Paramitos
In the context of the exhibition “Odeón o de la Contingencia” (Espacio Odeón, Bogota, 2018) we were asked to speculate on possible futures for their building, a formerly abandoned movie theater from the 1930’s that was recently repurposed as a visual arts center, and is consider a part of the spatial and cultural fabric of the city.
Bogota is a dense city who’s exponential growth in the last decades has left many with limited access to green space. Located in a neighborhood in the historic center, where there is no viable opportunity to effectively create open space, a series of small community gardens are overlaid to the exiting structure while preserving the exhibition spaces below.
An elevator core cuts through the open galleries to connect to a series of elevated platforms planted with the native habitat of the Andean páramo, an ecosystem endemic to the surrounding region and a critical source of water for the city. These small elevated gardens provide a calm respite from the congestion and pollution below, while projecting a clear symbol of their absence in a city that sorely needs them.
