Las Americas Housing Night View | Iwan BaanLas Americas offers a compelling counterproposal in Len, Mexicoa city long shaped by horizontal expansion and unchecked suburban sprawl. Designed by SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL) in collaboration with Imuvi Development and the City of Len, the project critically challenges the dominant low-density housing model by introducing a vertical typology that is both economically viable and spatially humane. The result is not merely a building but a prototype: a spatial and social experiment in compact urban living, intended to seed future urban regeneration across similar contexts.Las Americas Housing TechnicalInformationArchitects1-3: SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Location: Len, Guanajuato, MexicoArea: 3,000 m2 | 32,300 Sq. Ft.Completion Year: 2021Photographs: Iwan Baan, Lorena DarqueaWe have always believed housing to be an essential part of every city, and that quality housing should be a right for all. Florian Idenburg, Co-founder, SO ILLas Americas Housing PhotographsAerial View | Iwan BaanLas Americas Housing | Iwan BaanFacade | Lorena DarqueaFacade | Lorena DarqueaCourtyard | Lorena DarqueaTerrace | Lorena DarqueaCourtyard | Iwan BaanDetail | Iwan BaanModel | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Rethinking Density: Urban Context and Design IntentLens housing landscape has long been defined by mass-produced, detached dwellings on the citys outskirtstypologies that have inadvertently deepened urban inequality, stretched municipal services, and disconnected residents from the citys social and economic core. The proliferation of these freestanding homes has led to an alarming loss of density, undermining the viability of public infrastructure and transit systems.Las Americas confronts this condition by proposing an alternative: a 60-unit vertical housing block located within the citys central fabric. This strategic siting is as political as it is architectural, repositioning affordable housing not as a peripheral necessity but as urban infrastructure. By densifying inward rather than sprawling outward, the project reclaims the promise of a walkable, interconnected cityone in which housing is integrated into the economic and cultural life of the metropolis.The design intends to bridge the psychological and spatial gap between detached single-family dwellings and collective vertical living. Rather than merely stacking units, SO IL sought to craft a building that could emulate the spatial dignity, privacy, and autonomy associated with freestanding homes while leveraging the economic efficiencies of collective infrastructure.Spatial Qualities: Organization, Privacy, and Dwelling ExperienceA defining feature of Las Americas is its single-loaded corridor systema pragmatic yet nuanced spatial decision that allows all units to open onto dual interior courtyards. This configuration ensures cross-ventilation and daylighting in each unit while creating a porous boundary between private and communal space. While modest in size, these courtyards function as microclimatic regulators and potential social condensers, offering the possibility of shared encounters without compromising individual privacy.Crucially, the design ensures that no unit directly faces anotheran architectural gesture that preserves the residents sense of seclusion and ownership. This arrangement signals a subtle but significant shift in a context where vertical housing is often associated with overcrowding and anonymity. The buildings internal logic suggests that density need not come at the expense of intimacy or identity.The corridors themselves, often neglected in affordable housing typologies, are not reduced to utilitarian conduits but treated as extensions of the domestic realmtransitional spaces that mediate between the private unit and the shared life of the building. Views to the neighborhood and courtyards reinforce a sense of belonging and visual connection to the surrounding city.Materiality and Prefabrication: Building Character Under ConstraintWorking within the constraints of a minimal budget, SO IL turned to prefabrication and modularity as tools of both economy and expression. Utility cores are shared across units, minimizing infrastructural redundancy, while prefabricated components expedite construction and reduce costs without compromising spatial quality.Most notable is the faade system, composed of uniquely developed concrete blocks. These units do more than mask the buildings structurethey actively contribute to its environmental and experiential performance. The blocks are configured to filter light, enhance privacy, and introduce subtle variations in texture and shadow. They cast rhythmic patterns from within that enrich the interior atmosphere; from without, they generate a tactile, monolithic identity that responds to Lens material vernacular while establishing its architectural voice.This synthesis of economy and character reflects a broader ethos throughout the project: material constraints need not result in aesthetic impoverishment. Instead, limitation becomes a catalyst for innovationan opportunity to reexamine conventional hierarchies between cost, quality, and design intent.Las Americas Housing Prototype PotentialLas Americas is not simply a one-off solution but a prototype with systemic ambitions. By proposing a replicable model for urban affordable housing, the project speaks directly to the challenges facing many Latin American cities: rising inequality, infrastructural fragmentation, and the urgent need for sustainable density. In this light, the projects significance lies in its built form and strategic alliances between architects, municipal actors, and private developers to reform urban housing policy.Significantly, the project reframes the idea of affordable housing in cultural terms. It resists the notion that such developments must be utilitarian, remote, or stigmatized. Instead, it argues for a new vernacular rooted in material honesty, spatial intelligence, and urban integration.Las Americas Housing PlansFloor Plan | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Unit Typology | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Unit Typology | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Las Americas Housing Image GalleryAbout SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL) is a New Yorkbased architectural practice founded in 2008 by Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu. The firm is known for its innovative, tactile approach to architecture that emphasizes material experimentation, spatial fluidity, and cultural engagement. SOILs work spans exhibitions, public buildings, and housing projects worldwide, often blurring boundaries between inside and outside and provoking interaction through light, texture, and form.Credits and Additional NotesTeam: Florian Idenburg, Ilias Papageorgiou, Isabel Sarasa, Seunghyun Kang, Sophie Nichols, Pam AnantrungrojConsultants: Amador Rodriguez, Ruben Alejandro Vazquez Rivera (Imuvi)Client: Imuvi Development & City of Len