El Cielo is an Architectural and Urban Design Office founded in 2001 by Armando Hashimoto and Surella Segú.
We are a team with extensive experience in the public, private and academic sectors, in generating visions of the future through consulting for urban development, architecture and housing projects, policies and programs with a focus on participatory and community management, integration with the environment and the implementation of strategic plans and projects.
Our work has been selected to be presented at the Beijing Biennial, the Biennial of Latin American Architecture in Pamplona, Spain, the Venice Biennale and at the Contemporary Mexican Architecture exhibitions in Australia and the Architectural Exhibition Mexico in Italy. In 2013 they received the Cemex award for the Villaseñor Maldonado House in the Innovation Category.
We've been published in national and international journals, such as "The best of the century XXI" Arquine + RN, "Creation in Motion" FONCA, "Fast Forward Hot Spot BrainCell" Biennial of Architecture of Beijing, Code 06140, Entremuros, OntheSiteReview, Domus, Arquitectura Viva.
Since 2019, El Cielo has expanded to encompass architecture, urban planning, research and consulting projects in urban development, housing and community. Recently, they presented the Housing Urbanism Mexico, Collective Representation and its Impact in the City exhibition at the Seoul Architecture and Urbanism Biennial 2019.
Surella Segú
Surella Segu is a Harvard GSD Loeb Fellow, an Architect from Monterrey’s Tech (ITESM) with a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University in New York.
She has been a professor in several Universities in Mexico, and participated in national and international juries and workshops.
From March 2013 to September 2016 she held the position as Head of the Urban Development Area at INFONAVIT, where she was responsible for the generation and implementation of urban strategies and regeneration programs in deteriorated housing complexes and abandoned housing nationwide; the development of measurement tools for housing deterioration; and comparative research on international best practices, as well as research on the impact of programs aimed to improving the capacities of the communities in these developments.
Armando Hashimoto
Architect from ITESM, Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design, from Columbia University in New York. He was a FONCA Young Creators Fellow and is currently a member of the National System of Art Creators.
He was professor of design studio workshop at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Universidad Anáhuac and CENTRO, where he also taught the housing policy module of the Master in Housing. He is currently a professor in the Interstitial Degree Seminar at the UNAM Architecture Faculty. He has participated in project workshops abroad, is currently a speaker in the "Best of IGLUS, Innovative Governance of Large Urban Systems" course of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne in Switzerland.
From 2013 to 2018 he worked at INFONAVIT as Manager of Housing Quality and Manager of Inter-Institutional Collaboration of the Center for Research for Sustainable Development. From these positions, he promoted the transformation of social housing in our country by implementing programs nationwide and developing research involving architects and networking with the academy. Conceptualized and coordinated the publications Regional Single Family Housing, the magazine Housing and What Works and What Does Not in Housing, among others.
Urban Design, Architecture, Interiors, Exhibition Design and Exhibition Curator
Sushi O Restaurant, Tamaulipas, México, 2019
Community Park, SEDATU Urban Improvement Program UNAM, Piedras Negras, Coah. 2019
Sports park, SEDATU Urban Improvement Program UNAM, Piedras
The Landmark Design Competition, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2019
Big Ideas for Small Lots, Competition, New York, 2019
African School Project, Competition, Malawi, 2019
Rupee´s Pharmacy, programming and zoning, Santa Fe, NM, 2019
House for reconstruction, Ocuilan, Edo de México, 2018
Strategic Master Plan for Tacubaya, Mexico City, 2016-2018
Rural house prototype, Zacatecas 2016-2017
Cuernavaca Railway competition, Mexico City 2016
Curatorial and exhibition design: Piso Piloto Mexico City - Barcelona, Mexico City 2016
Cuautla house, Mexico City 2012
Sporting store, Mexico City 2012
Apartment Homero, Mexico City 2012
Sarten house, Aspen, Colorado, USA 2012
Villaseñor house, Monterrey, Mexico 2012
Apartment Reforma 222, Mexico City 2012
Rural House CEMEX prototype (massive produce housing), Mexico 2011
Station 20 competition, Sofia, Bulgaria 2011
Lobby, office building Varsovia, Mexico City 2011
Workshops space design, Pepenafest, Recycling Festival, Zocalo Mexico City 2010
New image design for Potzolcalli restaurant chain, Mexico City 2010
Mog restaurant, Mexico City 2009
Kasuga house, Mexico City 2009
Master plan for Jamaica, Gobierno del Distrito Federal, Mexico City 2008
El Encinar pavilion, Mexico City 2008
Golf Tower, apartment building competition, Lima, Peru 2008
Security guard booth, La Primavera, Mexico City 2008
Plaza Bicenternario, competition, Mexico City 2008
Lobby, office building in Lomas de Virreyes, Mexico City 2008
Amesi, office space, Mexico City 2008
Solidaridad, office space, Mexico City 2008
Lomas de Virreyes, office space, Mexico City 2008
9 apartment towers and sport complex, Xochitepec, Morelos 2007
Land use and program strategic plan for Asociación México Japonesa, Mexico City 2007
Punta Norte housing development, competition, Mexico City 2007
Stand design for Philips “House of Simplicity”, Mexico City 2007
Ache Producciones, office space, Mexico City 2007
Design annual exhibition: Ikebana Internacional, Mexico City 2007
Daruma Parque Hundido, restaurant, Mexico City 2007
Sai restaurant, Mexico City 2007
Landscape: HE house, Mexico City 2006
Mexico Japan Cultural Center, Asociación México Japonesa, Mexico City 2006
Kay Internacional, office space, Mexico City 2005
Exhibition design: “Mexico City Dialogues: New Architectural Practices”, Center for Architecture (AIA), New York, USA 2005
Asociación México Japonesa restaurant, Mexico City 2004
Curatorship and exhibition design: Mexico Hot Spot,
Beijing Architectural Biennial, China 2004
Exhibition design: Ikebana Internacional. “Evolución”, Mexico City 2004
Exhibition design: Handcrafts, Mexico City 2004
Congress building, competition, Mexico City 2003
Mendiola house, Guadalajara, Mexico 2003
National Library José Vasconcelos, competition, Mexico City 2003
Nakamura house, Mexico City 2002
Urban Development, Architecture and sustainable housing, competition,
Guanajuato, Mexico, 2002
H(ache) store, Mexico City 2002
Hisaki house, Mexico City 2002
Pérez house, Merida, Mexico 2002
García house, Merida, Mexico 2001
Exhibitions and Awards
Latin American Architectural Biennial, Pamplona, Spain 2019
Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. Seoul, South Korea 2019
One day in the life of a Loeb. Photographic exhibition at Harvard Yard,
Cambridge, Massachusetts 2018
Letters to the Mayor: Mexico City. Storefront for Art and Architecture.
Spanish Cultural Center, Mexico City 2016
Architectural Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy 2014
Villaseñor House, CEMEX award, innovation 1st place, Mexico City 2013
SAIE-Mexico VI International Building Exhibition, Mexico City 2013
Villaseñor House, Mexican Architecture Exhibition, Rome, Italy 2013
Villaseñor House Exhibition, Sustainable Architecture Conference, Tecnology Museum (MUTEC), Mexico City 2012
Latin American Architectural Biennial, Pamplona, Spain 2011
ARCH-AUSMX 2010 Mexican Contemporary Architecture, Melbourne, Australia 2010
20 Years FONCA 1989-2009 Mega Retrospective Exhibition, Mexico 2009
Latin American Architectural Biennial, Pamplona, Spain 2009
Creación en Movimiento, National Center for the Arts, Mexico 2005
Creación en Movimiento, City Museum, Queretaro, Mexico 2004
First Architectural Biennial, Beijing, China 2004