Parque Cantera by TZL Arquitectura

Parque Cantera is a public space located in the Alcaldía Coyoacán, south of Mexico City. With an area of 46,534m2, the main purpose of of the Park is to be a place for the use and enjoyment of all the inhabitants of Mexico City, especially the very large population living in its surrounding areas.

The park occupies land that for years was used as an open pit volcanic stone mine to produce aggregates in the industrial processes of Mexico City’s main asphalt plant. Today it has been transformed from a location of contamination to become a place that transforms the lives of those who visit, with leisure, sports and contemplation activities, as well as a catalyst for the revegetation of green areas with environmental value. It is with the recovery of public spaces, such as the Parque Cantera, that a physical process of reconversion begins at a social level, seizing violence from a large group of the population that finds in this place a decent, comfortable, ecological space that allows the development of free and secure activities.

This project is essentially, a revitalization of the urban environment from an open-air stone mine to a place where nature, recreation, contemplation and the arts come together in a historically abandoned area of Mexico City.

The project took its main inspiration from the site, reusing the immense volcanic retaining walls, constructed for the mining process, as a starting point for the design. The stepped topography, volcanic materials and the visuals both inside and outside the property, with sightlines reaching as far as the volcanoes of eastern Mexico City were also crucial for the conceptual idea. At the landscape architecture level, the project has a vegetative palette consistent with the nearby area of the Pedregal de San Ángel , promising to be the seed of a responsible ecological recovery. In this same sense, materials and ecotechnologies aimed at air purification and the sustainable use of water were also used. This project offers inclusive activities for all audiences through its sports, leisure, rest and contemplation facilities.

The activities program is diverse, with the objective of serving all types of the public. Among the activities that stand out are the open-air Forum – immersed in a body of water with lighted fountains, a beach volleyball court, pollinating gardens with sand play areas for all ages, a recreational bike path and children’s play areas games. Submerged in a small forest of Schinus molle, a neighborhood school of arts and crafts was designed and built, whose building has a constant relationship between the inside and the outside, guaranteeing that its users feel submerged in the landscape of the park that surrounds them.

Location: Avenida del Imán y  Rey Papatzin 89, Ajusco, Alcaldía de Coyoacán, 04300 Ciudad de México, CDMX, México.

Design year: 2019

Year Completed: 2022