Called “masterful illustration of sustainable design” by the Global LafargeHolcim Awards jury, the gold-winning La Quebradora Hydraulic Park is a project worth taking note of. Through it’s impressive, research-based design, the park tackles not only a pressing environmental issue in Iztapalapa, México City, but also improves the social condition of the neighbourhood. Loreta Castro Reguera of Taller Capital shares how she and Manuel Perló from National Autonomous University of Mexico began this initiative, leading us to a surprising inspiration they found in India itself.
What inspired you to take up this project?
La Quebradora is the result of a thorough research related to understanding water issues in one of the least favored boroughs of Mexico City: Iztapalapa, which suffers more intensely the paradox of excess of rain and scarcity of drinking water. It is the pilot project of a proposed system of Hydrourban Acupunctures that explore the possibilities of landscape, urban and architecture design as the tool to transform public spaces in parallel water management infrastructures, while redeeming its qualities to maximize pedestrian mobility, social interaction, culture, education, and sports. We found the site as the last free space remnant in a densely urbanized and populated area on the northern hillside of Sierra Santa Catarina… we approached the authorities, convincing them about the benefits of this intervention.
What social issues does the project resolve?
The main issue that La Quebradora tackles is flash flood mitigation by conducting a rainwater runoff into two basins that, through natural ground cracks, rapidly infiltrate water into the subsoil. Secondly, the place becomes a mixed water treatment infrastructure by cleaning 1 lt/s of wastewater through a combined traditional and wetland system, serving water needs for the park’s vegetation, as well as for a large number of toilet facilities for a community that has restricted access to water. Thirdly, the place harvests a volume of rainwater that, through filtering, becomes a source of drinking water. Additionally, La Quebradora becomes a visible and accessible public space that fosters pedestrian mobility in one of the most insecure areas of Mexico City.
Any advice for architects who would like to pursue similar projects?
One of our inspirations for this project came from the strategy of water basin recovery in Hyderabad, India. We visited areas of that city that were very similar to our site in Iztapalapa. This showed us that this sort of interventions was possible and viable. Developing nations have fantastic opportunities to implement projects that tackle some or many of their daily issues. They have urgent needs to find solutions to problems that usually affect several agencies (people, environment, urban areas, etc.). When focusing on finding creative approaches to them, the resulting projects should be “easy” to instrument.