Book launch.
A book by Alberto Kritzler and Rodrigo Rivero Borrell, in which they reflect — from their own perspective — on what it means to make city, and on the challenges Reurbano has faced as a real estate developer over ten years of rescuing abandoned buildings, intervening on them, and rehabilitating them.
At the launch, both authors and architects shared opinions and perspectives, all convinced that Reurbano has been a laboratory: each project has sought to make a positive impact on the city, weaving together visions, disciplines, and proposals. The result is a conscious developer that invests in Mexico City's historic neighborhoods to recover the urban richness of pre-existing heritage through regeneration and recycling.
Among the city's most emblematic neighborhoods where Reurbano has rehabilitated listed buildings are Condesa, Juárez, Roma, Centro, Escandón, and Tacubaya — neighborhoods of great architectural diversity and cultural and historical depth, where architects have had to rethink the city to offer residents a sustainable community within an urban setting. In other words, to transform a place so that it recovers the beauty that once defined it.
"Transforming the city is not just the job of the architect or the urbanist, but of the citizens too. We like to think of a building as one more neighbor — what does that building cause out there?" — Alberto Kritzler.
In this book, readers will get a small glimpse of what it means to "make city," through several developments rehabilitated by Reurbano in collaboration with renowned architects such as Juan Carral O'Gorman, Eduardo Cadaval, Francisco Pardo, Julio Amezcua, and their respective practices — architects who have had to question the city's regulations to deliver developments that prioritize the pedestrian over the vehicle, and that create communities integrating housing, commerce, and offices. At times that has meant uphill work with the authorities; it has also meant successful collaboration with architects, designers, lawyers, financiers, and everyone else involved in the major undertaking of making city.
In Paola Tovar's words, "This book is not only for architects, but for anyone interested in improving and having a positive impact on the city."
We invite you to look for it in bookstores and to learn about Reurbano's journey — what it means to make city through ten years as a real estate developer.
