The organic waste cast out by Mexico City is piled under plastic membrane surfaces, to be later compressed as a new layer of land in a sedimentation process called “relleno sanitario” (literally, “sanitation filling,” i.e. landfills). In spite of being compacted and confined to demarcated areas, the landfills are still metropolitan surfaces with an undesirable and problematic use of the soil. Developers have modified this land use by building on top of these sites, forcing the gaze up to high rises lined with glass. Thus, we forget the new project rests on a thick layer of compacted waste. This is the case of Santa Fe, in western Mexico City: a financial district with tall buildings standing on landfills. Ciudad Jardín Bicentenario, close to the current airport, is another case of such repurposed land: a sports complex with a mall, erected on the ancient Xochiaca landfill, east of the city. If a cross-section of Ciudad Jardín’s ground was made, the upper layers would reveal a confusing, even unstable morphology, considering the fact that the neighborhood where this complex stands was built on the bed of an enormous desiccated lake. [...]
Repurposing
in ENCYCLOPEDIA