médaille d’Or from the French Academy of Architecture, “Architect of the Year” by *Architectural Review* in London in 2017, *Architectural Digest* Mexico in 2020, and in 2023 she was awarded The Royal Academy Dorfman Award. She has been a member of the National System of Art Creators, and since 2021, she has been a full academic member of the Mexico City chapter of the Mexican Academy of Architecture.

She has been a professor at the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM since 2003, where she currently leads the research and graduation seminar Estudio RX. She has also taught at Harvard GSD, Kent State University, and the WAVE program in Venice, Italy, among others. Her work has been exhibited and awarded at various national and international biennials and has been published in national and international media such as *Domus*, *Casabella*, *Arquitectura Viva*, and *Architectural Review*, among others.

**CARLOS ENRIQUE FACIO GAXIOLA**

In 2015, he founded TO, a collaborative and interdisciplinary studio established in Mexico City, together with José Amozurrutia. His practice views architecture as a vehicle for human knowledge, capable of promoting a social and artistic stance, sensitive to natural processes. He is a co-founder of Colectivo C733, made up of four architecture firms to develop public projects in Mexico. He is currently a member of the National System of Art Creators.

Among his recognitions are the AR Emerging Awards in London 2023, the League Prize from The Architectural League of New York 2022, and the Grand Prize of the Pan-American Architecture Biennale of Quito BAQ 2023. His work has been exhibited and awarded at various national and international biennales and published in outlets such as Domus, Casabella, Arquitectura Viva, and Architectural Review, among others.

He is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM and has given various lectures and classes in national and international venues, such as Beijing Design Week 2019 and the WAVE program in Venice.

**ISRAEL ESPIN RUBIO**

An architect who graduated from the Max Cetto Workshop at the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM, Israel Espin worked from 2011 to 2018 at Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo’s Architecture Workshop, where he participated in the development of architectural projects of various scales and types. In 2018, he founded his own architecture studio, where he has developed housing, public space, and cultural projects, among others.

Since 2019, he has been a founding partner of the architectural design collective C733, through which he has worked on public architecture projects. In 2021, he joined as a collaborator at Taller Gabriela Carrillo.

His work, both individually and collectively, has been published in print and digital magazines in several countries and has received recognition at events such as the Mexico City Architecture Biennale, the National Architecture Biennale of Mexico, the Pan-American Architecture Biennale, and the Ibero-American Architecture and Urbanism Biennale. Additionally, he was a finalist for the MCHAP 2022 award with Colectivo C733.

He has been a guest professor at the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM and has given lectures on his work in various academic and architectural dissemination spaces in Mexico.

**ERIC VALDEZ OLMEDO**

An architect graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM, Eric Valdez Olmedo is currently a Master’s candidate in Architectural Design, focusing his research on “The Method in Design and the Generation of Resistant Forms.” For seven years, he worked continuously on research and technological innovation projects at the Structures Laboratory of the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM, collaborating with Dr. Juan Gerardo Oliva Salinas. He has also participated in research and dissemination efforts about the life and work of renowned architect Félix Candela, in collaboration with Dr. Juan Ignacio del Cueto Ruiz Funes.

He has taught courses on Lightweight Roofs at the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM and has led workshops on tensile structures at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM). His academic career includes several publications presented at national and international conferences on lightweight structures. He is currently a professor of construction and design courses at the José Villagrán García academic unit, part of the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM.

He is the founder of *labg*, a company dedicated to the design and construction of lightweight structures. Additionally, he is a co-founder of Colectivo C733, a working group focused on the design of public architectural projects that cover various typologies such as markets, sports centers, public plazas, community centers, and schools—projects that have received numerous national and international awards.

**JOSÉ GABRIEL AMOZURRUTIA CORTÉS**

He holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM and is the co-founder of TO, a firm created in 2015 along with his partner Carlos Facio. He is also a co-founder of Colectivo C733, a collaboration between four architecture firms (labg, Taller Gabriela Carrillo, Taller Israel Espín, and TO) dedicated to the development of public projects in Mexico.

He graduated with honors from the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM, where he received the Abraham Zabludovsky Award in 2008. Later, he obtained an Honorable Mention for the Francisco de la Maza Award in 2012 upon completing his Master’s in Contemporary Architecture Intervention in Historical Heritage. Since 2010, he has been a tenured professor teaching Projects and the Degree Seminar at Taller Max Cetto. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Architecture at UNAM, focusing his research on the circular life of constructions in Mexico City.

Throughout his career, he has led workshops and delivered lectures both in Mexico and abroad. Among his most notable recognitions, TO has received the AR Emerging Awards in London in 2023 and the League Prize from The Architectural League of New York in 2022. With Colectivo C733, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the Pan-American Architecture Biennale of Quito (BAQ) in 2023. His work has been exhibited and awarded at various biennials and has appeared in renowned publications such as Domus, Casabella, Arquitectura Viva, and Architectural Review.

In addition to his professional career, he is dedicated to his family—as a partner and father—and is also a sports enthusiast and musician by passion.

2023

Focus 2024: Architectures With

2024 Winner: C733