operadora. ©2024



operadora. is an architecture practice with presence in Mexico City and Syracuse, NY. 

Founded in Mexico City in 2014, operadora. approaches architecture as an expanded field of knowledge that operates across diverse media types. Through our work, we reimagine contemporary forms of construction, occupation, and communication, aiming to ultimately influence how architecture engages with and transforms the real world at various scales. 

Our multi-faceted, post-disciplinary understanding of architecture comes from a deep commitment to engaging with a context's specificities through a research-rich design methodology. Our portfolio reflects the breadth of our interests with projects ranging from commissioned work for residential, commercial, and urban interventions to experimental self-initiated work like books, exhibitions, websites, and video games. 

operadora. is led by Edgar Rodriguez.

People

Edgar Rodriguez, Principal
José García Bedoya, Architect 
Ana Mae Arozarena, Architect
Haonan “Eric” Ma, Intern


Former Team Members

Alexis Ávila, José Juan Garay, Cecilia Garay, Julia Villagomez, Diego Pulido, Fernanda Liba, Lauren Félix, Sofía Trueba, Alejandro Márquez, Andrés Suárez, Alejandra Cabrera, María José Richerand, Guadalupe Monjaraz, Julio Diaz, Diana Monroy, Simón Bissu. 


Previous Collaborations

salazarsequeromedina, Papa Ferrari, Anna Goga, Artur Makhmutov, Alberto Vera Zavala, Raghava Lakshminarayana, Ignacio Cabrera, Rodrigo Montera, Melissa Ávila, Juan Rivera.

Awards

2024Architect’s Newspaper Best of Practice - Architect Small Firm–Mexico, Honorable Mention
2024Architizer A+ Awards 2024 - Architecture +Low Cost Design Special Mention
2023Erich Mendelsohn Preis 2023 Special Mention for House in Singuilucan, Berlin, DEU
2023Fuxi River Seven Bridges Conceptual Design International Competition, Top 30 Finalist project in collaboration with Anna Goga and Artur Mahmutov, Moganshanzhen, CHN 
2022SKYHIVE Skyscraper Challenge 5, Second Place, Buildner
2022Installation on Obispo Bustamante Street for Concéntrico 08 Festival, Finalist, Logroño, ESP

2021Home Competition, Director’s Choice Award, Arch Out Loud
2018Nova Design Award, First Prize, Shanghai, CHN
2018Arquine Water Pavilion, Honorable Mention, Mexico City, MEX 
2017City Express Hotels Facade Redesign, First Prize, Mexico City, MEX 
2016Järfälla Login Gate, Finalist, Stockholm, SWE  
2015LIGA DF Open Call: Invisible Geometries, Finalist, Mexico City, MEX

Exhibitions / Lectures / Talks

2024Exhibition - 084 Brick Towers - Mextrópoli, Mexico City, MEX

2024Exhibition - Animals - The Gere Block Building, Syracuse, NY, USA
2023Lecture - Intermediality - Virginia Tech School of Architecture, Blacksburg, VA, USA
2023Panel Talk - Visual Representation - DigitalFUTURES
2023Lecture - Between Mediums and Formats - Young Prototypes seminar led by Laura Salzar and Pablo Sequero, Montana State University School of Architecture, Bozeman, MT, USA
2022Lecture - Housing Provocations - Domestic Affairs Lecture Series curated by Marcos Parga, Syracuse University School of Architecture, Syracuse, NY, USA
2022Exhibition - 00 Preludio - BY Galería de Arquitectura, Mexico City, MEX
2022Lecture - Beyond Sequestration and Adaptation - Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, USA
2022Lecture - Provocaciones en torno a la vivienda - Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, MEX
2021Panel Talk - Something Else - Syracuse, NY, USA
2021Symposium - Expanding Concepts Around Housing - Universidad Católica, Santiago, CHL
2021Exhibition - NUDGE 2.0 – the default of architecture - Antilia Gallery, ITA
2021Panel Talk - LIGA-ARCHIVOS “Archivo Activo - Raíces Digitales UNAM” - LIGA Space for Architecture, MEX
2020Lecture - Post-Internet Architecture - Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, MEX
2020Lecture - 100 Day Studio Day 37 - The Architecture Foundation, London, GBR
2020Lecture - 100 Day Studio Day 07 - The Architecture Foundation, London, GBR
2019Lecture - A quien corresponda: - Design Research Forum, Cambridge, USA
2019Exhibition - A quien corresponda: - Kirkland Gallery, Cambridge, USA
2018Exhibition - Utopía: De la ficción a lo factible - Arch Days, Mexico City, MEX
2018Panel Talk - Nova Design Award Finalists Panel Discussion - Shanghai, CHN
2018Exhibition - Nova Design Award Exhibition - Shanghai, CHN
2018Exhibition - Arquine Water Pavilion Finalists Exhibition - Mextrópoli, Mexico City, MEX
2018Lecture - Order, Representation, Internet - Universidad Iberoamericana, Puebla, MEX

Publications

2024House in Singuilucan The Game in DISC Journal Issue 3 - Edgar Rodriguez and Sander Verbeek
2023A continuous set of rules. Operate between naivety and pragmatism by Camila Ulloa and Pablo Rojas Böttner - Revista rita_20
2022Hyper-personalization: An AI-aided Methodology - urbanNEXT
2022NFLNBAMLBMLSNHLPGAATPWWE™ in 30 Días Proyectando, edited by RA! and Mentes
2022Digital Spaces of Denunciation in Patio Magazine Issue 2 - Real Talk, Edgar Rodriguez and Carlos Ortega Arámburo
2022Re-digitization ™: Between two realities in Dysprosium Magazine #1. Edgar Rodriguez
2021Blank: Speculations on CLT. Edited by Jennifer Bonner and Hanif Kara. Edgar Rodriguez: Research, illustrations, and contributor
2018La Bienal de Venecia 23 Exhibition Catalog. Edited in collaboration with mono-nom, Maria Marín de Buen, Luis Young, and Ana Nuño de Buen

Press

2024Interview in Arquitetura Entre Vistas Abroad.
2023House in Singuilucan - Interiors Korea, April 2023
2023House in Singuilucan - The Architect’s Newspaper, January/February 2023
2022The House in Singuilucan is an expression in horizontality and linearity - STIRworld
2021Interview "El proceso de hacer referencia” (MENTES)
2021Work included in the book "Entering Architectural Practice" by James Tait published by Routledge
2020The A to Z of Surfaces - CLT (Metropolis Magazine)
2020Representación arquitectónica: la clave para transformar el carácter de la arquitectura contemporánea (ArchDaily Mexico)

2020Work in Progress: Edgar Rodriguez’s Cross-Laminated Timber Experiments (Harvard University Graduate School of Design)
2019A QUIEN CORRESPONDA: diseñadores mexicanos en Harvard, Mail Art y disidencia (Dubius Ediciones)

2019"A quien corresponda". Entrevista con Inés Benítez y Edgar Rodríguez (Arquine)
2019"A Quien Corresponda", an Exhibition that Seeks to Recognize Mexican design in the USA (ArchDaily World)
2018'Utopía' y 'Proyecta' reúnen a más de 20 despachos para exponer el presente y el futuro de la arquitectura mexicana (ArchDaily Colombia)
2018Utopía: de la ficción a lo factible (ArchDaily Mexico)
2018Descifrando la planta arquitectónica (Arquine
2018La Bienal de Venecia 23, Ciudad de México (Arquine)2018La Bienal de Venecia 23 (ArchDaily Mexico)
2018Operadora triunfa en el NOVA Design Award proponiendo nuevas formas de habitar (ArchDaily Mexico)
2018Resultados del Concurso Pabellón del Agua (Arquine)
2018These 6 Firms Are Spearheading the Post-Digital Drawing Craze in Mexico (ArchDaily World)
2015Maneras de conducir (Arquine)



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Unless otherwise credited, all texts, images, drawings, animations, and videos are from the archives of operadora. and are © operadora. Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify authors and collaborators. We apologize for any errors or omissions that may have occurred. Please contact us should you have any corrections.

Last Update: 2409221645 / Mexico City, MEX.
© 2014 - 2024 operadora. All rights reserved.
Selected Projects / Archive


076a House in Singuilucan
Fictional Vernacular

A house which plan mirrors its elevation

Location: Singuilucan, Mexico
Program: Private Residence
Floor Area: 80 m2
Partner in Charge: Edgar Rodriguez
Photography: Dane Alonso
Status: Built
Year: 2021-2022   This small house sits on the northern edge of the Basin of Mexico on a ranch outside Singuilucan, Hidalgo. Inspired by the imagined architecture of the region that inhabits José María Velasco's landscape paintings, the house replicates the formal qualities of those distant and miniaturized buildings. In that way, this house is a physicalization of a fictional vernacular.
more...

Formally, the house takes the development of the facade as a medium to replicate the informal aggregation of volumes and horizontality characteristic of the architectural elements in Velasco's paintings. This irregular silhouette organizes the program linearly in a plan that mirrors the outline of the facade. In an attempt to further emphasize the flatness of the building, the wall extends beyond the limits of the rooms containing the program, creating a linear datum in the plan drawing. The limited programmatic requirements of the house are stretched out in a 100-foot-long irregular enfilade, incorporating a storage room at one end of the house and two outdoor spaces adjacent to each of the bedrooms.

Built of locally-produced brick in its entirety, the aesthetic expression of this building is a direct consequence of the material and technical constraints surrounding this project. The design responds by deploying a simple but visually striking continuous brick surface, making the house disappear in two dimensions, flattened again onto a digital-esque texture pattern. Toward the interior, the house reveals its structural reality, exposing all the concrete beams and columns that support the seemingly weightless brick surface.

The limited budget and the property's remote location limited access to specialized labor and materials. The design addresses these constraints through the simplicity of its detailing, construction processes, and limited material palette. The design, therefore, emphasizes scale, proportions, and the material expressivity of brick.


Press

Interiors Korea
STIRworld
The Architect's Newspaper
Avontuura
GRAD review
WOOOOOOOW.CN
Ambientes digital        

Awards

2023 Erich Mendelsohn Preis - Special Mention
2024 Architizer A+ Awards - Architecture +Low Cost Design Special Mention



Process

First sketches of the correlation between plan and elevation.
Schematic CAD drawings. 


Drawings


Selected Projects / Archive