Delirious Boundaries

When we think of an American identity it is very hard to describe due to bases on race and ethnic groups. The idea of an American identity is often blurred in a place where two identities try to establish an existence. It is not the existence of race and ethnicity but the existence of culture. Culture as viewed by many is having elements which can be disassembled and re-composed, that is to say that culture is a process of living conditions not here a process of a condition that does not change. Culture is based on the ideas of context and those of traditions, ideas that have withstood the trails of time. While a political border can be clearly defined, the cultural conditions surrounding it are very complex and difficult to explore. The border its self here offers many premises of study some which includes the ideas of cultural exchange, economic exchange and integration of local communities on both sides of the border. Even though borders are very unique places, with very unique communities and difference both share common traits that are not fully expressed. Even though there has always been a very integrated and woven blend of American and Mexican cultures, traditions, fashions, and live styles in many parts of the United States and Mexican borders, due to many polices associated with change and new thinking such integrations and woven mixture have been gradually reduced and in doing so many led to Architecture that does not express the qualities of border towns and the ideas for which they stand. One of the issues that one sees in the border regions of the United States and Mexican border are that the ideas of cultural integration are becoming less and less evident in the architecture itself. Even though a culture is hard to change the identify itself is something that can be influenced. In many border regions in both the United States and Mexico we can see the social conditions that are present, from the informal communities to the built communities, but is it possible to blend both the informal and formal communities to create a unique identity that not only changes the culture but that also changes the border itself