![Architecture City Guide: 10 Towns in Colombia That Every Architect Must Visit, Street in Guatape, Antioquia. Image © Iván Erre Jota [Flickr], Under License CC BY-SA 2.0](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5aaa/968a/f197/cc7c/b400/02d5/newsletter/3252352603_5d9b4f51fe_o.jpg?1521129091)
Calm and silence prevail in many of the municipalities of Colombia, where the ochre colors intermingle with the green of the landscape to preserve the colonial styles that characterize some of the architectural typologies of the place. Small urban centers that hide an incomparable beauty are the main attraction for many tourists who today travel to know these obscure places, where one can go to learn a little of their traditions and their culture, creating an almost perfect adventure, where heritage value becomes a characteristic in common.
That is why we have chosen 10 Colombian towns that highlight both the physical-spatial value and the socio-cultural value.
If we think about how the educational system worked in the past, we can quickly see that both the teaching style in schools as well as the school’s infrastructure were very different from the current system. The educational model of the twentieth century could be defined as being similar to the "spatial model of prisons, with no interest in stimulating a comprehensive, flexible and versatile education."
However, we are now at a time when social, economic and technological developments have created a more global society and where information and learning are becoming more affordable. This radical change has transformed the societies in which we live, leaving the current educational model based on a rigid and unidirectional teaching obsolete.
As such, there are schools that have not only broken the mold of traditional teaching but have formed new educational standards, exploring new paradigms and opening up new possibilities within the design of educational spaces. Since architecture and educational models often reflect the ideology of a society, how is the school of 21st century defined?
Brandon Haw Architecture (BHA) has unveiled the plans for Serena del Mar, one of two “twin” buildings that will host the Universidad de Los Andes International School of Management in Cartagena, Colombia. As the first office and institutional building to be constructed as a part of a long term, two-phase master plan, the four-story building will additionally house offices for corporations and businesses to support the upcoming master plan, specifically a new hospital building for Johns Hopkins University.
Serena del Mar is designed to respond to the “local climatic conditions in the most naturally passive yet contemporary way,” explained the architect . It will feature precast concrete vertical fins to shade from the intense Caribbean sun, but will also allow for views of the surrounding landscape.
MOBO Architects has won a competition to refurbish the vertical and horizontal access structures of the UNESCO protected fortresses that surround Cartagena's colonial walled city. With an aim to create a walking tour through the bastions and walls that is both safe and pleasant, MOBO’s winning proposal offers a series of urban interventions that will unify the existing disparate structures and create a continuous pathway for pedestrians and cyclists. This, as MOBO describes, will “completely restructure the way that the citizens and visitors use not only the wall, but also the spaces in the city.”
.jpg?1473841941 "Vittra Telefonplan / Rosan Bosch. Image")
