(Photos: Lida Mahabadi)

According to Michel Rojkind Halpert, principal of Mexico City-based Rojkind Architectos, to risk contamination of the mind from the ideas of others is a means to bigger thinking. In this lecture, he speaks to the challenges of building during this time of economic crisis, stressing the strategy necessary to get things accomplished in different environments.

Among projects presented:

Michel Rojkind was born in Mexico City where he studied architecture and urban planning at the Universidad Iberoamericana. After working on his own for several years, he teamed up with Isaac Broid and Miquel Adria to establish Adria+Broid+Rojkind (1998-2002).

Rojkind is a member of the SCI-Arc Future Initiatives Network - a global peer-based academic research council dedicated to supporting the Future Initiatives program's academic mission.

With the idea of exploring new challenges that address contemporary society, to design compelling experiences that go beyond mere functionality, and to connect at a deeper level with the intricacies of each project, he established an independent firm, Rojkind Arquitectos (2002), recognized by Architectural Record in 2005 as one of the ten best "Design Vanguard" firms. In December, Halpert was listed among "Faces to Watch in 2010" by the Los Angeles Times. He is a regular contributor to many architecture and design publications, and has been short-listed for several large-scale projects in Dubai, China, Kuwait, Canada, Singapore and Spain.

www.rojkindarquitectos.com