Mexico City offers a new park in a former industrial central area
By Jimena Martignoni
The Bicentenario Park, located in Mexico City, is a typical contemporary project of post-industrial conversion. The original site, which covers 100 hectares, had been a refinery for seventy years, from 1918 to 1988, when it was definitively closed as part of an agreement with the Federal Government. This agreement is framed in an “air improvement” plan for the city, whose objective was also the eradication of a heavy and light industry-based economy; between 1988 and 1994, 150 polluting companies and factories in the city were closed. This refinery was owned by Pemex, the leading oil company in Mexico and one of the largest in the world; as part of the agreement and plans, under a decree from the Federal Government, the land had to be donated to the city and the Secretary of Environment (Secretaria de Medio Ambiente) became the formal client. Out of the total 100 hectares, 55 hectares were donated and 45 were left for storage purposes of the company; Pemex is also responsible for all cleaning and remediating processes of the 55 hectare-site.
The remediation was scheduled in three different stages: first, the extraction of liquids, which was executed with a system of bombs; second, the extraction of semi-solids, which was basically achieved through the extraction of the soil, washed and then returned to the site; third, the aeration, which was performed using ventilation methods. This last stage also working on the soil located in between the existing continuous concrete slabs of almost 40 cm high.
In 2006, while completing these phases, the government launched a call for entries for a national competition and the Executive Project was finished in 2007. The winning team was composed of two prestigious local architecture firms – Ricardo Legorreta and Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos – the Papalote Children Museum, or Papalote Museo del Niño, a leading organization in business and management plans with thematic and educational purposes, and GDU or Grupo de Diseño Urbano, a firm specialized in planning, urban and landscape design, who would be in charge of the Master Plan.
In this particular case, the dismantling process of all industrial elements left the location with no signs or traces of the past and the Master Plan created a completely new space: a park with diversely designed areas, which yet make one single system. The three components of this Master Plan that were marked as main reasons to have won the contest, were the location of the parking area along the edges of the site, with easy access and away from service and recreational areas of the park, the significant presence of water in the site, and the possibility of developing the project in phases. However, since the remediating procedure for the site´s soils took longer than expected, the government finished only part of the project between 2009 and 2010 and the completion of all proposed phases is slated for future months.
The project suggested five segments or themes for the park:
Natura (Nature), characterized by the presence of native plants.
Viento (Wind), represented by the sportive area and an auditorium.
Sol (Sun), represented by the museums.
Tierra (Earth), represented by the park´s uses at large.
Agua (Water), represented by the lakes and service areas.
So far, the segments that were built are Nature and Wind.
The Nature garden is situated in the northwest corner of the U-shaped site, directly connected to the main pedestrian access. The location of this access was strategically planned in response to the presence of a metro station, called Refineria, which provides massive access to the complex. The main pedestrian paths begin in the accessing piazza; in order to truly and fluidly get into every one of the different spaces that make the Natural garden, it crosses through the entire area as a diagonal. In this manner, visitors get to experience the diversity of the compositions in the site, all of which want to reflect the rich range of ecosystems of Mexico. Mario Schjetnan, director of GDU, says: “Mexico is one of the most biologically diverse countries on the planet and we want people to learn about that, walking through these spaces that seek to exhibit the different species of every biome.”
This is the reason why the compositions are divided into nine areas or “Biomas”. Five of the biomes are open and are arranged as small-scaled botanical gardens which display the typical plants; one is a large orchid garden which takes advantage of an existing cistern and reuses it as a linear exhibiting space, centrally located in the park; and three of them are large structures climatically conditioned by sustainable methods. These structures are icons within the park and invite visitors to walk into green thematic spaces.
The open biomes represent the Temperate Woods, the Desert and Semi-Desert areas, the Low Deciduous Rainforest, the Aquatic Vegetation or Chinampas and the “Encinares” (pine species of Mexico). The three large structures represent the Mountain Woods, the Humid Tropical Rainforest and the Sonoma-Arizona Desert, all of which have special climate needs and humid conditions.
These structures are the result of combining a basic module of 15m x 15m x 15m which houses a funnel-like element for rain water collection; depending on how large the area needs to be, the buildings are made of one, two, or four modules. In the facades, the module appears as a glass panel with a metallic frame which is repeated 16 or 32 times depending on the necessary size, thus creating reticulate transparent surfaces, so visitors can see the plants and the water collecting devices inside. As part of the water treatment methods incorporated in this project, the remnant of the rainwater collected by these funnels is conducted to a large underground cistern; from this pool, the water is sent to some filtering tubes to be cleaned and then returned to the city aquifer.
The Tropical Rainforest biome offers an accessible mezzanine, around one of the funnels, which floats over the lower planted areas and the tree canopies; in this way, visitors have a more intimate connection with the green humid environment generated in this structure and the reference to this natural formation is especially realistic. When the irrigation system is turned on, an event that occurs two times a day during the weekends and four times during the week, people come into close contact with this water experience, which is extraordinary for a public city park. The climate conditions were recreated bio-technically in all cases, avoiding energy consuming systems and making use of different natural ventilation options.
In order to be able to plant and grow large trees in those areas of the site built on top of the 40cm-high concrete slabs, they were treated as large green roofs and were filled-in with up to 4 meters of earth. The consequent elevation change within the park served as a great opportunity to create some sunken gardens, especially between the biomes structures, which provide intimate areas with borders, vegetal mazes, benches and grassed surfaces where people get together, sit around and relax.
The Orchid Garden, or ninth biome, was a result of reusing an abandoned 5 meter deep cistern, centrally located in the area of the park that was intended for the Nature Garden. The decision was to go across the cistern with the main path of the park, starting in the accessing piazza, bisecting the linear space and overhanging onto the buried spaces, on both sides. Visitors are then able to watch the sunken spaces from the ground level of the park, while passing through, or to go down a system of pedestrian ramps that lead into the orchid garden and connect to a floating metallic path, which runs along the 100 meter-long area. As they walk, they encounter diverse exhibit elements, such as self standing or hanging vertical metallic walls and hanging trays, all of which display different and colourful orchid species, accompanied by thematic panels with photos and written information.
Of the original five meters of depth the cistern had, one meter was filled to create a higher bottom level, right on top of the existing slab, and the floating path was built one and a half meters over this new level; consequently the available exhibiting and walking space was approximately two and a half meters high. However, in order to display larger species, vertical panels, and to get as much natural light as possible, the space was roofed with a transparent structure and, as a result, the walls´ height almost doubled. From the outside, when visitors walk the park, these spaces appear as two metallic cubic structures interrupted by the main pedestrian path.
Following this path, the site offers a large and diverse sporting area with basketball, soccer fields and a skate park. Most part of this area is surrounded and marked by a gabion whose inner side contains the stands, creating a very well delimited segment of the park. The fields located at opposite extremes were turned into two sand pits, very popular with little children.
In addition, the Master Plan proposed two buildings, one for maintenance purposes which includes an area for a local nursery, and a larger one open to the public which provides restrooms, offices, working rooms and a large showroom. This 232 m2-building is finished with local stone, thus highlighting the vernacular image and sustainable approach with which the entire project has been thought out.
Although a large part of the park has not built yet, today the site offers an exceptionally attractive place that can be used as an open educational centre while a relaxing and colourful area within one of the most stressful and overwhelming cities on the planet.
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Size: Total 55 Has; First Phase: 22 Has
Year of Completion: 2010
Client: Federal Government of Mexico
Master Plan, Natura and Earth Garden, Sportive Area and Lake:
Grupo de Diseño Urbano. Mario Schjetnan, Luis Matanzo, Juan Carlos García, Silvia Rodríguez, Rodrigo Hernández, Gustavo Rojas, Alfredo Gonzalez, Isaac Mendoza,Victor Betanzos, Jessica Navarrete and Oscar Aguallo.
General Management: Papalote. Marinela Servtje; Alejandro Fujikovsky; Alejandra Lerdo de Tejada; Maribel Ibarra; Mariana Canales.
Environment Consultant, Leed: Enlaces Ambientales, Jorge Kanahuati.
