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WELCOME TO COLOMBIA
Six designers tell about the new zest in Colombian architecture.
Text Cathelijne Nuijsink / Photos Sergio Gomez

Orquideorama, by Camilo Restrepo Arquitectos + Plan:B Arquitectos.

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The Colegio en Santo Domingo, by Obranegra Arquitectos.

Colombia is slowly struggling free of its reputation as an extremely unsafe country. Several influential mayors have developed initiatives, first in Bogot and now in Medelln, to turn the two biggest cities in the country into pleasant places to live. By constructing infrastructure and green spaces and building schools, libraries and museums in the worst neighbourhoods, the cities are reviving and the population is showing itself on the streets again. At least thats been the message in the last few years. When I arrive at El Nuevo Dorado International Airport in Bogot to see the most important new interventions, I am quickly brought back to earth. Without realizing it, we my host, architect Giancarlo Mazzanti and I are followed on our journey from the airport to the city centre by a gang of criminals. When we pull up at a traffic light, one of the car tyres 'suddenly' has a puncture. Out of nowhere, people who just happened to be passing come rushing over to help change the tyre but also distract us in different ways. After they all abruptly disappear, it turns out that my luggage, including laptop, camera and passport, has done the same. At the foot of the Torres Del Parque, of all

places, the iconic residential buildings designed by Rogelio Salmona, my first acquaintance with Colombia confirms all the prejudices about this South American country. Now all that remains is the question about the status of the current transformations . . . Ten years ago, Bogot and Medelln were badly-functioning cities, with blocked roads, narrow alleyways and a lack of pavements and green spaces. Medelln, the 'city of eternal spring', which lies in a valley, was a fragmented and divided conurbation with 2.2 million inhabitants, struggling to house the various layers of the population. The north side of the city consists of neighbourhoods which have grown spontaneously: labyrinths inhabited by mainly low-income groups. The higher-income classes are found on the south side of the city. For the 7 million inhabitants of the capital Bogot, exactly the same social imbalance prevails, the only difference being that the rich neighbourhoods are found in the north and the poor in the south. A lack of antipoverty measures and the influence of a drugs cartel led by Pablo Escobar yielded a violent society, with no attention for infrastructure and

public spaces. Housing estates were inaccessible and unapproachable, public spaces were used to deal in stolen and smuggled goods. Political will is a primary necessity for urban transformation. In 1998, Enrique Pealosa, the mayor of Bogot, promoted an urban model which gave priority to children and open spaces and he initiated the construction of hundreds of kilometres of foot and cycle paths, completed with greenbelt areas and parks. Enthusiasm about the results infected Medelln, where Sergio Fajardo, a mathematician who had chosen to become a politician, took care of the improvements in 'his' city between 2003 and 2007. He put together a project team of urban developers, ecologists, civil technicians, architects, politicians and environmentalists who got 30 projects going; from footpaths, footbridges, parks and open spaces to schools and libraries: the Proyecto Urbano Integrale Nororiental (PUI). In order to draw the inhabitants into the plans, children from underprivileged neighbourhoods were involved in the projects. They received single-use cameras to record their own neighbourhoods. That documentation apparently played a role in

the decision-making about precisely where the interventions should take place. Ever since 1980, it is a legal requirement in Colombia for every new building to be realized by means of a public competition. The building rage of the last few years has provided architects with the opportunity to admit to the failures and interfere emphatically in the way problems need to be addressed. It is striking how everyone is in agreement: they choose unanimously for 'open' architecture, architecture which not only contains the required functions, but also offers users and local communities the chance to alter their behaviour. Take a look at Mazzanti's Library of Spain (Mark #15), strategically positioned on the summit of a mountain 'planted' with slums and designed to look like three gigantic boulders. Besides being an icon for Medelln, the library is a source of pride for the inhabitants of the poor neighbourhood Santo Domingo, in the north-east of the city. What once was a murder scene is now an attraction. It appeals to foreign tourists and the terrace with panoramic views has become a romantic spot for couples. The library is not just an agency for borrowing books; it is also a

meeting place, education centre and after-school childcare centre. When we visit the building, it is swarming inside and out with children, young people and senior citizens, all eagerly making use of the free facilities. 'The greatest achievement of the cultural buildings realized in Colombia in the last couple of years is the inclusion of communities that were forgotten,' according to Mazzanti. A similar sort of intervention is La Quintana Library designed by Ricardo La Rotta, on a north-westerly slope of the city. 'People have found spaces to have fun again in the city,' says La Rotta. 'It has activated a sense of belonging and a positive attitude in the citizens as they became part of the social development themselves. By using the new Metro Cable, a modern cable-lift of the type found in ski runs and amusement parks, we glide in 20 minutes from the Library of Spain, over the underprivileged neighbourhoods, back downhill. The bird's-eye view reveals the new, liberating holes in the urban fabric: green open spaces, connecting roads and footbridges which open up some of the steepest slopes. They ensure that the neighbourhoods become well-organized and that people can find

their way. Back on ground level, we transfer to the new above-ground metro and travel to the centre of Medelln, to science park Parque Explora designed by Alejandro Echeverri. Children on school trips, parents with toddlers and teenage pupils are enjoying themselves here on this ordinary weekday with scientific play features, interactive exhibitions and an unusual aquarium. According to Echeverri, this sort of fun in the city would have been unthinkable ten years ago: When I was at university, we used to focus only on the most developed part of the city. That was a serious mistake in such a divided society like ours! Now, we have finally redirected our attention towards the other side of the city, the poorest areas, which represent 60% of the population and urgently need our energy and knowledge to develop. The creation of good public spaces brings people back in contact with each other and, as a result, leads to an improvement in the quality of life. In the botanic gardens opposite Parque Explora we find Camilo Restrepo, who realized a modular wooden roof covering here. He agrees with Echeverri: 'Because of the social

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Colegio en Santo Domingo

Obranegra Arquitectos / Medelln Carlos Pardo (Obranegra Arquitectos): The problem of todays architecture is the thirst for an immediate recognition (Facebook architecture) combined with preconceived formulas of borrowed images (Photoshop architecture). The result is a product of fast consumption. For Obranegra Arquitectos architecture is not a question of style or fashion, it is about the primacy of place, the capability of interpreting the ambitions of a society. The violence suffered in Medelln in the last decades obliged its inhabitants to a form of progressive enclosure, denying the streets in order to be safe. Schools were no exception; they also were fenced off and turned their back to the city. With our Colegio in Santo Domingo we try to teach people from an architectural perspective. We applied the concept of an open school and we integrated the building with the city by means of a permanent link between education and urban life. To achieve this, we needed to dissolve the traditional limits (walls, fences) and replace them with softer alternatives that serve as transitions and allow transparencies. Thus a sense of confidence is produced that we are so in need of. Using the strong topography of the neighbourhood, we proposed a 3,600-m2 LookoutPoint Plaza on top of the roof that operates as a place of encounter between the academic community, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood and the city. This new inhabitable geography relates to the landscape in the same way the terraces of the neighbourhood houses do. We enforced the effect with crevices, balconies and open hallways. For the residents of this neighbourhood, the school has turned into a reference not only because of its physical presence but also because it has given them the opportunity to do activities they couldnt do before, for instance use a library, computers and go to a gym. In that sense the Colegio offers an answer to the specific necessities of the community, with no other pretention than turning into a second home for the students (and in some cases the first and only home) and a place for encounter for the residents living nearby.
http://obranegra.com

The greatest achievement is the inclusion of communities that were forgotten

Giancarlo Mazzanti

The partners of Obranegra Arquitectos, from left to right: Carlos Pardo, Nicolas Velez and Mauricio Zuloaga.

differences, people dont relate to each other as equals, and the city becomes broken and socially fragmented. We need spaces to get together, where we can trust each other.' His covering in the (freely accessible) botanic gardens is used for all sorts of events and is a welcome gift to the inhabitants of Medelln. A few days later, we are back in Bogot again. It is Sunday morning and the city centre has been taken over by a sporty crowd of hundreds of people on bicycles and skeelers. Every Sunday, the roads here are made free of traffic and young and old set out for the city. Cultural festivals and events like open-air salsa dancing and aerobics are intended to encourage citizens to spend more time in the refurbished public spaces. Richer people are also rediscovering the city. Escaping to their weekend house is no longer necessary to enjoy a good weekend. 'The new public spaces allow the inclusion of the expression free time in the vocabulary of citizens again,' says Mazzanti. 'It is a productive time for enjoyment, and for interaction between the communities.' Felipe Mesa, who has joined us, endorses that thought: 'Slowly, some affective bonds between rich and poor are being created.'

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Giancarlo Mazzanti.

Colegio Gerardo Molina

Giancarlo Mazzanti / Bogot Giancarlo Mazzanti: Colegio Gerardo Molina is located in the periphery of Bogot. It is one of the 35 new schools that have been built in the city in the last four years. The school is organized using a modular system. It is a chain with beads; each module relates to the next and between them open spaces are created. Besides the standard classrooms and the big central square where all of the children can come together, we designed lots of small roofed and fragmented subspaces around the classrooms where a few children can gather. Young people prefer smaller spaces where they can relate to a little community. When you make a public school, the space inside the school walls usually becomes private. In Colegio Gerardo Molina we proposed walls that are in fact green zones, to be used by the community. The inner courtyard is separated from the neighbourhood by means of a wooden latticework. A floodgate system was set up to allow the nearby residents to use the library building, the dining room and the computer room. The success of the development policies in our cities is a result of the construction of public flagship buildings that allow local residents to do things they could not do before. The poorer the community, the more powerful the intervention is. Colegio Gerardo Molina is not merely a functional building that houses an educational use, it also exhibits the mechanisms of learning. Its a piece of architecture that doesnt simply host, but that acts. The school summarizes the idea of architecture as a mechanism of social transformation, the inclusion of the community, and of an adaptive system that can easily be repeated in the city in other configurations.
www.giancarlomazzanti.com

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Colegio Las Mercedes

Juan Manuel Pelaez / Medelln Juan Manuel Pelaez: Colegio Las Mercedes is one of those urban interventions that shows that public infrastructure can provide a higher quality of life. Approximately 40 per cent of the 365 days in a year count as weekends or school holidays. So why not give the community, now lacking any type of urban equipment, the opportunity to use those spaces when the school is not? To that purpose, we applied a spiral layout that extends the programme of the school into the neighbouring community. In the most private areas, the classrooms, maximum concentration is guaranteed, whereas the more public spaces for combined activities connect to the city. It is important to see how the school avoids the use of enclosures such as fences or walls. The space is organized by use of the building volumes themselves. The intervention immediately had a positive effect on the neighbourhood. Students and their parents are happy with the new school, while people from the middle and upper classes feel that the social investment has made the city a safer place. But one swallow does not make a summer. Many more interventions are needed to make a real transformation happen.
http://juanmanuelpelaez.com

Juan Manuel Pelaez.

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Parque Explora
AE Arquitectos / Medelln Alejandro Echeverri (AE Arquitectos): The challenge was to design a space, not just a conventional building with defined limits. We wanted our science and technology park to be a place to be experienced. Whats more, it responds to the geography of the valley in the distance and to the renovated Carabobo Street, one of the most typical pedestrian walkways of Medelln, lined with heritage buildings and artistic and architectural landmarks. The design of the park is based on a sequence of open spaces and different levels. It is like a newly built topography of folds, incisions, balconies and walkways from where you can overlook the city and be seen by the citizens. We did not want a classic museum or some kind of short-life theme park. Instead, we tried to create a space that has both open areas characterized by fair galvanized steel, fluorescent lighting and outdoor facilities for playing simple scientific games and closed areas, boxes, for the technological exhibitions, often with an interactive aspect to them. The programme is divided over three layers. The four red boxes contain the main programme of this science museum. The spaces made of concrete contain the complementary supports programme, such as an aquarium, a cinema, a television studio and technical and administrative services. Parque Explora is a strategic project that is part of a political urban recuperation of a very deteriorated part of the city; a frontier between the old historical centre and the poorest neighbourhoods in the northern part of Medelln. It aims to be a reference, and a place for the re-encountering of social groups that up until now would not interact. In all honesty, it has succeeded. Parque Explora and the other projects of the New North, such as the Jardin Botanico, Carabobo Street and Parque de los Deseos, have converted into a new meeting point of what up until recently was a divided society.
www.aearquitectos.com.co

Alejandro Echeverri.

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From left to right: Felipe Mesa, J Paul Restrepo, Camilo Restrepo.

Orquideorama

Camilo Restrepo Arquitectos + Plan:B Arquitectos / Medelln Camilo Restrepo: We wanted to do architecture as if we were planting a garden of flowers. Thats why we see Orquideorama as a system: a forest of tree-sized, flower-shaped structures. Each structure is composed of seven hexagons. The project is a set of 14 of these structures. It is a building in which some of the characteristics of a tree are reproduced like the combination of light and shadow, and the possibilities for birds to live. This results in the sensation of being neither inside nor outside. Since it has this open and flexible organization, different kinds of activities can take place in Orquideorama, from rock concerts to flower exhibitions and fashion shows. As these activities attract many people, it has become an icon for the city of Medelln. But it can also be used as a place for reading or relaxing. The materials are recyclable. The wood we used is from a plantation that grows industrial wood. Felipe Mesa (Plan:B Arquitectos): Orquideorama can grow with time, and transform without altering the system. It can adapt to upcoming budget availabilities, and to the organic atmosphere in which it is inserted. Many of the events that happen in Orquideorama attract a wide diversity of people, from all social classes. Even when private events take place, people can enter the botanical garden normally and free of charge. When visiting Orquideorama one will most likely be in the presence of all sorts of groups and individuals, among them many students from public schools. I think this type of building generates a festive atmosphere.
www.camilorestrepo.net www.planbarquitectura.com

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Ricardo La Rotta.

Walking inside and outside the library grounds happens without noticing it
Ricardo La Rotta

La Quintana Library
La Rotta Arquitectos / Medelln Ricardo La Rotta: The library of La Quintana is comprised of two volumes that are divided by a pedestrian street. The public axis through the site is the main path of the pedestrian flow in this area. By splitting the building volume, I located the library activities on a route and defined a space that promotes social encounters. Walking inside and outside the library grounds, thus going from the public to the private, happens almost without noticing it. At the upper

level end the pedestrian street widens into a large square; at the lower level it connects to La Quintana Park, which flows into the Ro Medelln, the Regional Transportation Terminal and other facilities in the city. In the future, it will connect with an access point of the Metroplus, a new improved transit system with bus lines. With the increase of pedestrian traffic and thanks to the new architecture itself, the entire zone has been reactivated. Public space of the lowest quality (where security problems, social disintegration and a lack of civic-mindedness were evident) has been clearly restructured. The community experiences a positive

change, and feels part of a group of people who are involved in the development of the city. It is a space that people can now call their own and enjoy freely. For instance, it hosts a calendar of cultural events organized by the neighbourhood throughout the year. La Quintana Library sets an example of equitable design, providing accessibility to the largest possible number of people so they can enjoy the space regardless of their condition, education or experiences. The building is thus a response to the zone in which it was built, not for its formal beauty but for the impact it has on the lives of the people that are involved.