landscape as bureaucracy is an exploration of the underlying structures surrounding the dream of owning a house in xxi century mexico. for the past 3 years i have documented several aspects of this constructed dream; the public institutions involved in the acquisition of houses in mexico (infonavit), the people´s pursuit for their mortgage loan, the bureaucrats who demand requisites and decide who gets or not awarded a loan, and the private companies and their merchandising strategies to lure people into debt. in between all of this, stands the case of my older brother david, who for the past 8 years has been pursuing a loan for a house through all of the above parties. symbolically, it is the power and conviction of people’s dreams; both of the soon to be homeowners and of the public and private bureaucrats that pushes the natural landscape to become an urban and suburban space. it seems to me, that landscape as an idea is as much the actual scenario as it is the social, political and economical forces that conform and eventually transform it.

building dreams for $230 thousand pesos

man waiting for his paperwork to be checked at a real estate firm sales office

houses and land; “build how you want it, how you dreamt it”

map of monterrey at a real estate firm sales office

real estate offices

sisters going to real estate office to check their “INFONAVIT housing points”

“casas”; a real estate sales office

“get your house for just $100 pesos”

young family with their approved housing paper work

real estate broker on the phone

real estate brokers

man waiting on wife at a real estate firm sales office
promotional zeppelin at a suburban real estate event

the national institute for the workers housing fund (infonavit)

ex infonavit employee and real estate broker

people outside the infonavit

real estate broker and infonavit beneficiaries

infonavit beneficiary with paperwork

infonavit beneficiaries

real estate broker checking paperwork outside infonavit

real estate brokers outside of the infonavit

real estate messengers

real estate broker/lawyer with client’s paperwork

infonavit paperwork archive

christmas tree

infonavit offices

infonavit employee desk

infonavit employee booths

2nd floor waiting area (old entrance)

internet information center

infonavit 3rd floor meeting room

infonavit 2nd floor; subsidies and credit approval area

infonavit 3rd floor; management offices and booths

the director of infonavit monterrey

infonavit beneficiary waiting his turn

infonavit employee (poster: 51,398 loans issued in 2010)

infonavit beneficiary waiting his turn

infonavit employee

father, mother and son waiting for turn

infonavit employee in charge of awarding subsidies

infonavit beneficiary at information desk

infonavit employee

mother and daughter waiting for turn

infonavit employee on the phone

infonavit beneficiaries calling the telephone information center

infonavit self-service information booth

“welcome”;
looking for a house suburban real estate event 2009
suburban real estate event 2010

suburban real estate event

clients and brokers at suburban real estate event

concert and prize giveaway at suburban real estate event

suburban real estate event

prize stand (man playing mini gulf) at suburban real estate event

sales representatives at sunday bus tour to suburban complexes
free (every) sunday bus tour to suburban complexes

buses to sunday real estate event

road to sunday suburban real estate event

children sneaking in to see sunday event at a newly built housing complex in suburb
735 loans awarded for new houses at suburban realestate event