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2022
November 2022
FIABCI Colombia presents new award to Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
The Engineering Labs tower closes the year with a new recognition. The International Real Estate Federation, in its Colombian chapter, rewarded the project during the 2022 FIABCI Colombia Awards. The new Faculty was selected as the best project in the Education category, where the FIABCI highlighted the building's quality in integrating different aspects of life on the campus.
This award closes the great streak of the project in this year's local award season and is a recognition of the investment made by the University and the trust in the design team.
Project i.c.w. Juan Pablo Ortíz Arquitectos.
November 2022
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana winner at the 2022 editions of the Colombian and Quito Architecture Biennales
An exciting week for Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Following the two sustainability awards for its Engineering Laboratories, the project won at the Panamerican Architecture Biennial of Quito - BAQ and the Colombian Architecture Biennale - BCAU.
In the Biennial of Quito, the Engineering Laboratories won the Pan-American Award in the Administrative, Institutional, and Corporate Buildings category. In the BCAU, the tower won the Fernando Martínez Sanabria Award, shared in the Architecture Project Category. Both results were revealed on November 18th, the first in Quito, Ecuador, and the second in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
The recognitions are a reward for the work of Juan Pablo Ortiz Arquitectos and TALLER's teams, to Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its community for trusting us with their project, and to the contractors and technical consultants' efforts in achieving a high-quality project.
Check the project on the events' websites: BAQ - BCAU
Project i.c.w. Juan Pablo Ortíz Arquitectos.
November 2022
Double prize for the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana at the Excellence in Sustainable Architecture Award
During this year's edition of the Colombian Architecture Biennale, the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos - SCA and the Consejo Colombiano de Construcción Sostenible - CCCS awarded the PUJ Engineering Labs tower with the first prize in both the Institutional category and the National Award. The tower and its technical features had been recognized before with EDGE certifications for its design and construction process.
Project i.c.w. Juan Pablo Ortíz Arquitectos.
November 2022
Engineering Laboratories of Javeriana finalist in the Biennal of Quito - BAQ2022
On November 15th, the Engineering Laboratories tower, designed for the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, was announced as one of the five finalists in the Pan-American Administrative, Institutional, and Corporate Buildings category of the Architecture Biennal of Quito. The winner will be announced on November 18th. This recognition follows the selection of the project for the finals of the Excellence in Sustainable Architecture Award and the Architecture Project Category in the 2022 edition of the Colombian Architecture Biennale.
Project i.c.w. Juan Pablo Ortíz Arquitectos.
More information on the Biennal’s site.
November 2022
Second Place in La Media Torta Open Air Theater competition in Bogotá, Colombia
TALLER’s proposal to upgrade the iconic La Media Torta Theater came in Second Place in the open national architecture competition held by the Distric Institute for the Arts (IDARTES) of Bogotá.
The Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos (SCA) announced the selection of the winner on November 8th, 2022. The competition called for the revitalization of the heritage complex of the 83-years-old open air theater and the Casona de la Danza. IDARTES seeks to expand the cultural offer in Bogotá and to upgrade the existing public facilities for culture and arts.
The jury highlighted from the proposal the “improvements in the operability (...) and the correction of the isoptic that expanded the auditorium towards the Circunvalar Avenue” as the “integral intervention of the complex”.
Check the proposal on the project’s site.
November 2022
TALLER and the Creative Climate Collective will take Montes de María to the COP27
As part of the Creative Climate Collective (CCC), we'll be joining this year’s UN Climate Change Conference, COP27. Together with 17 other creatives, What Design Can Do (WDCD), and Creative Industries Fund NL (Stimuleringsfonds), we collaboratively take action and start rebuilding our future by design.
The UN Climate Change Conference is an opportunity to advocate for the role of design within climate action, and build the exchange of knowledge, experience, and networks needed to activate it. In order to tackle the climate crisis — and create true climate justice — we need creative ideas and disruptive voices at the table.
With the CCC we invite designers, activists, and policymakers alike to collaboratively take action and start rebuilding our future by design. In that spirit, we join those around the world who have already declared a climate emergency, and invite others to do the same.
We’ll be showcasing the work done in Montes de María by the Herencia Ambiental Caribe Foundation, from which we are collaborators: a natural laboratory to show that peace and environmental sustainability are possible. There, instead of displacing local families for environmental protection, local communities, NGOs and environmental authorities have joined a decade-long effort to establish socio-ecological corridors through voluntary agreements to conserve the Forest and its most critically endangered fauna, within private lands.
Follow along and learn more whatdesigncando.com/cop27
October 2022
Engineering Laboratories of Javeriana is finalist in the Excellence in Sustainable Architecture Award
After being selected as a finalist for the 28th edition of the Colombian Architecture Biennale, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Engineering Labs was announced as a finalist of the 2nd Excellence in Sustainable Architecture Award - Vidrio Andino, from the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos - SCA and Consejo Colombiano de Construcción Sostenible - CCCS. This award recognizes Colombian projects with an integral vision of sustainability, through high quality in construction, design, innovation, materials, and environmental and social impact. The announcement of the winners will take place at the Colombian Architecture Biennale on November 17th, 2022.
The public is invited to vote for their favorite project between October 31st and November 4th on the Award's website.
The project was done in partnership with Juan Pablo Ortiz Arquitectos.
October 2022
‘BiodiverCities by 2030’ book launch
‘BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities with Biodiversity’ is the most recent publication coordinated by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute (Colombia).
Contributors analyzed urban natures ranging from Montería and Mompox (riverside cities) to real estate practices in Milan and Villavicencio. Their analysis also included a circular green hotspot in Amsterdam, planetary health diets in Quezon City and Copenhagen, a pan-European toolbox to manage blue environments, a comprehensive methodology to value the benefits of urban trees in Medellín, a food security approach based on green roofs in Rio de Janeiro, and practical applications to advance biodiversity in the public space in the Chinese “sponge-city” of Shenzhen.
TALLER contributed to the book with a text by partner Julián Restrepo, presenting the Qianhai Public Spaces project in Shenzhen, done in collaboration with LOLA Landscape, L+CC, Shenzhen Layout Planning Design Ltd., and Shenzhen Research Institute of Architecture Design Ltd.
BiodiverCities by 2030 is an initiative championed by the Government of Colombia and jointly implemented by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute and the World Economic Forum. This initiative aims to support city governments, businesses and citizens, to enable cities to live in harmony with nature by 2030.
Follow the BiodiverCities book launch here.
October 2022
Tultitlán Inaugurates New Municipal Market
The officials of Tultitlán, Mexico have inaugurated the new municipal market designed for SEDATU's Urban Improvement Plan. The market features a simple and functional design, providing comfortable spaces for vendors and visitors, and a covered public space under the cantilevered roof on the main facade. The municipality mayor has expressed her satisfaction with the result and praised the project's contribution to the community's development. The market is expected to improve the vendor's conditions and economy and to become a landmark in the town's center.
The market was designed in collaboration with local practices ORU, Departamento del Distrito, and Ricardo G. Santander.
October 2022
TALLER will be in the final of the Colombian Architecture Biennale
The Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos - SCA has announced the finalist projects for the 28th edition of the Biennale. Following its selection in July, the PUJ Engineering Labs has made it to the final in the Architecture Project Category. The tower, designed in collaboration with Juan Pablo Ortíz, will compete against other four projects for the “Fernando Martínez Sanabria” Award. The results will be revealed in November 2022, during the Biennale ceremony in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
October 2022
TALLER and Elephant Architecture will design the new University College Groningen
The transformation to make the building at Bloemsingel 1 in Groningen suitable as permanent accommodation for the University College Groningen (UCG) will be designed by TALLER and Elephant. The monumental building will be carefully renovated and made more sustainable. In addition, new construction will be added on the north side, connecting it to the new campus square.
According to the dean of the UCG, Hanny Elzinga "the new building will make it possible to provide small-scale and innovative UCG education the way our students and teachers want it. We can't wait until we can soon greet everyone in the beautiful design now in front of us."
The design plans will be further developed in the coming period. The aim is to finalize the design process in mid-2023 so that construction can start in early 2024. Faculty staff and students are expected to be able to use their new building by the end of 2025.
Read the UCG's statement here. For more information about the project, go to its site.
September 2022
Andina CC book released
The self-titled 230-page book was released at Mextropoli Festival 2022. The book presents the works of nine of the collective's members, including TALLER. It showcases the testimony of the heterogeneous practices of the offices, looking forward to building encounters and discussion spaces around contemporary Colombian architecture. The book is the first step in acknowledging one another works to comprehend the dimensions of the shared territory where the collective works. It includes seventeen projects that range from the public to private sector, with diverse scales and types of intervention.
Andina is published by Arquine, with the creative direction of Isabel Garcés Ramírez, and texts of Jorge Perez Jaramillo and Andina CC practices.
September 2022
Social and ecosystemic connectivity in Montes de Maria at the IABR
TALLER and Herencia Ambiental Caribe Foundation display at the 10th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam is making a fuss between the visitors to the Ferro site exhibition. It presents the community-based project ‘Socio-ecological conservation through presence’. Developed by the Foundation in Colombia´s war-torn area of Montes de Maria, it addresses forest conservation and sustainable livelihoods in the area. More than 200 families, the Guardians of the Forest, are committed to preserving the dry tropical forests using the ancestral knowledge of the communities. The exhibition showcases a model that honors their role in preserving the forest, not only for them but for the other creatures living there. The model reveals the socioecological relations of the corridors the Guardians have created in the last ten year. It portrays the dialogue of the families with the territory, their landscape, other beings, and the ecosystems.
The project fits the curatorial interests of this year’s edition of the Biennale, which is a call to action that hints at the ‘time pressure under which we are trying to counteract the effects of climate change and connect them to other social challenges. Instead of showing a pessimistic view of our future, it wants to ‘show the real, hopeful possibilities of new, more radical courses toward a livable future. The Foundation and Guardians project is a great example of the justice and ecology-led transition toward a livable future that the IABR wants to share.
Photos: TALLER Architects, Sabine van der Vooren.
September 2022
‘Muestrario Geográfico’ pavilion present in Mextropoli 2022
The Colombian collective Andina CC, from which TALLER is a member, and the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos (SCA) are taking part in Mextropoli Architecture and City Festival 2022, in Mexico City. Andina CC members are exhibiting a collective view of Colombian architecture from a geographical perspective in Alameda Central Park, next to the historical Palacio de Bellas Artes. The installation features a scaffolding-made pavilion that displays compositions illustrating each member’s view on the cultural and geographical diversity of the territory. The intervention is not limited to the view of Andina CC. The SCA made an open call to architects, collectives, and young offices to create their own images, to exhibit a wider spectrum of this catalogue of views.
The Alameda Central Park exhibitions are open to the general public from September 21st to 25th.
September 2022
TALLER is part of the 10th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam
In partnership with Herencia Ambiental Caribe Foundation, we are participating in the 2022 edition of the IABR, with an exhibition about the Social and ecosystemic connectivity in Montes de Maria. This is part of the Ancestor design strategy set by the curatorial team for the Biennale, which "considers the consequences that design choices made now or in the past will have for future generations".
This year's Biennale addresses the increasingly noticeable consequences of our footprint on planet Earth and the future of our existence through alternative ways of growing. The exhibition IT’S ABOUT TIME is taking place in the Ferro dome, a former natural gas container in Rotterdam’s western harbor area.
More information about this edition, the exhibition, and the activities on the Biennale's website.
August 2022
Los Gemelos Park and Sports module in Cancún reaches completion
The construction of our second project in the Yucatán Peninsula, in México, is finished. The designs for the park located in the north of Cancún were delivered in April 2021 to the Secretaría de Desarrollo Agrario, Territorial y Urbano (SEDATU), as a part of the PMU Ruta Maya. The project links and improves two existing deteriorated parks, Los Gemelos, replacing the dividing street with a 100 meters long covered pedestrian path. The project intervenes in an area of 11,118 square meters. Besides the covered path, the program includes a playground oasis, two football fields, and two sports courts, one of them covered. One of the football fields and the open-air sports court are refurbished from the former parks. The central pergola includes service areas and bleachers for both football fields. It, along with the landscape project, creates new shadow areas for the community to enjoy the public space during more time of the day.
The park is one of the projects designed in the Yucatán Peninsula in collaboration with local practices DC-MX, ORU, Departamento del Distrito, and Ricardo G. Santander in 2021. Other projects under construction include a cultural center and museum in Puerto Morelos and the Cancún City Theater.
More information in SEDATU’s press release.
August 2022
Herencia Ambiental Caribe Foundation invited TALLER to lead a workshop on trails construction and signage in Montes de María
From August 1st to 5th, a team from TALLER traveled to the Montes de Maria, in the north of Colombia, for a workshop with the local community of Raiceros. The workshop is part of the project Conectividades Socio-ecosistémicas from the Herencia Ambiental Caribe Foundation, developed in the past decade in the region with the help of National Natural Parks, the government, and several allies, from who TALLER is now part of. In this project, the Foundation has developed conservation projects with the communities for them to co-exist with the ecosystem. It has achieved the construction of more than 40 km of environmental corridors.
From the program, some communities have decided to start projects of community tourism, looking for new alternatives for sustainable income. There, the communities and the Foundation have identified the touristic potential and the values of the communities, to create viable projects and products. TALLER is helping with its know-how on trail planning and construction to create more value from the communities to their local initiatives.
The one-week workshop was around infrastructure: the trail and signage construction for the Raiceros community to develop and expand it in their territory. The workshop started with theoretical lectures about signage, trail types, and typologies. Then coming to a practical part with the construction on site of trails in different conditions of slope, terrain, and ecosystems. With the prototypes, more than 100 m of trails were built, as well as a system of stencil-based signage that can be used and improved later by the community. Our technical know-how was adapted for the use of local materials that are familiar to the people of the region. By the end of the workshop, the Raiceros people had improved their learning curve in the construction of local sustainable infrastructure, for them to continue to grow their community tourism initiatives.
You can find more information about the Conectividades Socio-ecosistémicas project on the Foundation website and its social media.
August 2022
Open call to be part of the Andina + SCA pavilion in the Arquine Mextropoli Festival 2022
We are inviting architects, collectives, and young offices with reflections on their practice and the territory they inhabit, to be part of the Muestrario Geográfico to be exposed in the pavilion.
The pavilion will be featured in the Mextropoli Architecture and City Festival 2022, in Mexico City. The initiative is led by Colombian architecture collective Andina, of which TALLER is a member, with the support of the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos - Presidencia Nacional.
Link to the open call: Construcción colectiva de una mirada geográfica de la arquitectura colombiana
July 2022
Neotrópicos Foundation, TALLER, and OPUS are rethinking El Garcero Nature Reserve
A territory of 600 hectares in the alluvial plain of the Magdalena River has been preserved by the Neotrópicos Foundation as a Civil Society Nature Reserve since 1991. These nature reserves are usually threatened in the long-term due to difficulties in their social and economic models. In January, the Foundation invited TALLER and OPUS to tackle the challenges the reserve and its social, economic, and ecological systems might face ahead.
We are attempting to redefine the idea of conservation and the isolation this implies from sustainable models and opportunities. How can we avoid the Reserve from becoming an island, making it economically sustainable and with a sense of belonging from the surrounding communities?
You can get more information about El Garcero Natural Reserve on their newly opened Instagram account or the Neotrópicos Foundation website.
July 2022
Tultitlán Fire Station is completed
Construction of the first of five public projects in Tultitlán, Mexico, has been finished. Located south of Tultitlán, the General Felipe Ángeles Fire Station will house the municipal firefighters in their 3,151 m2, of which 1,883 m2 are open areas. In addition to the typical program of a fire station, the project includes a training plaza and a sports court, which allow access from the community. The relationship between firefighters and citizens will be improved thanks to the day-to-day use of these private areas for public use.
In collaboration with ORU, Departamento del Distrito, and Ricardo G. Santander.
July 2022
PUJ Engineering Labs selected for the Colombian Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism
Designed in collaboration with Juan Pablo Ortíz, the Engineering Labs tower has been selected for the Architecture Project category of this year’s Colombian Architecture Biennale.
The project creates a plinth which integrates the existing brick building and over it, a freestanding tower with a structural facade. The space between old and new give way to the atrium: a covered public space that connects the different pedestrian paths surrounding the building and provides a communal room for the Engineering Faculty within the university campus.
The 28th edition of the Biennale commemorates the 60th anniversary of the event. The project was selected among a total of 398 presented projects and it will be competing against other 30 projects in the same category. Winners will be announced in the Biennale event in November.
May 2022
The Cultural Center and Site Museum in Pisté is now open
Pisté citizens and Chichén Itzá visitors can now enjoy the renovated central square of Pisté in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Local authorities and the community have received from the Secretaría de Desarrollo Agrario, Territorial y Urbano (SEDATU) new exhibition spaces and public landscape areas.
The new Cultural Center and public space were designed to create a new gathering place for the community. The building attempts to establish a dialogue with the presence of the historic Chapel of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. The restoration was done with the guidance of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) from Mexico. During construction works, the INAH also uncovered the foundations of military facilities, dated from the XIX century, and the original chapel dated from the XVII century. The findings became a main feature of the public space design and are now an integral part of the landscape.
The interventions in Pisté are two of five public projects designed in the Yucatán Peninsula in collaboration with local practices DC-MX, ORU, Departamento del Distrito, and Ricardo G. Santander in 2021.
April 2022
Statement from the partners about the war in Ukraine
When we first started our company, it had always been a dream of ours to contribute design ideas well beyond our borders. In April 2011, having submitted our proposal for a waterfront park in the historic city center of Kyiv, bordering the Dnipro river, we became one of eight finalists in an international competition.
All of a sudden we found ourselves on a plane to Ukraine, perhaps more frightened than excited, and charted into a completely different territory from our own. The cultural shock of our arrival that night even made us beg the question: do we actually want to win this? Do we want to work in this city? In this country?
The following morning in Kyiv, we found a warmth and empathy in their people that immediately made us feel welcomed and valued. However different everything seemed, in the end, our common struggles, hopes and fears, brought us close to many Ukrainians who later became close friends and family.
It never ceases to amaze us how far ideas can take us, but more importantly, how we are able to find people in other parts of the world who share our values and energy for positive change. After having presented our project, the closing night of the CANactions Festival, a toast was made on our behalf, the winners of the competition.
Yes, whether we wanted to or not, we had dealt our hand already. This victory sealed our fate with this wonderful city and its beautiful people.Our trip to Kyiv marked a milestone in TALLER’s story, without it, we would not be where we are today.
As we surpass 45 days of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, we stand in solidarity with all the people who are protesting against this war on all sides of the spectrum. It is unfathomable to witness, in the twenty-first century, violence and suffering of this magnitude.
It crushes our heart to see our colleagues, friends, and family going through this difficult moment in their lives. The entire world is now witnessing the level of humanity, bravery, and courage of the Ukrainian people, they are an inspiration to us all.
We will continue to support Ukraine in whatever way we can, we ask people not to remain silent and normalize this war. There are larger things at stake, the fate of Ukraine is fundamental to mankind and the possibility of a brighter future.
Слава Україні
April 2022
Pre-feasibility studies for three strategic projects in the Bogotá Metropolitan Region delivered
TALLER and ORU (Office of Urban Resilience) delivered the conceptual vision for the Metropolitan Parks of the Bogotá River, the Sabana Bike Path Network, and an Ecological Agro-park. Through the active participation of multiple stakeholders - municipalities, consultants, the private realm, the academy, and citizens - the studies analyzed the territory in relation to its main ecological infrastructure. The outcome of the consultancy defines a holistic vision for the development of the territory, its main objectives, strategies, and action plan.
February 2022
Honorable Mention in the BEP BOG 2021
The temporary installations for La Perseverancia and La Concordia Markets were awarded an Honorable Mention in the Comprehensive Management of Public Space category in the second edition of the Bogotá Public Space Biennale 2021.
The projects made in collaboration with Colab-19 and the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos (SCA) are being showcased along with the winners and other shortlisted projects in the awards’ catalogue.
February 2022
Third Prize for the Sirius Embankment Competition in Russia
Our proposal “One seafront, three ecosystems” for the 7,5km embankment located on the Black Sea coast, has won 3rd prize in the International Architecture and Planning Competition in Sirius, Russia. The project, in partnership with LOLA Landscape, envisioned Sirius as the Riviera of the region. The main idea consists in transforming the massive concrete dike into a versatile, social, and nature-inclusive infrastructure. The renewed waterfront of Sirius aims to become a lush and lively environment where leisure, education, health, and a new economy converge in a contemporary way.
The approach highlights the existing assets of Sirius and uses them as a framework for an attractive landscape. The main asset is the climate, visually expressed through lush subtropical vegetation. Our proposal unfolded the grace of Sirius in three parts: the Harbor Gardens, the Natural Islands, and the Green Grid. By re-naturing the seafront, re-introducing the natural Imereti lowland ecosystems, and creating a socially inclusive seafront, the project aimed to create a new identity for the newborn Federal Territory of Sirius.
The jury highlighted the proposal for the marina: “There’s an understanding of the context. A port that’s interesting from a business point of view, opening up opportunities for investment. It has shading and protection from the rain. Green walls that protect from soil erosion, etc. There are gardens, and points of self-expression, public life, grandstands of sorts. Port is not just a place for the yachts, but a place where visitors can enjoy the environment.” As well as the solutions for the area facing the Olympic Park site: “The small-scale venues are stationed skillfully here. There’s a good connection to the areas located behind the embankment.”
January 2022
New Studio in Amsterdam
We are pleased to announce that our Amsterdam office has moved to a new location to match our ambitions. The central location of the Weesperstraat 103 puts us in the heart of the city, where we will be sharing the space with our friends from the architecture office Elephant. The vibrant space represents our positive culture and atmosphere and brings us together with like-minded colleagues, clients, and partners. We are looking forward to welcoming them into our new and creative environment.
TALLER Architects
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Bogotá D.C.│Colombia
Calle 119 # 13-51 Piso 4
+57 (601) 792-9112
Amsterdam │The Netherlands
Weesperstraat 103
1018 VN Amsterdam
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