The Next Generation 2nd prize for Latin America went to Fluid Buffer in Argentina – Urban flood mitigation and recreation infrastructure by Gimena Ponce Abba, María Florencia Ruiz Cabello, and María Rosario Ruiz Cabello, students at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina.

Sixty percent of the city of Resistencia suffers flooding within an hour during heavy downpours. The project by Gimena Ponce Abba, María Florencia Ruiz Cabello, and María Rosario Ruiz Cabello,students of architecture at the National University of Córdoba, shows how such flooding can be mitigated. “Our solution includes architecture, engineering, landscape design, urban design, and ecology,” summarizes María Rosario Ruiz Cabello.

The project reinterprets the concept and role of water infrastructure in the urban context. A system of catch basins, so-called socio-hydric platforms, is to be installed in large voids within the urban network. There, facilities for social, cultural, sports, and civic activities can be introduced. Depending on the water level, the platforms can also collect, retain, and transport stormwater, employing a natural treatment process. A green belt serves as the interface between the platforms and the surrounding urban districts. “What is very impressive is how generalizable the concept is,” says Marilyne Andersen: “The project does not fight the flooding and try to hold the water back but works with the dynamics of the water and turns it into something positive.” The multidisciplinary approach necessary to achieve this result strongly impressed the jury.

Media Release (English) – Latin America: Responses to pressing challenges

Comunicado de Prensa (Spanish) – Latinoamérica: Respuestas a desafíos urgentes