Exploring the human-scaled city of the future

A David Rockefeller Center for Latin America funded design research experiment

2015 |  Mexico City |  Cambridge, MA

In Mexico City, a metropolis plagued by traffic congestion, we sought to explore, discover, and document the way in which bicycling defines and transforms one’s perception of the city. Our field research involved joining and documenting people’s human-powered journeys through the urban landscape. We logged over 2,000 km and conducted 100+ interviews.

Our research toolkit was multimedia in nature, comprised of extended interviews, cognitive and data mapping, live blogging, sketches, video and photographic documentation.

Through serialized observation and data collection, we generated a more comprehensive and textured depiction of biking culture in Mexico City, the lived experience of its bicyclists, and the role of the built environment in shaping notions of inclusion, mobility, and safety in the city.