The Interface: Sharing the border though constructing optimal separation with water at the US-Mexico border

The US-Mexico border comprises a de facto third nation where economic and social symbiosis exists in spite of the militarized security regime and political rhetoric. The border region is a paradox in that the regime that is supposed to keep people apart acts as a magnet drawing them together. In the center of this paradox, is the dysfunctional twin city of El Paso and Juarez. The graduation studio looks specifically at how specific border conditions can be utilized and to develop architectural, urban, ecological, economical, industrial, and political projects that address the simultaneous violence of the border and its amazing potential as a catalyst for any activity that takes place within its locale. Particularly, this thesis looks at water, the physical entity that separates USA and Mexico at the locality of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. This thesis looks specifically at what kind of urban and architectural intervention to exploit the border conditions and deal with water issues at the same time. The objective of the graduation thesis is to tackle problems of water storage, flood prevention and lack of public spaces through an integrated architectural intervention. The goal of the thesis is to construct an interface between USA and Mexico to allow people of both nations to share the border while offering optimal separationArchitecture and The Built EnvironmentArchitectureComplex Project