The AA Summer School arrived to Latin America in 2025 to offer an intensive three-week course based in Mexico City. We welcomed Latin American creatives who are eager to engage with and contribute to the cultural sphere of the city. The programme encourages active collaboration with cultural institutions, as a part of the AA’s approach of learning through new, experimental and provocative forms of architectural education.

To celebrate the inauguration of the programme, this year’s brief invited participants to occupy Chapultepec, Latin America’s largest and oldest urban park. We will explore the improvisational and spontaneous rituals that unfold daily on the streets of Mexico City, seeking to draw inspiration from their resourcefulness and ‘flood’ the park with a series of group-led designed situations. Taking a cue from Francis Alÿs’ iconic ‘Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes making something leads to nothing),’ where he dragged a block of ice through the streets, we aim to examine and interpret the everyday as a form of performance, revealing the extraordinary within the mundane.

'Spontaneous Mexico' was hosted by Lago Algo, a cultural institution located within Chapultepec Park. Evening public lectures and events will be held in this space, in collaboration with Tatiana Bilbao’s Yale Summer Course, bringing together architects, artists and students to hold exciting conversations about the city.

The course concluded with a collective exhibition at Lago Algo, assembling the group’s explorations from three weeks of active investigation.

KEY FEATURES AND LEARNING GOALS:

- Active collaboration with cultural institutions

- Uncover hidden rhythms behind the spontaneous situations in the streets

- Urban park occupation and appropriation

- Group-led designs

- Public lecture series with a cross-section of Mexico City's architects and artists

- Collective exhibition