SEGD_Design - (Page 34) DESIGN ACROSS BORDERS: TIJUANA Tijuana and San Diego are both distinctly separate and deeply intertwined. My daughters go to school in both cities. We cross the border nearly every day. I’m always eager to lead a design expeditionto-Tijuana program of studios, design schools, and the crazy cool things designers should see in the built environment there. Here is a list of my favorites (pictured clockwise, from top left). The Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT) Since 2001, the CECUT receives about a million visitors per year, making it Baja California’s most important cultural center. It is comprised of a theater, lecture halls, video rooms, a library, an exhibition hall, the Museum of the Californias, a futuristic planetary movie/IMAX theater, and a restaurant. The Old Jai Lai Palace The former Jai Lai Palace is the center of old downtown Tijuana and was used as a fronton/jai alai venue on “La Revu.” It is now El Foro Sol and mostly a concert venue. It was totally renovated in 2003 and artists like Julieta Venegas, Facundo Cabral, Luis Miguel, and Cafe Tacuba have performed there. El Cubo The CECUT’s newest facility stands in stark contrast to the oval Imax Theater. At three stories tall, this building is Tijuana’s first significant museum-style space. Border Field State Park This dramatic corner of the U.S. is where the frontier ends and families meet. It is the only point along the U.S./Mexico border where families separated by the border can touch. Approximately 53,000 people visit the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and Border Field State Park each year. Avenida Revolución The first paved road of the 20th Century was built in Baja California. The city’s most remarkable development was during the Prohibition period and after World War II, when it was considered a center of taboo entertainment for U.S. inhabitants. During this time the Caesar Salad was invented at the restaurant of Hotel Caesar. Today, the street is a tourist center, rarely visited by locals. The long avenue is also home to cantinas and table dance bars, dance clubs, and craft galleries. The Millennium Arch is a prominent landmark for bordercrossing day-trippers. Universidad Iberoamericana The first and largest university in Tijuana with a design program, the Universidad Ibero Americana is an incubator for artists and designers doing crosscultural work. —Bennett Peji (Tijuana photos: Noe Barragan Moreno) segdDESIGN 31
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