The 2024 Obel Award has been granted to Colectivo C733 for their unique achievement in completing 36 public projects across Mexico over a span of just 36 months. These projects have begun as part of a nationwide initiative led by Mexico's Secretariat for Agrarian, Land, and Urban Development (SEDATU). Collectively named the 36x36 projects, the varied interventions have successfully revitalized a wide range of vulnerable urban and rural areas through a collaborative and community-focused approach. This aligns with the Obel Award's 6th cycle overarching theme, "Architectures with," highlighting initiatives that positively impact both people and the planet.
Colectivo C733 was formed in 2019 by the joint offices of architects Gabriela Carrillo (Taller Gabriela Carrillo), Carlos Facio y José Amozurrutia (TO), along with Eric Valdez (Labg) and Israel Espin. Responding to the challenge launched by SEDATU, the architects teamed up, recognizing the importance of collaborative discussions, idea exchanges, and the sharing of knowledge and experience.
Coming together as a meta-architectural collective, the collaboration was unique in its ability to involve 30 architects and a multidisciplinary team of consultants, rapidly transforming what is typically a lengthy process into one completed in just a few months. As their first project emerged from the competition organized by SEDATU in collaboration with UNAM, many of its members are current or former students or faculty from the UNAM School of Architecture.
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An Architectural System for the Transformation of Public Space: Discover the Work of Colectivo C733 in MexicoInspired by the principles of Uruguayan engineer Eladio Dieste, Colectivo C733's work is marked by modular, flexible, and cost-efficient design principles. These allow for multiple iterations and adaptations, grounding each project in its specific context while fostering a sense of architectural kinship among them. Through their 36 projects, Colectivo C733 has set a new precedent in urban and rural revitalization, showcasing how architects can adeptly navigate various challenges while meeting community needs.
Colectivo C733 exemplifies the power of collective action and collaborative design to rapidly respond to urgent urban needs. Their ability to transform 36 communities through thoughtful, resource-efficient, and dignified architectural interventions is a blueprint for future public works projects worldwide. - Excerpt from Jury Statement
Supported by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation, the Obel Award is presented annually with each edition focusing on a specific theme that addresses a unique challenge within the built environment. Past editions have explored themes like Adaptations, Emissions, Cities, Mending, and Well-being, each highlighting pioneering projects that showcase a different way of working with the built and natural environment. For this cycle's edition, the theme challenges the traditional roles within architecture to encourage more inclusive and adaptable environments.
Read on to discover the complete list of 36 public projects completed by Colectivo C733, along with descriptions provided by the Obel Award, followed by the official Jury Statement. The jury of the 2024 edition is chaired by Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, co-founder of Snøhetta in Norway, and comprises Nathalie de Vries, founding partner of MVRDV; Louis Becker, design principal and partner at Henning Larsen; Dr. Wilhelm Vossenkuhl, professor emeritus of philosophy from Germany; XU Tiantian, founding principal of DnA in Beijing; Aric Chen, general and artistic director of the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam; and Sumayya Vally, founder and principal at Counterspace.
1. Matamoros Market
Matamoros, Tamaulipas (2019)
In an abandoned lot within a residential neighborhood, the market organizes commercial traffic that flows through an oasis bordered by a clay quarry.
2. Helios Sports Complex
Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila (2019-2020)
A multipurpose sports space that, through its walls, organizes public space, creating porches, seating areas, and extended shadows with a single architectural element. This design transparently defines boundaries with the landscape and democratizes access to sports events, integrating itself as a true public space.
3. Guadalupe Market
Tapachula, Chiapas (2020)
A commercial space that takes advantage of existing trees and connects a neighborhood 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.
4. Tapachula Station
Tapachula, Chiapas (2020)
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.
5. Tamulté Sports Complex
Tamulté de las Sabanas, Tabasco (2020)
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.
6. Nacajuca Sports Complex
Nacajuca, Tabasco (2020)
A topography defines the river's course, manages pedestrian paths, and organizes new sports activities such as handball, tennis, and an athletics track, using local clay to create a new relationship between residents and the water.
7. House of Music
Nacajuca, Tabasco (2020)
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.
8. Tenosique Market
Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)
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.
9. Casino
Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)
Located on the corner of 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 center, a large space allows for multipurpose activities.
10. San Juan Park
Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)
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.
11. Colosio
Tenosique, Tabasco (2020-2021)
The lack of water in the neighborhood 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
Balancán, Tabasco (2021)
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.
13. Graciela Plaza and Viewpoint
Balancán, Tabasco (2021)
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.
14. Balancán Baseball Field
Balancán, Tabasco (2021)
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.
15. Balancán Mercatram
Balancán, Tabasco (2021)
Two long volumes connect pedestrians and public spaces with commercial and community service areas for the elderly in the neighborhood. 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.
16. Balancán Riverside Plaza
Balancán, Tabasco (2021)
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.
17. Bacalar Central Plaza and Streets
Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)
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-color lagoon. These pathways also become pedestrian paths with different surface materials in the plaza. A central kiosk made of grass connects all the paths.
18. Bacalar Mercateca
Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)
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 color of the seven-color lagoon to blend into the landscape.
19. Bacalar Playground and Soccer Field
Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)
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.
20. Bacalar Sports Field
Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)
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.
21. Bacalar Baths
Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)
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.
22. Ecoparque Bacalar
Bacalar, Quintana Roo (2021-2022)
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.
23. Xpujil Municipal Hall and Public Plaza
Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)
At the town's center, a topography built between limestone walls and native vegetation combines office and public service areas with open-air plazas and gardens.
24. Xujil Cultural Center/Sports Space
Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)
Under the same clay roof, a multipurpose sports court surrounded by classrooms and workshops enhances the public spaces available in the town center.
25. Xpujil Library
Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)
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.
26. Xpujil Mercatram
Xpujil, Campeche (2021-2022)
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.
27. San Blas Public Plaza
San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)
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 center of the plaza, a lightweight metal structure supports a clay lattice that offers shaded areas for outdoor activities.
28. San Blas Corridor
San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)
On the main street connecting the central plaza of San Blas with the Old Customs House and pier, pedestrian mobility is prioritized 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.
29. San Blas Old Church
San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)
A 16th-century church in the town center is restored to its original state and repurposed as a space for local artistic expression.
30. Aduana San Blas Cultural Center
San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)
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 the rooftop level to connect the buildings. On the ground level, the lush vegetation coexists with clay carpets inspired by local pre-Hispanic designs.
31. San Blas Pier
San Blas, Nayarit (2021-2022)
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-meter-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.
32. Ayoxuxtla Access
Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)
A polyhedron of compacted earth marks the entrance to the town, with three visible sides symbolizing land, liberty, and justice—principles of Zapatismo and the Plan of Ayala.
33. Ayoxuxtla Elementary School
Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)
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.
34. Zapata Museum
Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)
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 center, serving as a living testimony to the historical significance of the town during the Revolution.
35. Ayoxuxtla Central Plaza and Streets
Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)
The plaza functions as a connector within the complex topography, linking the existing commercial spaces, the tortilla production center, 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.
36. Ayoxuxtla Clinic
Ayoxuxtla, Puebla (2021-2022)
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.
Jury Statement
For the 2024 focus - Architectures with - the Jury wishes to emphasize the urgency of rethinking conventional mindsets and ways of practice in collaboratively and collectively responding to the ever-growing vulnerability of people and the 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.
Based in Mexico, Colectivo C733 is a self-initiated group of architects that formed in response to an ambitious national effort to revitalize vulnerable urban and rural areas set out by SEDATU (the Mexican Secretariat for Agrarian, Land, and Urban Development). The collective points towards new approaches for addressing urgent and overwhelming needs in disadvantaged communities by remarkably delivering 36 diverse intervention projects in 36 months (36x36). And they did so by negotiating a complex web of ever-shifting 'withs', while deftly navigating social, political, environmental, and financial challenges.
By designing together, 'with' a constantly fluctuating roster of stakeholders, and while utilizing 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.
Initiated by Gabriela Carrillo, Carlos Facio, José Amozurrutia, Eric Valdez, and Israel Espin, a clue to the success of Colectivo C733 lies in their name: Synthesising on the ideas of Uruguayan engineer Eladio Dieste, the group endeavored to design projects and public spaces that are Logical (7), Efficient (3), and Economical (3) – also in a Cosmic way (C).
This strategic approach enabled C733 to generate a modular, flexible, and low-cost building system that allows for numerous combinations and iterations to be contextualized, resulting in a family of works with a distinct architectural kinship. Therefore, although the projects vary greatly in community, context, and typology - ranging from sports, health, and education facilities to markets, community centers, public space, and cultural buildings - there is a dignified and tectonic signature tying the 36x36 together.
The commitment and dedication to community, and the informed, responsive, and rapid design that Colectivo C733 has produced, is a hopeful approach that the Jury believes can be learned from and adapted around the world.
