CUPA Apartment / Mariel Lozano + José Esparza

The project CUPA-422 (a) is located on the top floor of building "A" of the Centro Urbano Presidente Alemán (CUPA). With only 60 m2, this apartment unit is one of the 1,080 homes that conform to the iconic group of modern buildings known as the first multifamily in Mexico, a vertical housing project with multiple amenities and significant extensions of green areas completed in 1949. Designed by architect Mario Pani, CUPA incorporates a mixed-use model with shops on the ground floor and housing on the upper floors. In addition to the compactness and stacking of dwellings, the multifamily is innovative due to its duplex typologies, similar to those in the Unite d'Habitation (1952) designed by the architect Le Corbusier. This typology is characterized by developing housing on two levels, promoting the standardization of spaces and the introduction of household appliances, which reflected the social, constructive, and technological changes of its time.