Project description by jury

Surrounded by the southeastern hills of Bogotá that have suffered long-time illegal mining and informal housing construction, the Entre Nubes Ecological Park is a vast protected area providing habitat to a wide variety of regional fauna and flora. In this natural yet anthropized environment, the project suggests the realization of a light botanic pavilion that reshapes the silhouette of the excavated mountain. Steel cables fixed at the edges of the dig walls form 130m-long catenaries connected to vertical tensioners anchored to the ground to ensure the stability of the structure. A transparent ETFE plastic polymer cushion layer is positioned over the cables to act as a translucent roof protects the exotic and natural plant collections. Different volumes made of metal and glass elements accommodate vegetal species representative of the Colombian ecosystem. Pedagogical and recreational areas alternate in the sequence of paths and squares. In so doing, the greenhouse becomes a public educational space that recognizes the importance of the recovery, protection and preservation of nature.

Jury appraisal

The LafargeHolcim Awards jury Latin America was fascinated by this determined yet gentle architectural gesture attempting to mend a wound inflicted in the landscape by mining exploitation. The silhouette building was perceived as very elegant and the message it carries very powerful. The jury applauded the project’s ambition to not only protect biodiversity but also create public educational spaces for the city of Bogotá. The structural and constructive elements of the greenhouse appeared very appropriate and comprehensively evaluated. The program is well organized and efficient. All in all, the jury applauded the greenhouse pavilion for its thoughtful and convincing integration in the landscape and the sophisticated and compelling architecture that it proposes and that stands as a celebration of ecology.