Don Juan and Doña Socorro: I met Don Juan and Doña Socorro in January 2012, during one of my PhD field trips to Mexico. Both were over 80 years old, and lived on the “Hill of the Mask”. They passed away few years ago. This text is a homage to their legacy. This couple were the guardians of an archaeological site formed by stone-glyphs craved more than 1,000 years … Continue reading The Sustainable House of Don Juan and Doña Socorro
Canal Nacional. Mexico City. 2021. Ernesto Valero Thomas The year is 2021. Mexico City and its immediate surroundings have experienced a persistent ecocide on their lands and bodies of water for at least 60 years. During half of this time (the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s) the dystopian narrative reached its peak. It shaped a bleak … Continue reading Drops in the Valley: Claiming Waterscapes in Mexico City
Sustainable Orientalism. I have explored this concept since 2011. It has helped me to identify and expose discourses, representations, and institutions that separate the notion of Sustainable Development in 'advanced' (Western Europe, North America) and 'less advanced' (Latin America, Africa, South Asia) regions. To counter this, I advocate the construction of hybrid cartographic systems of … Continue reading Sustainable Orientalism: Western Fantasies of Mexico and their Representations
Architecture, Ecology & Cities 