DESIGN
Vulgar materiality
DETAILING
20/04/19
EXPLANATION
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Like many cities around the world, Medellín re - builds itself everyday on top of what was there before. A clear example of this is the city centre, where the urban layout is the same one as it used to be in the times of the Spanish Empire, but with a mix of buildings from the last two centuries.
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In a similar way, the landscape framework proposed for Santa Elena is designed on top of some housing and areas that will be destroyed due to floods and lands - lides. However, it is important to maintain the memory of what had been built there before, so the materials used will reflect this.
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The idea is that firstly there is an evolution of this materiality along the vein. This will be seen in the gabions, which will be filled with different materials in the different segments of the vein.
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On the other hand, on the site, the idea is to use materiality that is locally used and know. For example crashed bricks for pathways and concrete blocks to frame these paths. Or coblestones and clay pavestones for public plazas.
REFLECTION
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At this stage I focused on showing a few details of how the site would look like in terms of materials. However, I have not been able to go into as detail enough as I would have wanted to since it was a part of the design I was not very interested in and I left it for the end.
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Most projects developed in Medellin use new materials, usually longlasting pre-cast concrete pavement with different patterns and textures etc. I think this is a mistake since it goes away from the layers that lay behind the city and overall creates spaces that are not very high quality and very grey.
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The main idea behind my materiality is the use of local materials that are used in the architecture and public space of the area. In informal settlements everything is reused and very few things go to waste, so the idea was to follow with this concept and reuse local materials, transform them and use them to create new high quality, resilient public space.
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#node #detail #adaptation #layers
REFLECTION ON PRACTICE
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As designers we find ourselves very often in the line between destruction and creation. Especially in such tight communities like those of informal settlements, these changes have a very strong impact. The dynamics of the urban environment, which is constantly rebuilding itself, must do so understanding the layers and identity of the site. Reusing local materials creates engages the local memory while asserts its identity.
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