Pertanto Competition

Design by: Alsar Atelier 
Construction Year: 2022
Location: Colombia

We live in a unique moment in the history of humanity, it is the first period where more than half of the global population lives in cities interpolated with a pandemic.

This period of pandemic & post-pandemic has left traces of the qualities that design, and public architecture should meet. We are no longer in the same time as a couple of decades ago where the urban development of Medellín was carried out, in which projects of great investment and formal expressiveness seemed to be the best solution to the urban problems of the time.

Today the growing problems of densification and inequality interpolated with the lack of economic resources of the post pandemic leaves the following question:

What should public projects within cities look like after the pandemic?

Following the logic of "less is more", the architectural intervention focuses on reusing the existing infrastructure of the tanks and connecting them with the existing children's park in the northeast corner of the lot. This leads to the maximization of green areas within the lot, respect for existing trees, and minimization of paved areas. And the most beautiful and interesting thing about carrying out the proposal under the notion of "less is more" is that a design was reached that invites community participation and appropriation.

Seeing from afar the recently inaugurated project, “UVA”, the user finds an urban landscape very similar to the one that existed before the start of construction. You can see the same trees that have been on the lot for many years and in the first instance you can see the children's park that has been very popular in recent years in the neighborhood.

Upon entering the lot, the user observes how the children's park has been extended and integrated with a generous public space made of local cobblestone, a space where citizens of all ages meet carrying out sports and cultural activities.

Going a little further, the user manages to see the two tanks that existed in the lot. Only this time you notice that each one has a lightweight bamboo structure that sits gently on the concrete walls, which are currently being painted by local artists, giving a unique identity to the public space they are passing through.

Intrigued by everything he sees; the user decides to climb to the deck of the cylindrical tank through a ramp. Upon reaching the top of the concrete walls and crossing the lightweight bamboo structure, the user realizes that the tank roof has been converted into a Monumental Urban Garden.

A space where citizens from the neighborhood or from other parts of Medellín gather to share knowledge of sustainable practices of urban agriculture, good nutrition and even entrepreneurship. Continuing through the transit of this space, the user decides to go up to the second level of the light bamboo structure. Observe carefully that it is a space where more than anything there are young couples taking photos with the view of the city and additionally see that the facade of this structure is composed of a thin nylon grid where vines and other types of vertical vegetation begin to grow.