“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
Steve Jobs
Guayacán Metropolitan Park is a vision of the example that Costa Rica will represent to the world. An abundant ecosystem full of life. A symbiosis that acts as a single organism. A biological embassy that calls for the reduction of the carbon footprint. An international symbol of strength, prosperity and sustainability.
The proposal, named in memory of Minor Chaves Arguedas (1939-2019) better known as “El Guayacán”; proud Costa Rican citizen, from Atenas, Alajuela, father of a family, banana farmer in the southern side of Costa Rica and visionary of multiple projects in Alajuela, San José and Guanacaste, among them the proposal of the new San José-Atenas route and the boulevard in front to Playa Carrillo in Guanacaste. The project seeks to revitalize and unify the intervention area proposed by the municipality of Alajuela with the Juan Santa María International Airport, through an elevated biological path that connects the airport with the new transport hub proposed for the GAM 2013-2030 plan and with the Alajuela Sports Center. The proposal will be a link between the tourist and Costa Rica, promoting an urban space that can welcome any visitor to the country. This urban intervention seeks to communicate the values of sustainability that Costa Rica wants to instill from the moment a foreigner comes out of the airport gates into our beautiful land.
The biological walk connects the airport with a large spherical structure reminiscent of the iconic stone spheres found in the southern part of the country from ancient pre-Columbian cultures. This structure acts as a pedestrian terminal to continue through mechanical bands to the transport hub, or to divert to the park area that continues towards the Sports Center. The spherical structure also has information points, bathrooms, an open-air amphitheater and a large Guayacán Real tree in the center, a symbol of sustainability, strength, stability and solidity of our Democratic and Independent Republic. Likewise, the project proposes a gastronomic viewpoint towards the airport, where you can see the takeoff and landing of airplanes in an urban and ecological environment. In addition, it will have a large Canine Park, different modules of bathrooms / dressing rooms, outdoor exercise machines, water treatment plant for the Ciruelas river, children’s play area, tracks for running & cycling, a large area of parking lots, a boulevard with sale of handicrafts and an organic market that is linked to the Farmer’s Park. All of the above connected by a circuit of pedestrian paths and bicycle lanes.
From a sustainable point of view, the park not only seeks to be carbon neutral, as it takes a step further, to become “carbon negative”. In other words, the park will have sustainable alternative energy systems that not only supply its own energy needs, but will also produce additional energy that will be used to supply and mitigate a percentage of the Juan Santamaria International Airport’s carbon footprint. Among the systems proposed are; solar panels on the elevated walkways and in the artificial lake, wind energy turbines, mills in the rivers for the production of hydraulic energy, rainwater harvesting systems and a Water Treatment Sphere for the restoration of the Ciruelas River. The elevated biological walkways will function themselves as pipelines for the transport and storage of such renewable energy.
The park intends to consolidate itself as an inclusive urban space of convergence, which is why different components and urban activities are being considered to integrate users regardless of their nationality, race, gender, religion, economic condition, among others. This is vital for the project to become a space for cultural exchange and tolerance between the people of our country first and then with the tourists who leave the airport for the park. This consequently will lead to the project being socially sustainable, so that with it a holistic and comprehensive sustainability can be achieved.
“There was a dream that was Costa Rica. An oasis full of life and possibilities. An ecological bridge between the north and the south. A garden of abundant flora and fauna that extends throughout our valleys, plains, mountain ranges and our rich coasts. A dream of exuberant biodiversity, where even stones grow out of our fertile lands. Now more than ever, it is time to make those dreams come true. Because in Costa Rica, nature is in our DNA. “
Year: 2021
Project type: Urban Planning competition, 2nd prize
Area: +300,000 m2
Team: Juan José Córdoba + Alejandro Salas + Stefan Snedeker
iDEA
Process
Experience
