Text description provided by the architects. The following proposal was the winning entry in the National Ideas Competition for Cocó Park in Fortaleza, Ceará. Spanning 1,080 hectares of environmental conservation area cutting through the city, alongside 50 hectares of project area, it is the fourth largest urban park in Brazil. Consequently, it carries the responsibility of promoting the preservation and regeneration of an important mangrove forest, while serving the public as urban infrastructure for socio-cultural, economic, and environmental initiatives. The design proposes comprehensive solutions to integrate the 17 intervention areas requested in the competition with the rest of the conservation zone and its relationship with the surrounding city, fostering a symbiosis between park use and environmental preservation.

Organized by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Mendoza, the competition sought proposals to transform the city's former Zoological Park into an Ecopark. The objective was to reflect the paradigm shift in our relationship with animals, flora, and the environment at large, while also respecting the historic heritage of the site, both in terms of its immediate context and the elements that have shaped its built landscape over time.

The jury awarded first prize to Guillermo Lesch, Leticia Alfaro, and Santiago Belozerkovski, alongside collaborators Axel Tanner, Camila Erbin, and Pablo Vilas. Read on to explore the complete project below.

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