LaRoche visited Universidad Autonoma in December of 2008 as a keynote speaker in an international seminar and it was during this time that he and the faculty there decided to collaborate on low cost sustainable housing through a future project. This trip was the culmination of those plans.
During the visit, faculty in Mexico City gave Cal Poly Pomona students lectures on urban issues and climate appropriate design. Professor LaRoche lectured on energy modeling for low energy buildings. The class also toured local Barragán architecure. A visionary Mexican architect, Barragán is regarded as one of the most important architects of the 20th century. His buildings are renowned for their mastery of space and light, but Barragán was equally influential as a landscape architect and urban planner.
The ultimate goal of the trip was to experiment with the application of the students' individual research projects. A requirement of the course was that the students had to have participated in the Tijuana Project and that they be willing to participate in the design experience. The entire class worked together as a team in the design of their class projects, and this trip was unique in that it brought together both architecture students and Regenerative Studies Master’s Students for the first time. The architecture students who went on the trip were: Michael Yao, Jon Orr, Cynthy Harris, James Anderson, Yazmin Lozano. Regenerative Studies students who went were: Rael Berkowitz, Cristina Halstead, Michelle McFadden, and Eric Carbonnier.
