A+U Nº 618: COLOMBIA

A+U's March issue features the architecture, landscape, and cities of Colombia. A land of intoxicating natural beauty, Colombia has employed architecture as a key agent in rebuilding its cities and civil society as it recovers from decades of civil strife stemming from drug trafficking and guerilla warfare. Situated at the northern tip of South America, the country borders the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Amazon basin and is equidistant to New York and Rio de Janeiro. Photographic work by Camilo Echavarría illustrates how travels through the country cause one to feel a homogeneous, abstract passage of time. With no seasons, architecture is conditioned by various landscapes formed by the rich geographic diversity across regions. Medellín-based architect and guest editor Camilo Restrepo Ochoa takes us on a journey through his country, where architects create spaces as 'types, elements, and instruments of architecture made to question limits, to build an inhabitable threshold that participates in the spatial experience of moving from outside to inside.' Changes in the way of thinking about architecture as an academic, social, and urban tool have created works 'articulated through a narrow materiality and low-tech structural systems,' with 'a tint of geographically driven tactile richness and a certain pragmatism.' Works by 14 architectural practices across 3 generations are presented in this issue. Also featured is the city of Medellín's remarkable achievement of reinvigorating its poorest neighborhoods through mobility and urban space. As explained by Rahul Mehrotra, a civil society where patronage, the culture of architecture, and urban planning are aligned has enabled a city to become more efficient, accessible, equitable, and pleasant. (a+u) Photo Essay: Atlas of the Andes Camilo Echavarría Essay: Toward a Critical Tropicalism Camilo Restrepo Ochoa AGENdA Farallones Coffee Wet Mill +UdeB Arquitectos NIDO Ctrl G Carpinelo Kindergarten Edgar Mazo Prado Park El Equipo Mazzanti Control and Operations Center LCLA Office Ballen House PLAN:B Siete Vueltas School Pacheco Estudio de Arquitectura TX Arts Building, University of Los Andes Yemail Arquitectura Espacio Plural Gallery TAB - Taller de Arquitectura de Bogot 8111 Santiago Pradilla, in association with Zuloark Woven House AGENdA, in association with JPR architects and PLAN:B Orquideorama AGENdA, in association with JPR architects Gabriel Garc a M rquez School AGENdA, in association with Dellekamp Schleich Se or de Tula Sanctuary Essay: Learning from Medellín: the Alignment of Politics and Civil Society Rahul Mehrotra Medellín Recuperation of Gullies with Consolidated Housing Blocks Linear Park La Herrera Essay: Medellín, Architecture for Public Life: Construction of the City as a Collective Agenda Jorge Pérez-Jaramillo.