Heatherwick Studio has unveiled visuals for a new school featuring colorful basketry-formed terraces in Bogota, Colombia.
The project, set to be built on Calle 72, one of the city’s main arteries, will distinguish with the front façade made up of colourful, crated columns and open terraces in a basketry form. Once complete, it will be Heatherwick’s first building completed in South America. The seven-storey building will be a new home to the school of sustainable design and workshops. The new building will be part of the Universidad Ean in Colombia.
“The design pays homage to the local craft traditions including Werregue basketry, a form of weaving unique to Colombia’s Wounaan indigenous community,” said Heatherwick Studio in its brief.
“Creativity is intrinsic to the city of Bogotá. You see it everywhere. We want students to feel proud of their campus before they even enter the building, arriving through a public square that offers passers-by a welcoming communal oasis amidst the hard urban surroundings,” said Eliot Postma, group leader and partner at Heatherwick Studio.
The new building is aimed to serve as a new centre for the campus, complementing the existing heritage structures on the site, and providing a rare new public space in the city.
As the studio said, the design team is also working on innovative façade materials to deal with the high levels of sunlight at this altitude and ensure the longevity of the building.
Columns with colorful and curved lines support the circular terraces above. The history of local weaving practices is reflected on the columns with the weaving texture and it can be seen that the material has changed.
“Colombia is the world’s second most biodiverse country and Bogotá is considered one of the leading cities for sustainable development,” said the studio.
“Universidad EAN’s ambition is to celebrate this by bringing the cloud forest, which surrounds the country’s capital, to the building.”
The studio will also incorporate biophilic design principles with local plant species on the open terraces and usher in nature to the metropolis as part of the pledges made by the city as a signatory to the C40 Urban Nature Declaration.
Construction is expected to start in 2025.
Heatherwick Studio built a new public development with “extraordinary, undulating, explorable roofs” in Tokyo, Japan. Heatherwick Studio and Barcode Architects revealed the design for a new mixed-use hub in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Source: worldarchitecture.org
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