Kinder Park in Mexicali
200best ES
De Villar Chacón Arquitectos
2019
Type
Public Space
Tags
public spaces, levers of change, 200Best
Visitability
Allowed
Description
The project for Kinder Park was awarded the first prize in a conceptual urban-architectural design competition for the strategic urban projects belonging to the neighbourhood plan of the Valle de Puebla housing development in Mexicali, Baja California.The proposal strengthens the traces left by the surrounding urban activity, the natural programme of the inhabitants, materialising it in a dynamic strategy of interweaving (such as the traces on the ground that form the rings of children’s games) that embrace spaces of different scales and conditions, drawing closed geometries that function as walkways or running tracks. These rings house play structures and street furniture that bring the neighborhood programme to life, enhancing and creating the conditions needed to generate new social relationships. In the centre, the contact area between the rings extends to the adjacent walkways, encouraging the continuity of urban activity under the shade of pergolas and trees. This cool area features grandstands and becomes a place for social interaction, providing the neighbourhood with different uses throughout the week. Every feature, bench and play element (sports field, grandstand and pergola, climbing pyramid with slides, cube games, bougainvillea maze, multipurpose court for children) features the characteristic bright colour of the project, creating a contrast with the degraded environment, and providing the necessary hierarchy to encourage public activity in this previously disused space on the outskirts of the city, renewing its identity and opening it up to the enjoyment of its inhabitants. (Description provided by De Villar Chacón Arquitectos)