Established in 2010, Estudio MMX was born as a collaborative team based in Mexico City, focused on design processes for the diversity of scales in the territory. Founded by Jorge Arvizu, Ignacio del Río, Emmanuel Ramírez and Diego Ricalde, it seeks a practice of participation, whose work, synthesis of the team structure, promotes the consolidation of its experience through a collective dynamic. 

In the Master Class, they share under the theme of research and methodology of MMX. The co-founder Jorge Arvizu starts the class by introducing profound and complex historical background of Mexico. Then, the studio talks about the inspiration coming from local resource, and how they have a organic interaction with Mexico environment in their work. They explain the structure and design purpose, also the materials and crafts. MMX believes that order and original aspiration should be reserved in the design, and meaningful results are gained from collective cooperation. 

Yinjispace：What the role that Mexican architects have in integrating the whole industrial process?

Estudio MMX：We integrate them by supervising, no matter in the personal projects or public spaces. We require the clients to bring the supervising into the budget as a part of the design project. They pay us for site checking every week to make sure a steady progress and making plan B when incidents pop up. This is always the case when the constructor couldn’t figure things out, they would find a solution themselves to keep the work going instead of asking the architect for help. As a supervisor, we could visit the site more frequently and pay more attention to the doubts and misunderstandings, so as to give the solution. We can’t always intervene successfully for the clients have the final saying. If we are not hired to be the supervisor, the progress would be postponed. 

Yinjispace：Could you summarize briefly your overall design philosophy and approach?

Estudio MMX：We tried this, but with little gain. We often discuss one thing in the office before, that is, we have some specific interest points. Site, city, landscape, structure and geometry appeal us. Besides, we have some other basically-used strategies that we are not sure if they could be called methodology: reconciling, repetition, the efficiency of design. I think these could be concluded, and become our way of design. 

Yinjispace：How to choose architectural symbols like arch element in Mexico culture?

Estudio MMX：The curve in this project involves particular skills. It’s a public project, we suggest a plan that has flat roof and vertical columns, but without curve. When it is handed over to the local community, they give a pessimistic feedback. People work with Jojutla say that arch is more like their elements and identifies them. For us, project is made of two parts: architects and people, which bears outstanding significance. Arch is the element gathering the space from the middle. In the pictures we showed to you, there is a manor. It is an old-established factory of the start of the last century, turning into a wreckage now. Arch composes most part of the manor, so natives get very familiar with it.