Housing Ecologies: Conversations on Transborder Living
February 14 and 15, 2026
Saturday, February 15, 2025
A public dialog with Renee Chow, Adriana Cuellar, Marcel Sánchez Prieto, Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman.
In this Conversation Renee Chow, Dean and Professor at the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley, reflects on her research and design work, which addresses housing as a critical framework for urban living. Her presentation explored the intersections of typology, density, and community connectivity, providing insight into how architectural strategies can foster equitable and resilient neighborhoods.
Adriana Cuéllar and Marcel Sanchez Prieto discusses a series of architectural projects that navigate the socio-political dynamics of housing along the Mexico–U.S. border. Their work integrates community-centric collaborations with Mexico’s worker housing authority, INFONAVIT, and civic engagement initiatives, including a multi-use cultural and educational center in Tijuana and community-driven housing strategies in San Diego.
Political theorist Fonna Forman and architect and urbanist Teddy Cruz discusses their ongoing project, the UCSD Community Stations, a cross-border infrastructure of ecosocial sanctuary spaces, that integrate social housing, public space and practices of citizenship culture.
Sunday, February 16, 2025
— Living Rooms at the Border / UCSD-CASA Community Station, San Ysidro, CA.
Introduction by Teddy Cruz & Andrea Torreblanca
Conversation with students -building on Christopher Alexander: On the intersection of social housing and public space; Socio-spatial ecologies for cultural and economic productivity.
— Casa de Las Ideas, Camino Verde, Tijuana, Mexico.
Introduction by Adriana Cuellar, Marcel Sanchez & Felipe Orensanz.
Conversation with students -building on the Mexicali Experimental Project: Housing ecologies in the Mexican context and the role of architecture as a catalyst for community resilience.