Maquiladora is the result of a decade of research by Cruz into the border between the wealthy sprawl of suburban San Diego, California, and the ad hoc, scrappy shantytowns of Tijuana, Mexico. It is a scaffolding system that will allow Tijuana to achieve a greater level of density, a quality Cruz sees as essential to maintaining order in an urban setting already approaching entropy. The scaffolding functions as a frame upon which milk crates, tires, sheets of corrugated metal, rammed earth, and cinder blocks can be arranged, with a particular emphasis on vertical development. Cruz offers the simple modular and rapidly deployable scaffolding system but leaves the rest of the work and design up to the users.
Gallery label from Born out of Necessity, March 2, 2012–January 28, 2013.
