updated September 2002 Unicode 3.0
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INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS


LATEST RESULTS
2002

 

International project competition
for the central urban park
in La Paz (Bolivia)



In August 2001, the municipal authorities of the city of La Paz (Bolivia) launched an international project competition, anonymous and in one stage, for the creation of a vast urban park in the centre of the city.

This competition, organised in conformity with the UNESCO/UIA regulations for international competitions, was approved by the International Union of Architects (UIA).
COMPETITION PROGRAMME

The Municipality of La Paz listed 27 zones, sites and monuments as part of the city’s landscape heritage in order to guarantee their protection and preservation. It decided to revitalise a very degraded urban zone on which would be developed a central urban park, the first stage of a development strategy to generate a green urban fabric in the city and its outskirts.

The park should permit interaction between nature and culture, ecology and technology, craftsmanship and industry, natural and cultural heritage.

The park also had to include educational spaces for children and youths and contribute to the development of human resources and strategies capable of fighting against poverty and encouraging creative aptitudes through leisure activities.

JURY

128 teams registered to participate in the competition. 48 amongst them submitted a project, in conformity with the regulations, to the international jury composed of:

  • Raci Bademli, architect (Turkey), UIA representative
  • Kazuo Iwamura, architect (Japan)
  • Ana Maria Salguero, architect, representing the Colegio de Arquitectos de Bolivia
  • Javier Bedoya, architect, representing the Colegio Departamental de Arquitectos de la Paz
  • Cecilia Scholz Delgado, architect, representing the promoter and the Colegio Departamental de Arquitectos de La Paz
  • Ashraf Salama, architect (Egypt)
  • Rodolfo Imas, architect (Argentina)

At its first sitting, the jury anonymously elected Kazuo Iwamura President.
PRIZE WINNERS
  • 1st Prize :
Axel Lohrer (Germany)
  • 2nd Prize :
Nimet Aydin (Turkey)
  • 3rd Prize :
Franziska Wagner (Germany)
1st mention : Nick Plinston (United Kingdom)
2nd mention : Mario Adolfo Mallon Zurita (Bolivia)
  • Ex-aequo mentions :
  • Christian Morandi, Mélanie Pans (France)
  • Jorge Valenzuela (Bolivia)
  • Peter Bedner (Germany)

FIRST PRIZE WINNER

The central urban park is a green island in the heart of the densely built urban fabric of the city of La Paz. It is envisaged as world of urban experience, an island of contact with nature ; not a continuation of the built environment, but rather a well defined central urban park with a distinct character and identity.

The park offers a clear internal structure. The “balcony-way”, a long belt of varying width, is conceived not only as a path but a place in and of itself. Within it is installed a green oasis, resembling a canyon or an oriental wadi in the middle of a desert. This promenade is a brilliant solution allowing interaction with the topography and morphology of the site. The entrances to the park are linked to specific areas of activity. The urban furniture for the park is “biotech”, in wood and corten steel, and can be rearranged in a modulor fashion.

INFORMATION

Secretaria Tecnica de Gerencia y Coordinacion del Parque Urbano Central
Susana Guzman
Plaza del Estudiante, esq. Av. 16 Julio y Calle México
La Paz (Bolivia).

Tél /Fax: (591.2) 37 10 44

E-mail : puclapaz@gmx.net
Web : www.puclapaz.mainpage.net