As Tijuana grows in an accelerated manner, informal to corporate developments appropriate land resources without discrimination, converting urban voids into opportunities for human survival or economic gains. Behind the city’s urban densification and expansion, geographic and natural ecosystems lie invisible and often in conflict with growth premises. From landscape interiors to national infrastructures, the ‘Yogurt Canyon,’ also known as Parque de los Sauces North, intersects the region’s natural and political history, amplifying the resilience of natural ecologies to withstand urban development, from broken infrastructures, erosion, sewer contamination, to fragmented jurisdictions, hindering collaboration between borders, city, and nature.
Despite its small size, Yogurt Canyon is a rare, wild natural landscape in a city deprived of green spaces. Its intense vegetation results from the flow of septic runoffs, creating the closest vegetation to the coast with the unique potential to absorb sea-level rises and educate on contamination mitigation, water flow, and erosion management.
Through empirical observation, cartographic analysis, micro-macro ecosystem diagrams, and urban-landscape studies, architecture students at the University of San Diego explored intervention projects aimed at nature preservation and urban/human coexistence. These projects, situated at the intersection of boundaries and critical studies on landscape philosophies, including those of French gardener Gilles Clément, examine gardens as strategies to reconfigure the city. The goal is to transform conflicts between divided jurisdictions into inclusive socio-ecological dialogues, building reciprocity with plants, air, water, buildings, human migration, biodiversity, urban spaces, and all living border communities, promoting preservation, cultural heritage, ecosystem maintenance, and social integration.
Student team: Adrina J. Andrews, Evan C. Broer, Ari A. Espinosa-Sirvent, Covadonga Gordillo, Aleena F. Haddad, Jasmine S. Hersh, Monica A. Jabro, Jaziel E. Mayoral, Alex G. Mohme, Owen Myall, Nicolas Pereira, Zarina Pereira, Anthony S. Shaya, Aiden L. Solano, Emmery N. Speed, Valentina Vargas, Joseph Washbum.
PI: Adriana Cuellar