Thickening the border: El Paso and Juarez pedestrian connection

The US-Mexico border has been in existence for 161 years. Before the political line was established the US side was Mexican Territory. Then in 1845 the boundary was drawn across the desert and down along the Rio Grande, America had seized this land, which would become Texas. "The first time Mexicans and Canadians were subjected to control at U.S. borders came with the 1917 passage of the Immigration Act. Mexicans were charged eight dollars to cross the border and were required to pass a literacy test" (pg 72 Laufer). This promoted illegal crossings, even though a limitless number of Mexicans could gain passage into the U.S. In 1965 President Johnson signed a law that only allowed a certain number of immigrants from each country into the U.S. each year. This also pushed the frequency of illegal crossings. In the 1980's and 90's the flow of immigrants was reaching an all time high. Mexicans were crossing the Rio Grande to work in El Paso and then return to Juarez at the end of the day. They were shopping and sending their children to school there. The U.S. government felt like they needed to gain better control of this border and in 1994 Operation Hold The Line was put in place. This brought a change to the way the border was guarded. A new fence was erected; lights and more troops were added. "Since the passage of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, the U.S. Border Patrol has grown into the nation's largest uniformed law enforcement agency, with nearly ten thousand officers" (pg xv Laufer). These actions have stifled the interaction between the two cities that have had a long lasting relationship with one another.

thickening the border el paso and juarez pedestrian connection university of utah architecture master's project 2007 aaron day project abstract THICKENED BORDER EL PASO - JUAREZ .. NEW PCOUTII''''N CONNeCflON IIfWUN THt UNtf(O .1 ... ,U ..... 0 .. , •• to. . )"- _-JJJ:l , ---_ ...... - ..-,' ./. # -.... I J .1.J • I I - - ~ .,.; .# . thesis THICKENING THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER: A NEW CROSSING AT THE US-MEXICO BORDER IN EL PASO AND JUAREZ. The US-Mexico border has been in existence for 161 years. Before the political line was es-tablished the US side was Mexican Territory. Then in 1845 the boundary was drawn across the desert and down along the Rio Grande, America had seized this land, which would become Texas. "The first time Mexicans and Canadians were subjected to control at U.S. borders came with the 1917 passage of the Immigration Act. Mexicans were charged eight dollars to cross the border and were required to pass a literacy test" (pg 72 Laufer). This promoted il-legal crossings, even though a limitless number of Mexicans could gain passage into the U.S. In 1965 President Johnson signed a law that only allowed a certain number of immigrants from each country into the U.S. each year. This also pushed the frequency of illegal cross-ings. In the 1980's and 90's the flow of immigrants was reaching an all time high. Mexicans were crossing the Rio Grande to work in El Paso and then return to Juarez at the end of the day. They were shopping and sending their children to school there. The U.S. government felt like they needed to gain better control of this border and in 1994 Operation Hold The Line was put in place. This brought a change to the way the border was guarded. A new fence was erected; lights and more troops were added. "Since the passage of the 1996 Illegal Im-migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, the U.S. Border Patrol has grown into the nation's largest uniformed law enforcement agency, with nearly ten thousand officers" (pg xv Laufer). These actions have stifled the interaction between the two cities that have had a long lasting relationship with one another. In the area around El Paso and Juarez the two communities grew up together. They both had an influence on the other and both relied on one another for commerce and social in-teractions. Currently their relationship is based on heavily on manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism. The U.S. has many companies that have maquiladoras (factories) in Juarez. These companies rely on the cheep labor that Mexico affords them. In turn there are sec-ond level manufacturing plants in the U.S. that use the Mexican product to continue the process of manufacturing. "ADC Telecommunications offers an example of how cities like El Paso are developing industrially in response to the presence of maquiladoras across the border. The company manufactures telecommunications equipment at two plants in Juárez and one in Delicias, Chihuahua. Late last year, ADC opened a metal fabrication plant in El Paso to feed components to its Mexican facilities. ADC also has a distribution center in Santa Teresa, N.M., just west of El Paso" (Vargas). There are around 325 maquiladoras in Juarez that provide 375,000 jobs for the people. These products range from car parts to medical equipment and processed food to clothing. The cotton grown in the U.S. will be exported to a Mexican maquiladora to be produced into a shirt that will be imported to the U.S. to be sold in a mall. This type of relationship exists across many industries. This bor-der sees around 40 billion dollars of trade a year, making El Paso-Juarez the second busi-est borders along the U.S. and Mexico border. proposed site precedent study r 1700 1804 1888 1910 1920 1939 1943 1958 1962 2006 BERLIN WALL AT POTSDAMER PLATZ -CITY WALL EXISTED FROM BEFORE 1700 -CITY WAS BUILT UP TO THE BORDER -WORLD WAR TWO THE BUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED AROUND THE PLATZ -1963 BERLIN WALL WAS ERECTED TO KEEP EAST GERMANS IN -BUILDINGS WERE NOT REBUILT ON EAST GERMAN SIDE ADJACENT TO BERLIN WALL -1989 WALL FALLS -AFTER WALL THIS AREA BECOMES EUROPE'S LARGEST CONSTRUCTION SITE -BUILDINGS USED AS PART OF WALL -WINDOWS AND DOORS WERE INFILLED WITH BRICKS AND MORTAR BORDER CROSSING AT EL PASO / JUAREZ -THROUGHOUT HISTORY OF BORDER LAWS WERE LESS STRINGENT -ILLEGAL CROSSINGS ONLY ESCALATED AFTER 1960's. -TRAVEL WAS EASIER BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES -A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP EXISTED historic border process-sketches l f -, ' process-models process-models process-models process-models process-models elevation-section-site vender stalls border processing latino art museum vender stalls juarez el paso plan vending stalls 08,100sf border processing 02,750sf patrol offices 02,300sf cafes-bars 09,200sf restrooms 01,500sf gift store 01,000sf interior exhibition 15,600sf exterior exhibition 12,800sf museum offices 00,420sf circulation 74,330sf total 128,000sf program plan zoomed · . f-L"- ~~~,,' . ~vv'--" renderings renderings - / 1-1 \ renderings - / II I - - ~---= -~- - 1:60 model • " J.:I -.J , ln -..­-. ­. ~ .# ;..:./ ........... ,. . ...... •• 1- ...J J r .. 1:60 model 1/16" model 1/16" model 1/16" model 1/4" section model 1/4" section model 1/4" section model