Bicentennial Park of Vitacura
The western edge of the park, along the route of the new Costanera Sur riverside highway, is proposed as a large and gentle slope that following the sinuosity of the river while protecting the park from the intrusion of these roads. These slopes are planted as large tree-covered masses with native perennials which link it visually with the landscape of the slopes of San Cristobal hill. Between these two borders the interior of the park in an open and clear space, in the tradition of the fields and small pampas used as public spaces in Chile, creating a bright and sunny space. Each one of these borders is transformed into a landscape for the other. To the east, the mountains are seen through and over the city; to the west the San Cristobal hill forms a unit with the park.
Architects:
Teodoro Fernández, Paulina Courard, Danilo Martic, Sebastián Hernández Martín Labbé, Patricio Mardones, Danilo Lagos,Tomás McKay. Bicentenario Avenue corner of Alonso de Córdova, Vitacura
Collaborators:
Location:
Commissioner:
Municipal Government of Vitacura
Site Area:
27 hectares
GFA: 1000 m ² Construction Year: 2006-2011
The project for the Bicentennial Park of Vitacura is the outcome of a competition organized by the municipal government of Vitacura in 1999, a foundational project for a new commune ‘detached’ from the extensive district of Las Condes. The project establishes a strategic plan that manages the development of the land along the Mapocho River, shaping the western limit of the municipality while at the same time becoming its focus. It guides the design and generates an urban and landscape arrangement that preserves the integral image of Vitacura. It has been developed as a mediator between the urban geometry and its geography, between the city and the landscape, the architecture of Vitacura and the natural valley of Santiago. The Bicentennial Park is developed as a combination of two successful park models that line the river in Santiago: the Forest Park’s orderly promenades with large trees along the river and the Providencia park built by Oscar Prager with the endemic flora of the Santiago basin in the early 30’s. The idea of a breakwater as a border walk, a mediator between the city and its river and a place from which the park becomes the landscape, has been recreated in the project for the Bicentennial Park, as a pedestrian promenade that follows the route of the new Bicentennial Avenue while giving shape to the eastern edge of the park and the municipality. With straight, continuous and geometric layouts for the various retaining walls, it creates a balcony for the neighborhood and the city over the park, the river bed and the nearby hills. It is formed with rows of Oriental plane trees in the manner of a new Forest Park.
The program
The program is evenly distributed, and each space has its own special features. In the north sector a pond serves for the collection of irrigation water. It was designed as a water garden to evidence the role of ecological corridor the park must play, hosting several species of fish and birds and thus becoming an emblematic and attractive space for visitors and neighbors. The Civic Center occupies the central section, placed next to the entrance facing Alonso de Cordova Avenue; over the parking lot a plaza was designed as a civic space: built as an elliptical tray that floats over the park, serving as guiding element between the landscape, the park and the municipal building. The Civic Center, the various international institutions and the commercial axis of Alonso de Cordova and Nueva Costanera streets will give shape to the central area of the municipality. In the south sector, next to the iconic Lo Saldes circle, the central space of the park widens. This place features a new Astronomy Museum for Santiago, coffee shop, the headquarters for the Garden Club, and an ample space for large events facing the ECLAC building. The park offers various programs for outdoor activities supported by the topography and landscape of the valley, places for a variety of activities, meetings or to simply contemplate nature.
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