CityMakers: The Latest Architecture and News

CityMakers, The Global Community of Architects Who Learn from Exemplary Cities and Their Makers, is working with Archdaily to publish a series of articles about Barcelona, Medellin, and Rotterdam. The authors are the architects, urban planners, and/or strategists behind the projects that have transformed these three cities and are studied in the "Schools of Cities" and "Documentary Courses" made by CityMakers. On this occasion, Victor Restrepo, Coordinator of CityMakers in Medellin, presents his article "Medellin: A Case Study".

Medellín stands as an inspiring example for many cities worldwide. It is a city that transitioned from deep collective fear to hopeful enthusiasm for urban and social life characterized by quality and coexistence. The city's crisis has always been associated with violence and drug trafficking. However, this crisis is more structural and profound, it responds to many more factors, some of which are associated with the accelerated growth of its population, as in many Latin American cities.

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CityMakers, The Global Community of Architects Who Learn from Exemplary Cities and Their Makers, is working with Archdaily to publish a series of articles about Barcelona, Medellin, and Rotterdam. The authors are the architects, urban planners, and/or strategists behind the projects that have transformed these three cities and are studied in the "Schools of Cities" and "Documentary Courses" made by CityMakers. On this occasion, Jaume Barnada, coordinator of the award-winning Climate Shelters project in Barcelona schools and speaker at the "Schools of Cities", presents his article "Barcelona, the public place as a synonym for the adaptation of the built city."

Cities are dense, built spaces in which pavements have been efficiently imposed on the natural soil. Cities like Barcelona have almost 75% of the land paved and waterproof. Without a doubt, it is an excess to reverse at a time of climate emergency, where we must reconnect with nature. Oriol Bohigas [1] told us that good urbanization had paved the squares of Mediterranean cities and that no one wanted to live in a mudhole. I'm sure he was right. Also, he taught us that the green and, consequently, the natural soil had to have dimension and especially an urban position. Squares are squares and parks are parks, and each space has a type of project. Today, concepts are too frequently confused when urbanizing public places and consequently, we find projects that blur the model.

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CityMakers, The Global Community of Architects Learning from Model Cities and Their Makers is working with Archdaily to publish a series of articles about Barcelona, Medellin, and Rotterdam. The authors are the architects, urban planners, and/or strategists behind the projects that have transformed these three cities and are known in the "Schools of Cities" and "Documentary Courses" made by CityMakers.

There is currently a broad consensus on the importance of public space in the city. Although it may seem quite logical, its significance is not as old as human settlements, which have existed for millennia. The Athens Charter, written just 91 years ago, did not speak so much about the city as a place to live but as a functional machine. Almost a century later, the paradigm has shifted: the city is, above all, its public space. But what happens when public space is threatened by car proliferation, insecurity, or even water?

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CityMakers is working with Archdaily to publish a series of articles, conversations and interviews with the different actors of city co-production behind CityMakers Barcelona Lab 2022, an event that will take place from 14-18 November. On this occasion, Camilo Osorio, Architect and Master in Urban and Territorial Development at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia - Barcelona Tech, presents his article "Barcelona: Joy and Order. The natural and artificial endowments of an exemplary city".

Citymakers and Karres en Brands have tied for first place in the competition to reimagine Saratov's City Center in Russia. From Park Pobedy, Ostrov Zeleny and Pokrovskie Peski Island to the development of the former Saratov Tsentralny airport and Glebuchev Ovrag, the teams will design a series of new spaces throughout the city.

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Moscow welcomed its first new park in 50 years with the opening Zaryadye Park in mid-September. Designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Citymakers and Hargreaves Associates, this new public space has been a big draw for Muscovites, with over a million people visiting in the first weeks since its inauguration.

The park has become one of the most important contemporary spaces in Moscow, exhibiting high-quality infrastructure and landscapes, as well as extraordinary views to the Kremlin and the Red Square.