The rust-red U.S. fence along the Mexican border has inspired various quirky architectural structures, from a frontier-themed mansion to a humble treehouse with uninterrupted views across the Californian scrubland.<br></br>A girl climbs stairs near a section of the fence separating Mexico and the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico, Feb. 20, 2017.

Carlos Torres, an architect in the northern Mexican city of Tijuana, has lived in a house in the shadow of the U.S. border for three decades, and the fence that U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to expand begins at the end of his garden.

Far from seeing the metal wall as an eyesore, Torres chose to make it a central piece of the design aesthetic of his lavish home. A signpost indicates the start of U.S. territory. "Walls won't halt immigration," Torres said. Trump, he said, "doesn't know what he's talking about. Here at this fence, people keep crossing every week."

Joaquin, 36, a chef from Guatemala who says he was deported from the United States, set up a much simpler home in the branches of a tree, just meters from the border.

Joaquin builds a bed in a tree, near a section of the border fence separating Mexico and the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico, Feb. 26, 2017.

"I've tried to cross so many times that the [U.S.] border guards even got to know me, but I never made it back," said Joaquin, who makes a living by collecting trash in Tijuana that he tries to sell to a local recycling plant.

Pensioner Pedro, 72, rests outside his home near a section of the fence separating Mexico and the United States, on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico, Feb. 21, 2017. "Neither Trump nor the wall is going to stop anyone, maybe just for a moment," he said.

A shack stands next to a section of the border fence separating Mexico and the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico, Feb. 20, 2017.

A family burns trash near a section of the border fence on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico, Feb. 23, 2017.

A girl runs outside her home near a section of the fence, on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico, March 3, 2017.