On March 31, Mexico-based firm LANZA Atelier exhibited three projects at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: 'Mesa Nómada', 'Shared Structures', and 'S/N (sin número).' The latter—created with support from FONCA—reclaims the city's 'Security and Citizen Participation Modules,' converting them into functional urban installations. Following the success of the exhibition, the museum has announced that 'S/N (sin número)' has joined its permanent collection. Read on to learn more about the project.
Text by Alessandro Arienzo.
Sin número (S/N) is a project that reclaims the existing structures of Mexico City's 'Security and Citizen Participation Modules' to repurpose them into urban infrastructure based on the principles of the UN's New Urban Agenda. The addresses of the modules are listed on the SEDUVI website as 'sin número' (S/N) because they are located in parks, medians, and leftover urban spaces—strategic locations with the potential for large-scale urban impact.
Around 400 of these structures were built in the 1980s as surveillance and emergency response centers. Today, however, surveillance is managed through an advanced security camera system called C4, and citizens can call for emergency services from mobile phones. Consequently, these structures were left dedicated solely to citizen participation, yet they remain closed-off structures accessible only to the police.
This project proposes viewing them as an urban infrastructure system. Each of the city's 16 boroughs has its own typology, offering the flexibility to be converted into spaces for various activities or to provide specific infrastructure.
The project also proposes that these safety modules be used collectively by the community. While the newly assigned programs act as a catalyst, the architectural transformations will allow users to take ownership of the spaces and engage with them. Through this collective effort, safety would improve in the areas surrounding these structures.
This article was written by Mónica Arellano. The translation is powered by AI.
