Regional Holcim Awards 2014 Latin America

This project for a public park centers on creating spaces around and above a series of water reservoirs. Architectural form takes inspiration from the site’s history, surrounding topography, and structure of the existing tanks and pools, resulting in an intervention with minimal environmental impact.

The design for Fundecor’s headquarters is appropriately located in the midst of a forest. The nonprofit organization aims to “contribute to sustainable management of natural resources and improve quality of life” in rainforest regions.

Children’s House is founded on an alternative educational model, offering activities that find solutions to the real problems of the population in a rural community. The curriculum includes instruction in agriculture, farming and building construction, in addition to normal course work.

Ágora Bogotá will be unique. The city’s new convention center is stacked vertically to minimize the building’s footprint and to correspondingly maximize the surface area of outdoor public spaces in the heart of the city.

The province of Formosa in northern Argentina is one of the most bio-diverse regions of Latin America. While forests are abundant in resources, its people live immersed in scarcity, among other reasons, due to the advance of the agro-industrial frontier.

The project for a school for 400 students takes advantage of the topography of the site, introducing reinforced concrete slabs on different levels that adapt to the slope.

Acknowledgement – Rural Campus: University campus for community regeneration, Acatitlán, Mexico – The new Universidad del Medio Ambiente campus for environmental studies will trigger a local regeneration process with a design that is locally attuned, self-sufficient regarding energy and water, and promotes on-site food production.

Acknowledgement – Under Construction: Restoring an urban historical center, Quito, Ecuador – This project proposes a form of “social economy” with implications for inhabitants and their physical environment.

Flooding along the riverbanks is one of the major problems for Manaus since the levels of the Amazon River greatly vary between the dry and rainy seasons. As a solution, the project proposes to transfer the activities currently on the fragmented waterfront to a floating platform in the river.

The project rebuilds a church in an old lumber town on a lagoon. Wood from the original chapel and other buildings is recycled to erect a modular structure adapted to local timber construction.

The low density and lack of public space are two major detrimental factors in the neighbourhood of Güemes. To improve conditions, adaptable and multipliable buildings for flexible use are proposed, including a range of provisions to reduce the environmental impact of the project: green roofs, rainwater collection, grey water for irrigation, solar energy production, and the use of recycled materials for construction.

The media library for the Rincon Grande neighborhood is designed as a modular raised platform resting on steel pillars covered by a ventilated roof. The orientation takes advantage of natural light and movable façade panels to regulate the internal breeze circulation, avoiding mechanical air conditioning. With a minimal environmental impact, this proposal offers a low cost, integrated and multifunctional solution, using local materials and workforce.