Torolab—its name a play on the Spanish words for laboratory and bull—was established in 1995 as a socially engaged workshop committed to examining and elevating the quality of life for residents of Tijuana and the trans-border region through a culture of ideologically advanced design. A concrete response to social conditions in Tijuana—a booming, sprawling city of over 1.3 million only twenty minutes south of downtown San Diego—as well as a utopian quest for the "sublime in the quotidian," Torolab employs abstract art and literature as primary tools in all its projects. According to founder Raúl Cárdenas Osuna, "Torolab is born out of the necessity of discovery: forms, identity, and dialogues within our context, with the purpose of creating conditions of life, optimum quality of life (dignified) for ourselves and the people we can touch with what we do." Preferring to propose rather than protest, Torolab strives to create an optimistic conspiracy of positive design solutions.

Torolab projects include plans for a modular house for a member of the seminal rock en español group Café Tacuba; Torovestimenta, a line of multi-purpose clothing intended as "gear for living"; a vibrant graphic design aesthetic built around the influential Nortec music movement, which blends global techno beats with traditional northern-Mexican norteño sounds; and the "Vertex Project," an ambitious plan for a revolutionary, multimedia-enhanced border crossing footbridge.

Courtesy of MCA San Diego