This lavishly illustrated book explores the work of Mauricio Rocha, one of the leaders of the contemporary generation of architects who have been instrumental in re-making Mexico City. Rocha, son of significant architect Manuel Rocha Diaz and photographer Graciela Iturbide, is known for a wide range of buildings, installations and architecture-based interventions, including the San Pablo Oztotepec Market, the Center for the Attention of Blind People, and the House for Abandoned Children. Through the work of his Taller de Arquitectura and his teaching at UNAM and throughout Latin America and North America, Rocha's concepts of form, composition and material have deeply influenced a generation of architects and urbanists. Rocha himself joins other important writers in this book to propose various readings of his work. Essays by Humberto Ricalde, Osvaldo Sanchez and Mauricio Rocha.

Community Development Center Los Chocolates was conceived as part of a program to reactivate a rundown area in Carolina, one of the most traditional neighborhoods of downtown Cuernavaca. The architects--Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo of the firm TALLER--began with a community consultation to explore what form and function the building should take. These sessions revealed that the community wanted a multipurpose venue containing cultural and recreational facilities. TALLER developed a plan for a flexible, environmentally sustainable structure; despite a relatively small physical footprint, the building incorporates spaces for theater, music, painting, art exhibitions, sports activities and more. TALLER: Community Development Center Los Chocolates analyzes the design and realization of the building, from consultations through to construction, and concludes with a look at how the completed building and gardens are being used by the local community.