It is located on a (3.3-hectare) peninsula at the confluence of three rivers: Humaya, Tamazula, and Culiacán. It is situated very close to the Central Zone, in a strategic location for water management, mobility, and infrastructure. The site presents a series of restrictions imposed by CONAGUA, defined as a Floodable Terrace; the peninsula tends to flood continuously with the rise of the rivers due to climate change phenomena.
The need to develop a park on this peninsula was to take advantage of opportunities such as access and contact with the river and the river landscape, generating new public spaces in the city centre.
The park is developed in three areas: an environmental and forested parking lot that may be flooded at certain times of the year; a playful-infantile and youthful area for family gatherings located under the existing bridges; and a multi-use esplanade designed for possible river flooding. The guiding axis that connects the three areas was the design of a 600 linear meter boardwalk around the perimeter of the peninsula, allowing direct contact with the river, integrating existing trees, creating shaded areas and seating that establish water experiences.
A floodable and abandoned space is transformed into a public, playful, and resilient space.
The main feature in the under-bridge area (in the children’s and sports play area) was designed by anchoring the games from existing structures using a hoisting system, preventing them from being carried away by water during river floods.
The location of games, sports and family gathering areas in the under-bridge area was the coolest and shadiest part of the site, allowing for the placement of floodlights for night-time use, as Culiacán is a city of intense heat.
The open esplanade is designed for multiple uses: night-time concerts, informal games, etc. It is framed by one of Culiacán’s landmarks: the Black Bridge, a historic railroad structure that is specially illuminated as a symbolic framework of the city’s memory. This esplanade has become the ideal place in Culiacán to enjoy exceptional sunsets between river-vegetation-esplanade, transforming an abandoned and dangerous site into a reconquered public space for human use and coexistence.
