Cool and urbane, the Fernando Botero Library Park stands sentry on the hillside of San Cristóbal, a rough-edged “urban village” on Medellín’s western fringes. The city’s sixth library-park, it is one of the newest additions to the public building program here, which has garnered worldwide attention in recent years. “It is a difficult topography,” says G Ateliers Architecture’s Orlando Garcia of the mountainous terrain dotted by informal brick construction, “so we wanted to do a simple yet powerful building.” Referring to the constraints of time, budget, and the local workforce’s ability, Garcia notes, “We worked with the reality of our means. That is also part of understanding the context.”
In 2001 the architect, who is from Medellín, relocated to New York City, where he eventually established a practice. Later, in the face of the recession and with all his projects on hold, he amped up his participation in competitions. When he won the commission for the San Cristóbal library in 2009, he returned to Medellín for the duration of the project.
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