aldayjover architecture and landscape, winner of the international design competition ‘High Park’, in Buenos Aires aldayjover architecture and landscape, with the collaboration of KLM Kelly Lestard Maldonado arquitectos, has been announced as the winner of the International Design Competition High Park- Parque en Altura Barrio 31-Retiro, in the city of Buenos Aires, with the proposal named ‘Vertebrando’, exaqueo with the proposal ‘Alto Parque’.

The Ilia Highway crosses over the Villa 31 and arrives to downtown Buenos Aires to the north end of 9 of July Avenue, and will be transformed into a 1.3 miles linear park. The park will connect the neighborhood with the rest of the city and will become the main public space of the most paradigmatic informal settlement of Argentina. More that 45,000 people will have direct Access to a park that will structure the neighborhood and is part of a broad initiative that provides infrastructures, social housing and street upgrade.

The main challenge of this elevated park, beyond the technical resolution of vegetation and water on top of a concrete structure, is to connect the underneath streets and reinforce the transversal connectivity in Barrio 31. The park is designed as a new backbone that will articulate the existing network and transform the informal villa into a cohesive neighborhood with pedestrian, bicycle and public transportation mobility systems. The railway lines to the south and the motorway connection to the north will no longer be the physical barriers that have kept the neighborhood isolated during its 50 years of development. The Project is part of the Integration Plan of Barrio 31, by the City of Buenos Aires with the support of the Interamerican Development Bank (BID). The Plan is incorporating sewage and drinking water lines, electrical networks, and street pavements, as well as improving the livability in the current housing. The 1.3 miles of highway transformed into an elevated urban park, with a total area of 21 acres, will provide public space to an extremely dense urban fabric. Crossing completely the entire neighborhood, will become the structural spine that the informal settlement is lacking, accelerating the urban and social transformation that the Barrio is undertaken after decades of social activism.

The Project includes educational and entrepreneurship opportunities for a new type of social development driven by the strong communities of Barrio 31. aldayjover architecture and landscape with KLM Kelly Lestard Maldonado arquitectos will be in charge of leading the masterplan, collaborating with the City of Buenos Aires technical teams and the authors of the proposal Alto Parque (Vila Sebastian Arquitectos).