Slide 1
The Tijuana/San Diego international border station - The liminal condition in-between the walls give an interior dimension to the borderline.
Slide 2
Interior program - The overall concept for public circulation consists of creating a sense of freedom of crossing between from one side into the other.
Slide 3
Lobby/Gallery/Meeting wall - The meeting wall is placed where the international line runs, allowing people who may not be able to cross to gather and interact.
Slide 4
Crossing Bridge - The crossing bridge highlights the international line and allows users the experience of crossing the border without restrictions.
Slide 5
Immigration Queue/Facilities/Social Services/Auditorium - The border becomes an exhibition space allowing users to reference their location while moving through.
Slide 6
Auditorium / Immigration Queue - The immigration queue is a faceted line designed to change the visual perspective of the user, avoiding visual monotony.
Slide 7
Connection of Queue to Pedestrian Processing Building - This space makes the international line apparent in order to offer users a last, definitive border crossing experience.

LIMINALANDThe interstitial interior between The United States and Mexico

On average, over forty million people cross the border between Tijuana and San Diego each year, giving this region the title of the busiest land-border crossing in the world. For cultural and political reasons, this geopolitical liminal space is experienced as hostile, its crossing is traumatic or tedious. The unwelcoming walls and secure ports of entry create separation for two contrasting cities.

The negatively charged character of the border is largely caused by ‘soft’ conditions that lead to physical conditions: political immigration policies dictated by both administrations lead to divisive walls, and stringent security measures lead to long lines and tedious waits. Differing social and economic conditions on either side of the border make this location the nexus of an interesting merge of cultures, giving the site a rich and complex socio-political context.

Two walls, each with a different cultural character, physically define the borderline that divides The United States and Mexico. In reality, these two walls stand on either side of this invisible geopolitical line, shaping an unoccupied urban interior. This interstitial space can be engaged by designing an interior, focused on the pedestrian scale that enhances and improves the existing border crossing and immigration experience, while still maintaining current political and immigration procedures.

Thesis Advisor: Mark Rakatansky