The 2024 Obel has been awarded to a body of 36 public works by Colectivo C733. All located in Mexico, they were carried out in just 36 months. This initiative of SEDATU (the country’s Secretariat for Agrarian, Land, and Urban Development), revitalized vulnerable urban and rural areas across Mexico through a collaborative and community-focused approach.

Colectivo C733 is composed of the architecture practices of Gabriela Carrillo (Taller Gabriela Carrillo) and Carlos Facio & José Amozurrutia (TO), along with Eric Valdez (Labg) and Isreal Espin. They came together to design and deliver the project under complex social, political, environmental, and financial constraints, learning to compress a years-long process into one that took just months. The architecture of Colectivo C733 is marked by modular, flexible, and cost-efficient designs of the kind that allow for combinations and contextualized variations, resulting in a family of works with a distinct architectrual kinship.

The jury – presided by Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (Snøhetta) and among whose members were Xu Tiantian (DNA), Sumayya Vally (Counterspace), Louis Becker (Henning Larsen Architects), and Nathalie de Vries (MVRDV) – stated: “Colectivo C733 exemplifies the power of collective action and collaborative design to rapidly respond to urgent urban needs. Their ability to transform 36 communities through thoughtful, resource-efficient, and dignified architectural interventions is a blueprint for future public works projects worldwide.”