Softball’s roller-coaster weekend ends with pair of shutouts, first lost of season

It was a weekend of highs and lows.

No. 2 UCLA softball (17-1) came away from the Judi Garman Classic with wins against No. 3 Florida (21-2) and UConn (4-12), but suffered its first loss of the season versus unranked Michigan (9-8).

The Bruins beat the Gators on Friday for the second time in three days, winning by a score of 4-0. All of UCLA’s runs came in the fifth inning, starting with a two-RBI single by junior outfielder Bubba Nickles, followed by an RBI-double from sophomore utility Aaliyah Jordan and an RBI-single from redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia.

Garcia threw a two-hit complete game shutout in the victory, striking out 10.

In Friday’s second game, UCLA was able to get a run across in the first inning on two singles and two fielder’s choices to make it 1-0 against the Wolverines, but the Bruins would be held to just one hit from then on.

Freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo was able to hold the lead until the sixth inning, when she gave up three Michigan runs on two singles and a double. The Bruins were unable to close the gap in the last inning, falling for the first time this season by a 3-1 score.

“I feel like what really got us the most is that we beat ourselves,” Nickles said. “At the end of the day, they hit the ball a little bit better than we did. … They were able to capitalize on having runners in scoring position where we couldn’t.”

The Bruins were scheduled for two games Saturday versus No. 22 Auburn and Loyola Marymount, but heavy rain got in the way, preventing both games from being played. The latter could potentially be made up at a later date.

Sunday’s game started out as a pitcher’s duel, as sophomore Holly Azevedo stepped into the circle for UCLA. She held UConn to just one hit over five innings, striking out three. The offense broke the stalemate in the fifth on a single by Nickles and a fielder’s choice by Garcia to make it 2-0 for the Bruins.

Two more runs would be brought in in the seventh to make it 4-0, first on a single by senior third baseman Brianna Tautalafua that brought in Nickles, and then on a wild pitch that allowed senior utility Zoe Shaw to score.

“I think with a team like that that’s coming out super scrappy … it was just really important to settle down and make sure that everything is in check,” Azevedo said.

Garcia came in for Azevedo in the sixth, getting the last six outs to record the save and finish the shutout. The pitchers combined to record 1-2-3 innings in every frame except for the second, allowing just one Husky to get on base.

Though UCLA was averaging eight runs per game and a .373 batting average coming into the weekend, its offense was largely stifled by their competition. The Bruins scored nine runs over the three games, and hit just .212 in comparison.

The Bruins also struggled with converting hits into runs, leaving 21 runners on base.

“We’d love to run-rule every team that we play, but we also understand that’s not something that’s in our control,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “We should have been better, we need to tighten it up. At the end of the day we want to learn those lessons now, because I truly believe in this team’s ability to be the last team standing in 2019.”

The Bruins will return home next weekend for the first half of the UCLA/Long Beach State Invitational, starting with a game against Robert Morris on Friday.

Women’s basketball overpowers Colorado, honors seniors at last home game

The seniors and their families teared up as coach Cori Close met them on the court with flowers.

“It was very emotional today because I’ve been through a lot in this program,” said senior guard Kennedy Burke. “They built me into the woman I am today and basketball player I am today.”

No. 25 UCLA women’s basketball (19-11, 12-6 Pac-12) celebrated Senior Day with an 84-50 blowout over Colorado (12-17, 2-16) to close the regular season at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

Burke – along with redshirt senior guard Chrissy Baird, senior guard Japreece Dean and redshirt senior forward Lajahna Drummer – played what will most likely be their final game at home.

“Our team wanted to honor them,” Close said. “I was really pleased with their commitment to doing that and for making this a special day for these four young ladies.”

Today marked Baird’s first career start. The guard played the second-most minutes she’s played all season.

The Bruins outscored the Buffaloes in every quarter and held their opponent to a 27.6 field goal percentage.

UCLA limited Colorado to five points in the first quarter. The Buffaloes shot just over 8 percent in the period and made only one field goal. Sunday marks the third time this season UCLA has held its opponent to shooting below 30 percent.

“We just made that next pass really difficult,” Close said. “Our ability, our versatility to be able to switch all those screens and stay in the passing lanes, that was the huge key.”

UCLA forced 21 Colorado turnovers – nine of which came in the first quarter – and converted those takeaways into 25 points.

The Bruins also registered nine steals. Burke logged four and was responsible for three of UCLA’s five blocks.

The Bruins entered the second half with a 35-21 lead. Six of UCLA’s eight field goals in the third quarter were assisted. Dean – who ranks third in the conference in assists – registered four of her nine assists in the period.

Drummer led UCLA in rebounds, tallying nine on the night.

As the buzzer sounded, the four seniors were hugged by their teammates and coaches as they stepped off of the court one last time.

“(Today) was really emotional because I’ve developed a lot of close relationships with all the four seniors in different ways,” said sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere. “It’s sad to see them go but I’m really excited for their next endeavors.”

But it’s not over yet for UCLA.

The Bruins will open the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas as the No. 4 seed. UCLA will have a bye Thursday and will face the winner of No. 5 seed Arizona State and No. 12 seed Colorado on Friday.

Baseball splits Sunday doubleheader with shutout and loss against Sacramento State

Sunday’s doubleheader resulted in opposite results for the Bruins.

No. 4 UCLA baseball (9-2) split its two Sunday games against Sacramento State (4-6) at Jackie Robinson Stadium with a 6-0 series-clinching win in the first game, followed by a 2-1 loss in the second. The game originally scheduled for Saturday got pushed back a day because of rain.

The Bruins allowed two runs on the day – after giving up one Friday night – to lower their ERA to 1.08. The two given up in the second game, however, turned out to be too much for UCLA.

“We’re not used to doubleheaders,” said coach John Savage. “Two (nine-inning games) is a long day. … It was disappointing, but we did win the series.”

UCLA won the first game of the doubleheader behind a career-high seven scoreless frames from redshirt junior right-hander Jack Ralston and a four-run seventh inning at the plate after starting the game hitting one-for-six with runners in scoring position.

“I think (my arm strength and stamina) are getting better,” Ralston said. “My in-between recovery and workouts are helping me throw a long time.”

The game had the makings of a pitcher’s duel early on.

The only run of the first six innings came in the second, when senior designated hitter Jake Pries gave the Bruins the 1-0 lead with his first home run of the year on a solo line drive in the second.

The next two innings saw UCLA fail to convert with the bases loaded. Pries was intentionally walked with two outs in the third and two runners on, but Sacramento State’s gamble paid off as junior first baseman Michael Toglia flied out to end the inning.

The Bruins loaded the bases again with just one out in the fourth and the top of their order coming up, but freshman center fielder Matt McLain struck out swinging and sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell grounded out to end the inning.

UCLA came up empty again in the fifth, stranding two runners. Overall, the Bruins left nine runners on base between the third and sixth innings.

“We just didn’t have enough quality at-bats,” Savage said. “I thought Sacramento State pitched well all weekend.”

The fourth time was the charm for UCLA, finally converting on a bases loaded opportunity in the seventh. After junior left fielder Jack Stronach drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall cleared the bases with a double down the left field line. Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas capped off the rally with a double of his own that drove in Kendall, giving the Bruins a 5-0 lead.

UCLA padded its lead in the eighth on an RBI-groundout from junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler.

On the mound, Ralston earned his third straight win after tallying just one all of last season, and the Bruin bullpen pitched two hitless innings to finish off the game.

“(Ralston) is a different guy (from last year), he’s so fun to watch,” Savage said. “The guy has been so progressive in his development this year. He came back (from summer workouts) and boy, he’s been sensational.”

The second game of the day began with Sacramento State driving in a run off of freshman right-hander Jesse Bergin. Catcher Martin Vincelli-Simard hit an RBI-single up the middle to give Sacramento State a 1-0 lead.

Bergin continued to pitch into trouble in the second and third innings, as two Hornets were let on base in each frame. The players behind him, however, turned multiple inning-ending double-plays to keep the Sacramento State lead at one.

“Defense was huge today,” Bergin said. “I got into some tight situations and getting two double-plays in back-to-back innings was a huge relief.”

The freshman again let two men on in the fourth inning, but struck out the next three batters he faced. Bergin tallied nine strikeouts in his third collegiate start and gave up one hit in his final two innings of work. He earned a no-decision after starting 2-0 and now holds a 0.51 ERA and 0.87 WHIP.

The Bruins managed two hits across the first four innings before Kreidler led off the fifth. The junior launched a deep fly ball over the left-center wall for a solo home run, tying the game at one apiece.

Despite getting men in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings, the Bruins did not score for the remainder of the contest.

Third baseman Steven Moretto led of the top of the ninth for the Hornets by hitting a moon shot to left field. The ball just stayed inside the foul pole and cleared the outfield wall, giving Sacramento State a 2-1 lead, which would be the final score.

Pries led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to left-center, but a strikeout by Toglia and inning-ending double-play by Kreidler ended the game.

The Bruins will next take the field Tuesday night at 6 p.m. against Pepperdine (3-5) at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Unproductive school-sponsored veteran facilities need to be held accountable

No community in Los Angeles faces the challenges veterans do. Their scars, mental and physical, make reintegration into civilian life a daily struggle. But what’s worse than not helping them is agreeing to and then giving them the cold shoulder.

Congress passed a law in 2016 allowing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to lease its federal property on Wilshire Boulevard to third-party entities for 10 years. These VA Partners, including UCLA and the Brentwood School, were mandated to provide programs that principally benefit veterans.

The Brentwood School’s services include veteran access to athletic facilities and educational programs. For its part, UCLA has established a family wellness center for veterans, a legal clinic and recently a recovery center for treating those with substance use disorder.

But both institutions’ services have continually come under scrutiny.

A 2018 report from the Office of the Inspector General found the VA had failed to uphold multiple terms of the lease agreement. Eleven of the organizations the VA had leased to, including the Brentwood School, were found not to have been providing veteran-centric programs. Brentwood consistently has made its athletic facilities unavailable to veterans. UCLA itself has faced criticism for the limited and inconsistent services its legal clinic provides veterans.

The fact that veterans are being mistreated in LA is hardly up for debate. The city has around 3,900 homeless veterans, the country’s highest number. The impact of the VA’s failure is sobering: Seventeen veterans kill themselves every day. The need for UCLA and the Brentwood School to provide veterans quality care and services is clear, and it’s time they fulfilled their promises to do so in the first place.

UCLA’s legal clinic for veterans has been the object of great frustration for quite some time. The clinic functions as a semester-long class for law students to advise veterans about benefits and citation cases. The clinic is run with the help of those students, two faculty co-directors and a paralegal. But the clinic has extremely limited take-in hours and only provides legal services for those with citations like jaywalking or those seeking benefits from the VA.

“The legal clinic offered by UCLA has a limited presence on the VA campus, has limited access for veterans and limited services offered to veterans,” said Dan Garcia, a veteran who is a director of Vets Advocacy, a nonprofit representing veterans.

The clinic is also characterized by long delays in responding to veterans’ cases.

“The legal services are undermanned, and the people who are there are overworked,” said Richard Munoz, third-year sociology major and veteran. “When you call a legal clinic, you need services now, not three months from now.”

Jonathan Varat, UCLA’s chief liaison to the VA, said the legal clinic’s purpose is misunderstood, as it was never intended to function as a full-time law firm for veterans. But this is a paltry excuse.

As a “veteran-centric service,” UCLA’s legal clinic should geared toward meeting the needs and expectations of veterans in West LA, rather than simply existing as lip service or a law school program.

“There’s clearly a misperception between veterans and UCLA,” Garcia said. “Given their own described limitations, this clinic isn’t what veterans really need or want.”

Similarly, the Brentwood School has failed to meet expectations of services for veterans. The school has consistently faltered in its promise to provide scholarships for veterans’ families. The OIG report also found veterans have had great difficulty gaining access to Brentwood’s sports facilities, facing extremely long wait times or being barred from using the services altogether.

Caleb Gonzales, fourth-year applied linguistics student and veteran, said he and other veterans attempting to use the Brentwood baseball amenities have “more or less been denied.”

The assistant head of the Brentwood School, Gennifer Yoshimaru, defended the school’s progress, noting an online registration form has simplified veterans’ access to the athletic facilities.

But online registration forms aren’t cutting it, especially for the veterans who rely on these centers to actually serve them like they claim to. Brentwood isn’t fulfilling its lease agreement by providing athletic facilities veterans can’t take advantage of. The school’s administrators shouldn’t need a kick in the rear end every couple of years to remind them of that principal obligation.

Both institutions committed to providing veteran-centric programs, but are falling short. Veterans rely on these facilities to support them and that means we should expect more accountability and better resource commitment from these veterans’ programs.

Certainly, it’s without question that the services offered by UCLA and Brentwood have immensely benefited veterans. UCLA’s family and wellness center, which Varat says served more than 7,000 veterans since 2017, is an example of the kind of community reintegration veterans need.

But the reality is UCLA and Brentwood have been underperforming. While deflecting criticism may be a good public relations move, it doesn’t address the continued struggle that characterizes the lives of Los Angeles veterans.

West LA can be a community willing to go the extra mile for veterans and make recovery and reintegration a reality for those who have given their all to protect us. UCLA and Brentwood had and continue to have that opportunity.

It’s time they stopped squandering it.

Editorial: USAC’s extraordinary weakness permits election board ineptitude

Students have seen it all: an undergraduate student government blithe to their concerns, an undergraduate student government unaware of their concerns and an undergraduate student government incapable of addressing their concerns.

For the first time in recent history, they have an undergraduate student government too meek to address their concerns.

You can imagine how inspiring that is – especially when this year’s Undergraduate Students Association Council’s election conduct couldn’t be any more disingenuous.

The council’s cold feet centers around Richard White, the election board chair. White has done everything from dispute common-sense conflict-of-interest expectations to calling council members racist.

On Tuesday, White took it to a new level. While clashing with USAC representatives over the election code, he revealed that Robert Watson, the internal vice president, is a candidate in this year’s USAC election – information that should be kept secret until next quarter. He also nominated a member from last year’s election board to this year’s board, despite that student lending a hand in last year’s botched election and allegedly contributing to a corrosive culture of misogyny in last year’s board.

This all goes to show that White is unfit for the job. And the worst part: USAC is too afraid to do anything about it, despite clearly knowing so.

White’s tenure has been problematic since the day of his appointment. For starters, White, a member of the Community Programs Office, has on numerous occasions shown an inability to understand conflicts of interest. For example, a former member of the Student Fee Advisory Committee, which White had served on, said he had disagreed about whether to recuse himself from voting if the committee was deciding on CPO funding. Another student who was formerly part of CPO alleged White had used his SFAC position to direct funding to CPO.

And yet in fall quarter, after White’s acquaintances and supporters crowded around council members and talked down to them, USAC complied and voted – through tears – to approve him as election board chair.

A couple months later, White brought his election board nominees before the council. Most of these students were associated with CPO, causing council members to raise valid concerns of conflict of interest and whether he had performed enough outreach to fill these positions. Some students in the audience called these council members out and White proceeded to accuse the council of racism. By the end of that night, the council had approved most of the election board nominees, despite expressing serious concerns about some nominees just hours before.

The same turn of events happened last week, when White brought another round of nominees, including a previously rejected appointee, to staff his still-lacking board. Council members expressed concerns about his outreach – now confirmed by student groups to be insufficient and exclusive –, they questioned the nominees about conflict of interest, were accused of not being inclusive of students’ backgrounds, and proceeded to appoint the majority of them despite having serious concerns about some.

That’s quite a pathetic display of leadership.

If the council is unable to see the dangers of letting White act unilaterally – even after numerous students’ public comments about him, his flagrant displays of ineptitude and his obvious unwillingness to acknowledge conflicts of interest – the blame no longer falls on White; it falls on the 14 students who appointed him.

Sure, USAC should be cautious of repercussions of disciplining members of its staff, but misconduct in student government shouldn’t be tolerated or ignored.

Acting to correct those misdeeds is a responsibility of all 14 council members. Checking your spine out at the door isn’t.

Q&A: UCLA alumna dons thinking cap to overcome clothing challenges on TNT show

Designing costumes for TNT’s “I Am the Night” just kept getting weirder and weirder, Rhona Meyers said.

From Little Red Riding Hood coats to Masonic cuff links and last-minute Hawaiian print dresses, the UCLA alumna said designing for the miniseries was full of unexpected coincidences that tied reality to the show’s Black Dahlia era.

Meyers worked as the head of the costume department for the TNT miniseries, which stars Chris Pine as a ruined reporter and India Eisley as a woman whose history could help him reclaim Pine’s reputation. The duo move throughout Los Angeles in the late 1940s to the late 1960s in order to solve the infamous Black Dahlia murder. Costume design becomes the visual cue for these shifts in time as ’50s cardigan sweaters and full skirts transition into ’60s turtlenecks and A-line dresses, Meyers said. Directed by Patty Jenkins, the show’s season finale premieres March 4.

[RELATED: Costumes add depth to the diverse range of characters, settings this Oscar season]

Meyers spoke to the Daily Bruin’s Paige Hua about the costume design process, its unexpected coincidences and the creative control a designer has on set.

Daily Bruin: What kind of research did you do before creating costumes for this show?

Rhona Meyers: “I Am the Night” is a period piece, but not only is it period, it’s also based on somebody’s life. When I first researched for that project, I looked at Fauna Hodel (Eisley), and I tried to find what I could find about her and what I could find about her father. That was the beginning of my research. The next thing I did was research 1965 Los Angeles, the Watts Riots, African-American communities and civil rights. That’s why at the beginning of the show we were in Sparks, Nevada, in the 1950s, so that you could see when Fauna goes to LA, it’s quite different. Then, because we were just leaving the Hodel clan in the 1940s, I researched surrealism and the “glamorous ’40s.” And that led to a lot of art, surrealist art, and artists like Man Ray, Dalí, Schiaparelli, which led to Anna May Wong and Grace Kelly and beat poets and Audrey Hepburn in the ’60s. There was a very, very diverse amount of research.

DB: With all the intricacies involved with the costumes, how did each city reflected differently in them as the characters moved from Nevada to Los Angeles?

RM: Patty Jenkins wanted to keep Sparks as a small town that was left behind in time. We did Sparks with a sort of 1950s vibe. More prim and proper with full skirts and cardigan sweaters, little bobby socks, that kind of thing where they haven’t quite caught up to the ’60s yet. So that when Fauna moves to LA, she gets a big awakening when she sees the new styles in Los Angeles.

DB: Was there a specific part of the costume where you thought to yourself, “This is exactly what reflects the character’s personality?”

RM: There’s not anything absolutely specific, but there were quite a few coincidences that happened during the show. For instance, Fauna’s red coat. I had gotten that coat, and for some reason I was like, “She needs to wear that coat.” And then later on, I met Fauna’s daughter. She was on set telling a story about when she was 3 years old, and Jimmie Lee, who was drunk and yelling at her, kicked her out of the house. She left with this red jacket not knowing where she was going. She said, “I felt like Little Red Riding Hood.” And I asked her if she knew that Fauna’s main coat is a red coat and at one point it had a hood, but we had taken it off. It’s like a Little Red Riding Hood coat, and we were just astounded.

DB: And that was a coincidence?

RM: Yeah, because I didn’t find that out until way later. We had already started shooting, and we had already shot the coat. Here’s another thing that happened. We were looking online for little accessories, tie clips, cuff links, stuff for George Hodel. At one point, I thought to myself: George Hodel is a Mason. I had no idea if he is or not, but I just had that feeling because he did this ritualistic kind of stuff, so must be involved with high-level Hollywood people, very protected by the police and everything. We then looked online to see if we could find some Masonic stuff, and we found (someone) selling an old wooden box of vintage tie clips, cuff links. They were all Masonic with the initial H. It got weirder and weirder.

[RELATED: Alumna uses costume design to craft characters’ auras in ‘American Horror Story’]

DB: Were there any challenges specifically that you can remember with “I Am the Night”?

RM: In this show, we were so busy up until almost the very bitter end. It was so challenging having to build all these clothes. We had 24 hours to buy all the fabric, get it to all the makers, get all the stuff for the next cast of characters coming up and do all our fittings. Then, one day Sam Sheridan, the showrunner, came up to me on set and requested to see Fauna in a Hawaiian dress for when she goes to Hawaii. So, I looked at the schedules and I was like “Sam, that schedule is working tomorrow.” After a quick research online, we found that we couldn’t get any vintage Hawaiian fabric to come in from somewhere else, couldn’t find any vintage Hawaiian fabric in yardage that was local. Then, I just remembered every time I would go into a vintage store, I would hoard vintage fabric. So, I found one piece of fabric that I had gotten from Jet Rag that was enough for two dresses amazingly. It wasn’t quite Hawaiian, but it worked, I thought, better than Hawaiian print. But there were challenges like that all the time.

DB: Is this a process you have a lot of creative control over?

RM: Most of the time, I have had a lot of creative control over it. But there is input always. The director has an idea, the actors have an idea. It’s a very collaborative process and that’s the beauty of film. It’s all collaborative. You work with the production designer, you have to work within the color palette, you have to work within the story, you have to work within creating each character.

Architects discuss innovative designs inspired by research into social changes

It was normal to live without a kitchen in early 20th-century Manhattan.

Architect Anna Puigjaner uses her research on housing trends, such as the perception of kitchens in Manhattan, to understand how society came to define the home. As part of a lecture series put on by the UCLA Architecture and Urban Design department, Puigjaner will discuss how she blends theory and practice by applying research to architectural projects around the world. Her lecture will take place in Perloff Hall on Monday. Puigjaner said she studies the social and historical context in an area to design housing that can be adapted for different occupants, allowing projects to last through time.

“Every project is particular and answers to a particular context,” Puigjaner said “We have to be able to understand how social habits have an actual impact on houses.”

Puigjaner helps run MAIO, a Barcelona- and New York-based architectural firm. MAIO recently completed an apartment building in Barcelona entitled “110 Rooms” because, as its name suggests, it can contain up to 110 similarly sized rooms. By using devices like large sliding double doors between rooms, inhabitants can change the room sizing and layout of the units, Puigjaner said. The design of the building does not determine exactly how the occupant should define the space, she said.

“Any room can be a bedroom. Any room can be the living room, even any room can be the kitchen,” Puigjaner said. “The domestic program is not predetermined. It’s actually the inhabitant who determines where all these domestic pieces are arranged.”

[RELATED: Quarterly exhibit to showcase students’ urban architectural design]

Guillermo López, another MAIO lead architect, said they often design projects that can evolve alongside the area. One such example is a temporary public square where a building is slated for construction once Barcelona recovers from an ongoing economic crisis. MAIO decided to spend the limited budget from the city on an effective lighting system and a simple instructions manual. The manual gives insight such as where to plant trees so the neighborhood residents can develop the square over time.

The “110 Rooms” project was in part inspired by housing in 19th-century Barcelona, López said. At that time, López said rooms were about the same size and could potentially serve as any form of room. He said the company finds inspiration in historical architecture and applies it to projects for the current social environment.

“We try to be innovative, but at the same time, sometimes the past has a lot of answers for the future,” López said.

Jimenez Lai, a UCLA Architecture and Urban Design department lecturer, said Puigjaner creates both aesthetically pleasing and economically and politically thoughtful designs. For example, Puigjaner said different types of occupants, ranging from single persons to families, can live in “110 Rooms” because of its adaptable nature. She said she did not want to use a standard layout for a small family of about four because that social group is not necessarily the most common household in Spain.

Lai said architects with a vision like Puigjaner’s can help fix housing issues in urban cities. He said people are often unable to afford basic housing, even with well-paying jobs. Failed projects such as Pruitt-Igoe have often caused Americans to be against collective housing. This project, cited by Lai as the epitome of poor living conditions, was built in 1954 and then destroyed in the 1970s because of issues such as malfunctioning utilities and criminal activity.

[RELATED: Alumna’s architecture integrates aesthetics with practical design]

Puigjaner said architects can respond to future social changes by understanding how people come to value certain elements of a household. Americans currently view kitchens as a necessity, but in the late 19th century and early 20th century, it was more common to share or live without a kitchen in the U.S., particularly in Manhattan, she said. At that time, Puigjaner said kitchens and kitchen work could be considered an annoyance rather than a necessary comfort.

“The idea of comfort is a total construction that not only relies on architecture and design, but relies on many, many issues,” Puigjaner said. “So it’s important not to take things for granted and understand, ‘Where are we heading to?'”

At the end of the day, a lot of the company’s decisions depend on the project developer, Puigjaner said. While the building “110 Rooms” was completed for a private client, Puigjaner said she recently designed a public housing unit in Mexico. She said they transferred concepts from “110 Rooms” to the new design, such as making the sizes of living spaces adaptable for different occupants. In the project, she said, the housing units range in price, which allows people of different socioeconomic groups to live in the same building.

“It’s quite an interesting and healthy way of building cities,” Puigjaner said. “Because it allows you to avoid, first, gentrification of an area, and at the same time to have a good social equilibrium in the neighborhood.”