![Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 Places that Every Architect Should Visit, Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 places that every architect should visit. Image © Iván Erre Jota [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5925/137d/e58e/ce15/8400/0311/medium_jpg/14577810091_477cb4c557_o.jpg?1495602038)
In 2013, Medellín (Colombia) was declared the most innovative city in the world as part of the City of the Year Competition, organized by the Wall Street Journal. It competed alongside metropolises like New York and Tel Aviv.
Although it may seem strange, this distinction is not so out there. The Antioquian capital has become one of the most advanced technological and intellectual epicenters in Colombia, not to mention the important urban development that has occurred in the city since the beginning of 2010.
The city’s mobility-orientated integrated infrastructure together with interventions of high social impact have turned Medellín into the center of the debate on the growth and development of Latin American cities.
In the following 20 projects, tell you the story of a city that bet on urban consolidation through quality public spaces and projects that encouraged citizen management by supporting the development of marginalized areas in a process of social reconstruction, where architecture has played an important role as a spatial formulation tool.
Parque Explora (Explora Park) / Alejandro Echeverri
Carrera 53 # 73 - 75
![Explora Park / Alejandro Echeverri . Image via Universidad EAFIT [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/c924/e58e/ce27/a400/089e/newsletter/1.jpg?1495583003)
Orquideorama / Plan B Arquitectos + JPRCR Arquitectos
Avenida Carrera 63 # 68 - 95
Modern Art Museum of Medellín Extension / Ctrl G + 51-1
Carrera 44 # 19A - 100, Avenida de las Vegas Ciudad del Río
Plaza Mayor Centro Internacional de Convenciones (Main square International Convention Centre) / Giancarlo Mazzanti + Daniel Bonilla + Rafael Esguerra
Calle 41 # 55 - 80
![Main square International Convention Centre/ Giancarlo Mazzanti + Daniel Bonilla + Rafael Esguerra. Image via fernando [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/cc5c/e58e/ce15/8400/029b/newsletter/4.jpg?1495583828)
Plaza de Cisneros / Juan Manuel Peláez Freidel + Luís Fernando Peláez
Calle 44 # 52 - 50
Planetario de Medellín (Medellín Planetarium / Marco Aurelio Baquero
Carrera 52 # 71 - 117
![Medellín Planetarium / Marco Aurelio Baquero. Image via Guía de Viajes Oficial de Medellín [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/d004/e58e/ce15/8400/02a0/newsletter/6.jpg?1495584763)
Opened in 1984, this project was later intervened on two occasions. The first was by Luis Alfonso Escobar, Eleazar Gómez and Yenny Catalina Salazar and the second intervention was carried out by OPUS in collaboration the Explora Park team.
Parques del Río Medellín (Medellín River Parks) / Latitud Taller de Arquitectura y Ciudad
Carrera 63 con Calle 38
Museo Casa de la Memoria (Memory House Museum)/ Juan David Botero
Calle 51 # 36 - 66
Biblioteca Pública EPM (EPM Public Library)/ Felipe Uribe de Bedout
Calle 44 # 44 - 48
![EPM Public Library / Felipe Uribe de Bedout. Image via Jorge Láscar [Flickr], bajo licencia CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/d131/e58e/ce15/8400/02a3/newsletter/9.jpg?1495585064)
Cremation Unit and Ashes Temple / Juan Felipe Uribe de Bedout + Mauricio Gaviria + Hector Mejía
Calle 2 Sur # 65 – 263
Parque Biblioteca España (Spanish Public Library)/ Giancarlo Mazzanti
Calle 107a # 33B
Nueva sede de la Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano (New office of the Urban Development Company) / EDU
Carrera 46 # 44 - 94
Centro de Innovación Argos (Argos Innovation Centre) / Castro Arquitectos
Carrera 49 # 7 Sur - 50
Centro Cívico Plaza de La Libertad (Civic Centre Liberty Plaza)/ OPUS + Toroposada Arquitectos
Carrera 53 A # 42 - 161
Café del Bosque (Cafe in the woods) / Castro Arquitectos
Calle 73 # 51 D -14
Fernando Botero Park Library / G Ateliers Architecture / G Ateliers Architecture
Carrera 131 # 62 - 15
Escenarios Deportivos (Sport Centre) / Giancarlo Mazzanti + Plan:b arquitectos
Carrera 72 # 48 -146
Complejo acuático para los IX Juegos Suramericanos (Aquatic Park for the IX South American Games) / Edgar Mazo, Sebastián Mejía ( Connatural ) + Luis Callejas (LCLA Office) como Paisajes Emergentes
Carrera 72 # 48 -146
Leon de Grief Library Park / Giancarlo Mazzanti
Calle 59 A # 36 - 30
Belen Police Station / EDU
Carrera 73 # 14 - 13
(*):
![Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 places that every architect should visit. Image © Iván Erre Jota [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5925/137d/e58e/ce15/8400/0311/thumb_jpg/14577810091_477cb4c557_o.jpg?1495602038 "Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 Places that Every Architect Should Visit")
![EPM Public Library / Felipe Uribe de Bedout. Image via Jorge Láscar [Flickr], bajo licencia CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/d131/e58e/ce15/8400/02a3/thumb_jpg/9.jpg?1495585064 "Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 Places that Every Architect Should Visit")
![Explora Park / Alejandro Echeverri . Image via Universidad EAFIT [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/c924/e58e/ce27/a400/089e/thumb_jpg/1.jpg?1495583003 "Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 Places that Every Architect Should Visit")
![Main square International Convention Centre/ Giancarlo Mazzanti + Daniel Bonilla + Rafael Esguerra. Image via fernando [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/cc5c/e58e/ce15/8400/029b/thumb_jpg/4.jpg?1495583828 "Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 Places that Every Architect Should Visit")
![Medellín Planetarium / Marco Aurelio Baquero. Image via Guía de Viajes Oficial de Medellín [Flickr], under licence CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5924/d004/e58e/ce15/8400/02a0/thumb_jpg/6.jpg?1495584763 "Architecture Guide to Medellín: 20 Places that Every Architect Should Visit")
