Arq. Victor Marquez - Architecture
2020 | Panamerican Award, Pan-American Award, Intervention in Public and/or Collective Space, La Mexicana Park – Bienal de Arquitectura de Quito, Ecuador.
2021 | Finalist, Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize; Barcelona Biennial, La Mexicana Park. Barcelona, Spain.
2022 | Honorable Mention, La Mexicana Park - Human City Design Award, Korea.
The park is located in a former gravel and sand mine in Santa Fe, which was excavated for nearly 50 years. Through intense negotiations, 70% of the area (29 hectares) was destined for a public park and 30% (11 hectares) for private housing developments, roads, and infrastructure.
Transformation of an abandoned mine into a public park that generates a new identity for the urban development of Santa Fe.
La Mexicana is a large-scale landscape architecture and architecture project that proposed recycling an environmental wound to transform it into a green, recreational, community-oriented, playful, and accessible space for everyone: children, youth, adults, and seniors.
There are several primary axes in the park design. On one hand, there is a hydraulic axis that extends longitudinally and captures rainwater in a “bio-trench” that infiltrates and leads it to the lake, as well as into a huge underground cistern that is reused during periods of drought. On the other hand, there is a pedestrian axis that crosses the park’s entire length, offering different activities on platforms resulting from careful observation and utilization of the topography, turning into gardens that offer specific attractions: children’s gardens, pet gardens, restful and tranquil gardens, lookout gardens, amphitheater, skatepark. It is complemented by a running track, a cycling path, and a walking path, systems that give the park a movement condition.
