Centering Community: PILARES

Current Work is a lecture series featuring leading figures in the worlds of architecture, urbanism, design, and art.

The fall 2022 Current Work series examines new models for meeting essential community needs while creating environmentally responsible and architecturally significant structures.

Mexico City’s PILARES (Puntos de Innovación, Libertad, Arte, Educación y Saberes, or Points of Innovation, Freedom, Art, Education, and Knowledge) projects are a series of over 250 (built and in-progress) public community centers. Located predominantly in low-income neighborhoods, these centers provide spaces for a wide range of free programs, including arts, sports, education, and professional development.

In 2020, the mayor’s office commissioned 25 notable design firms and partnerships to create architecturally ambitious PILARES centers. This Current Work program will feature presentations covering nine of these projects.