In the north of Ecatepec there is a huge spiral, like landscape art, composed of a dike enclosing water basins between its coils. Once it was a plant for the production of soda in the former lakebed of Texcoco. Water… 14. The Urban Spiral: Ecatepec

I left the airport in the late morning severely hung over after the beers and tequilas at the Angus. On cruise control I ambled along the hangars and warehouses of the freight companies and customs brokers next to the terminals.… 13. Illegal in the Treasure Knife: Venustiano Carranza

The whale in the lake of Texcoco is Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport. This federal zone blocks the growth of the city from Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl and the Distrito Federal’s Venustiano Carranza Delegation, marking the eastern border of the megalopolis.… 12. Mexico City International Airport: the whale in the belly of the lake

I woke up in the Blue Plaza Hotel amid the rectangular grid of Ciudad Nezahuacóyotl, famous city of squatters. Leaving the hotel I walked to a stand selling orange juice. A little old lady sat behind it. I asked her… 11. Foundations: Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl

I left the hotel with its ceiling mirror and walked over the highway to Texcoco along the usual garages and shops selling auto parts. When I reached a large green field marking the edge of the city I followed it… 10. Territories – Chimalhuacán

The Chimalhuachi Volcano, encircled by the sprawling, poor, municipality Chimalhuacán and the Cerro del Pino now separated me from the Lake of Texcoco marking the eastern border of the city. I headed from the highway of Texcoco inwards through the… 9. Politics and music: Chimalhuacán

The edge of the city is full of graveyards, since new ones are rarely built inside the city. And after Day of the Dead, orange flowers drying on the graves were the typical adornment of the graveyards, like the desolation… 8. Graveyards: Los Reyes

That night in Izcalli I headed toward the house of the parents of a friend of mine, a young graphic designer from Iztapaluca. Her parents were rural teachers in a district urbanized by squatters’ movements over the last ten years.… 7. The leader of the pack: Iztapaluca

The semi-detached rural village of San Francisco in the far north east of Iztapaluca was one last outpost of building before wide fields of wheat, pepper trees and giant agaves reconquered the landscape. So the city yields to the countryside.… 6. The village that travels: Hornos de San Francisco

I had passed Iztapalapa and Valle de Chalco. Since I had been told these areas were particularly dangerous my paranoia began to subside. I no longer felt cannibals at any moment could attack me and that every male between twelve… 5. Witchcraft and spirits: Cocotitlán