Morelia in Mexico’s Michoacán State is both a colonial city of exceptional architectural value and the capital of a domestic narco state. Within this context, a local firm recently completed a much-needed community resource: a women’s shelter for victims of violence. The temporary-housing facility can accommodate up to 36 women in a communal-living setting that includes a medical clinic and consulting rooms for talk therapy. The architects defined the shelter’s different functional spaces by plotting the central circulation in three triangular waves that zigzag across the rectangular compound’s 3,978 square metres. The geometry, colours and scale of the shelter recall the visual vocabulary of Ricardo Legorreta.

Project: Refugio para Mujeres Victimas de Violencia Location: Uruapan, Mexico Firm: Origen 19º 41′ 53″ N, Mexico

Team: Hugo González Pérez and Omar González Pérez with Alfonso Alcantar, Alejandro Álvarez Segundo, Marco Antonio Calles, Mariana Cruz Zapata, Omar Jiménez Trigueros, Laboratorio Binario de Arquitectura, Fernando Mora Serrano, Miguel Negrete Padilla, Leonardo Ochoa Ruiz, Hugo Saev and Luis Villa Alfaro