This was a student project by Theo Morrow for Jane Murphy's course ARCH 4410 in Autumn 2017. In order to be an effective member of the international diplomatic community, one mustn't solely focus on the countries they are occupying or representing. Instead, one should strive for a global perspective, one which acknowledges both the place they physically occupy and the shared experience of living on earth. 19°25'43.8N 99°09'59.7W pushes this ideology through ecological and experiential means. To make a building appropriate for Mexico city, sustainability was key. The massing of the building runs east to west to take advantage of north/ south wind direction for passive ventilation. Along the perimeter of the site, a series of bioswales alleviate stress on storm drains during flooding and interject defensible green space around the building. Geologically, the building accounts for earthquakes, staying mostly low to the ground and using a system of dampers and piers to alleviate seismic stress on the diplomatic program which hovers over the site. Experientially, building occupants are forced to occupy decontextualized space before entering their desired program. These monumental six voids border the site and are illuminated only by natural light which cascades down articulated piers. In these spaces, people are to observe changing phenomenon throughout the day and reevaluate their own scale in the world. The meeting of the monumental and human scale components creates an embassy which is both of Mexico city and the earth as a whole, a framework within which one can observe their context and step outside of it. 19°25'43.8N 99°09'59.7W is simultaneously an embassy of a very specific place and an embassy of nowhere, fulfilling diplomatic needs and reshaping the conceptualization of international diplomacy as a more global, intersectional whole.
