This article is part of our Design special section about water as a source of creativity. Years of abnormally low rainfall, higher-than-normal temperatures and aging infrastructure have led to a dangerously low water supply for Mexico City. The issue isn’t a new one for the Mexican capital — in 2014, it was ranked as the third most water-stressed of more than 150 of the planet’s largest cities. Now, the metropolis faces a water crisis so severe that local authorities recently began imposing rations. For Javier Sánchez, a low-slung earthen house just west of Mexico City, designed by his architectural firm JSa, reflects an obvious way out of the predicament.

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Persons: Javier Sánchez Organizations: Mexico City, — Locations: Mexico, Mexico City