The most significant international prize for sustainable design was presented to a team of young architects of Colectivo 720 from Cali (Colombia) for an urban transformation project in Medellín. At the ceremony for the Global Holcim Award Gold 2015, Aníbal Gaviria (Mayor of Medellín), Alejandro Aravena (internationally renowned architect from Chile) and representatives of the competition sponsor Holcim, praised the winning project for its approach of turning a de-commissioned water reservoir into civic space – enhancing the quality of life of many inhabitants.

The Global Holcim Awards Gold 2015 winning project is currently under construction in a hilltop neighborhood of Medellín. The urban remediation project is turning a de-commissioned water reservoir into civic space – enhancing the quality of life of many inhabitants. The project forms part of a network of similar parks. Ten of the 14 sites will be completed by the end of 2015.

The creation of public space through the project Articulated Site: Water reservoirs as public park is under way at UVA Orfelinato in Medellín. The project forms part of a network of parks, and ten of the 14 sites will have been completed and open to the public by the end of 2015.

A project for a public park in Medellín, Colombia that creates urban spaces around a series of water tanks to form a “socio-technical” landscape of magnificent beauty won the gold prize. The design by Mario Camargo and Luis Tombé of Colectivo 720 in Cali, together with Juan Calle and Horacio Valencia of EPM Group (Empresas Públicas de Medellín), all Colombia opens up hidden infrastructure within the city to create a civic space at the intersection of architecture, landscape, infrastructure, and urban design. The public space and pre-existing elements are transformed to create an outdoor auditorium and venues for a range of community activities that highlight the value of water as an important resource of urban life.

Great care went into the further development of the project, with particular attention given to the elaboration of construction and landscape details that strengthen the overall objective of the proposal. A hidden infrastructure within the city is opened up, made public, and transformed into a civic space – one situated at the intersection of architecture, landscape, infrastructure and urban design.

Aníbal Gaviria, Mayor of Medellín, together with Andreas Leu, Member of the Executive Committee of Holcim Ltd, Jaime Hill, CEO of Holcim Colombia, and Bruno Stagno, Head of the Awards jury from Costa Rica, presented the Holcim Awards Gold for Latin America to a project to be constructed in the host city. Architects Mario Camargo and Luis Tombé together with Juan Calle, Director of EPM, received the top prize for their landscape and urban design project for a public park in Medellín.

A landscape and urban design project for a public park in Medellín, Colombia, that merges social imperatives with technical requirements won the top prize. Architects Mario Camargo and Luis Tombé from Colectivo 720 in Colombia designed a park that encompasses landscape and urban design, as well as architecture and urban planning. The public space and pre-existing elements are transformed to create an outdoor auditorium and venues for a range of community activities.

Exploring uncharted terrain, the project is situated at the intersection of a range of disciplines pertaining to the definition of the built environment, ranging from landscape and urban design to architecture and infrastructure planning. The jury values the important steps undertaken by the design team to explore the interrelationship of fields of expertise that are normally treated as isolated domains.

From a multidisciplinary vantage point, this project for a public park in Medellín, Colombia, centers on the creation of spaces around and above a series of water reservoirs. Tracing the site’s history, the architectural form takes its inspiration from the surrounding topography as well as from the structure of the existing tanks and pools, resulting in an intervention with minimal environmental impact.