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Architects: LEGORRETA
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:David Harrison
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Manufacturers: GRAPHISOFT
Text description provided by the architects. The terminal is being built on a site located in Otay, San Diego, to streamline pedestrian crossings at the Mexico-US border.
Inspired by the wings of a paper airplane seen from the tip; the concept was born from which the 6,000 m2 building was designed, which houses all the necessary filters for the entry and exit of border users, security areas, and commercial zones, and connects with the Tijuana International Airport through a bridge of almost 2,000 m2.
In the shade of an ash tree that coexists with a water mirror, the user is received in a central courtyard with an open sky that constitutes the heart of the project since it acts as an articulating node dividing flows and functions.
Taking advantage of the benign climate of the area and choosing vernacular materials and vegetation, a space is built in which this scale is a more comforting experience for those who travel from one country to another.
Its large horizontal overhangs together with a strong but simple geometry make it a "threshold" to frame the crossing point between two Californias that are linked by their history, biculturalism, and geography.
The border crossing needed to have a direct connection between the migration departments of both countries to mitigate the traffic that congregates at the current checkpoint, so OTAY becomes an unprecedented contribution to the region.
A much-needed bridge in this new era of coexistence between the two nations.
