Flooding along the riverbanks is one of the major problems for the city of Manaus in Brazil as the levels of the Amazon River greatly vary between the dry and rainy seasons. As a solution, the project proposes to transfer the activities currently on the fragmented waterfront to a floating platform in the river.

A large roof offers protection from sun and rain. The reforestation of the river edge and the creation of a retention lagoon are part of a strategy to delay flooding. The platform, linked to the dry land by footbridges, is used both as a harbor and market – a meeting place connecting the activities of the river with those of the city.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

Alejandro Alaniz and his team from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina won the “Next Generation” 1st prize with “Fruit Salad” and merges technical development with social integration, equity, and the reasonable management of resources. The “Riverside urban infrastructure redeployment” for Manaus, Brazil addresses urbanization processes in harmony with nature and is intended to take on the role of an agent nurturing public and civic life in the vast territory of the Amazon Basin. 

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The 12 winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for Latin America focus mainly on adaptability and social performance, and show how sustainable construction is developing multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing design and building. A public park above a series of reservoirs in Medellín, a low-impact timber rainforest center in Costa Rica and a pedagogically-aligned school in Mexico were awarded gold, silver and bronze.

The jury greatly appreciates the idea to conceive of a project as a reflection on an important subject matter – in this case, the question of how to inhabit the region without disrupting its ecosystem. Addressing urbanization processes in harmony with nature, the investigation deploys design as a means to explore the role of markets as a form of common infrastructure along waterways and riverbanks. The market platform – a kind of architectural “fruit salad” mixing manifold everyday activities – is intended to take on the role of an agent nurturing public and civic life in the vast territory of the Amazon Basin.

This submission was initially developed as a thesis project at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, based on a workshop conducted in Manaus, Brazil in 2012. A number of proposals were subsequently developed by different student groups with similar program components on the same site and comparable architectural solutions.

Flooding along the riverbanks is one of the major problems for the city of Manaus, Brazil, as the levels of the Amazon River greatly vary between the dry and rainy seasons. As a solution, the project proposes to transfer the activities currently on the fragmented waterfront to a floating platform in the river. A large roof offers protection from sun and rain. The reforestation of the river edge and the creation of a retention lagoon are part of a strategy to delay flooding.