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Design:The Iconic Home Designs That Define Our Global Cities
The courtyard of a recently restored Mexico City vecindad, decorated for the annual Day of the Dead celebrations.

The courtyard of a recently restored Mexico City vecindad, decorated for the annual Day of the Dead celebrations.

Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg
CityLab
Design

How Mexico City’s Vecindades Became Homes for the Working Class

The grandiose buildings were originally inhabited by European aristocracy, but their central courtyards later turned into spaces for communal living.

By
Natalie Delgadillo

(This article is part of our ongoing series exploring the iconic home designs that shaped global cities. Read more from the series and sign up to get the next story sent directly to your inbox.) 

In Spanish, the word “vecindad” means neighborhood — neutral and nonspecific.

In Mexico, though, it also means something else: a kind of tenement where individual apartments encircle a central patio, and residents often share facilities such as bathrooms and kitchens. 

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