10/09/2026
Images from the culminating thesis degree project “Earth and Event” by Alex Piña (.pina19), M.Arch. ’26.
“This thesis is situated in El Paso along the U.S.-Mexico border, where the cancellation of a controversial redevelopment initiative left the historic Duranguito Neighborhood partially demolished, inaccessible, and at risk of permanent loss. This condition raises broader questions about the adaptive reuse of historic urban fabric and opens the possibility for alternative approaches to preservation. In response, Earth and Event proposes a major performance venue constructed from adobe, masonry, and timber as an alternative model for how contemporary architecture can engage a historic district without erasing it. The research navigates overlapping tensions such as the political conflicts embedded in the borderland context, the programmatic friction between a large contemporary arena and a historic neighborhood, and the negotiation between old and new technologies and systems. In doing so, the thesis argues that historic preservation is not merely a question of what is saved, but of how building itself can become an act of cultural continuity.”
Faculty advisor: Professor in the Practice Nathan Friedman ()
