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Published in Total Latin American Architecture.

Architizer featured project.

Design: Plan:b, Camilo Restrepo and J. Paul Restrepo.

Design team: Viviana Peña, Catalina Patiño, Carolina Gutiérrez, Lina Gil, Jorge Buitrago.

Client: Jardín Botánico de Medellín, Colombia.

Location: Medellín, Colombia.

Photographs: Cristobal Palma.

Project manager: Plan:B Arquitectos (Felipe Mesa + Alejandro Bernal) + JPRCR Arquitectos (Camilo Restrepo + JPaul Restrepo).

Construction site supervision: Ménsula S.A.

Materials: Harvested wood linings; concrete pavers, steel and polycarbonate roof tiling.

Structural engineer: Germán Serrate.

Structure: Steel columns and beams. Trusses.

Use: Orchid and garden exhibitions; other exhibits. Varied events (concerts, weddings, parties, fairs).

Year: 2005.

Surface Area: 4,200 sq.m.

Price per sq.m.: US$: 500.

Ecosystem: Humid Sub-Montane Forest.

Elevation (above sea level): 1538 m.

Temperature: 16-29ºC; Humidity (Rel): 68%.

Facing: All directions.

Direction of wind: North-South.

Orchideorama

This project rises from a hexagonal geometry that allows for growth and flexibility in the floor plan. In addition, it works with the scale of the trees and some of their strategies: it concentrates all the networks in the trunk, mixes structure and organic strength, and creates translucent foliage.

Orquideorama-0138Orquideorama-0151

Using modules made up of seven hexagons, we define a spatial, structural and bioclimatic pattern that allows for repetition, controlled growth and flexibility, both to avoid affecting the existing trees and to adhere to the limited budget.

Orquideorama-0162

The pattern or module has a central hexagon that works like a hollow trunk, which concentrates the technical network (structural, electrical, and water collection), the organic network, ventilation for hot air, and an access to rain and humidity for the internal gardens. These trunks are understood as converging vortexes; therefore, the geometry of the wood lining displays a concentrated torsion force through a hyperbolic paraboloid. We tried to combine organic and structural forces.

The intelligence of the pattern is amplified through repetition, but the spatial and bioclimatic qualities are already present in each part. You might say that the qualities of the pattern emerge from the inside out.

Orquideorama-0199

The space we propose is not an empty warehouse or an open plan. It is a field with intermittent structural supports and clustered gardens. This allows for combining a large range of activities (weddings, workouts, meditation, concerts, fashion shows, etc.), with the garden and its wildlife and weather.

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Extract from
Related publications:
Total Housing
Total Singular Housing
Total China
Total Landscape

Published in Total Latin American Architecture.

Architizer featured project.

Design: Plan:b, Camilo Restrepo and J. Paul Restrepo.

Design team: Viviana Peña, Catalina Patiño, Carolina Gutiérrez, Lina Gil, Jorge Buitrago.

Client: Jardín Botánico de Medellín, Colombia.

Location: Medellín, Colombia.

Photographs: Cristobal Palma.

urbanNext (December 5, 2024) Orchideorama. Retrieved from https://urbannext.net/orchideorama/.
Orchideorama.” urbanNext – December 5, 2024, https://urbannext.net/orchideorama/
urbanNext August 31, 2016 Orchideorama., viewed December 5, 2024,<https://urbannext.net/orchideorama/>
urbanNext – Orchideorama. [Internet]. [Accessed December 5, 2024]. Available from: https://urbannext.net/orchideorama/
Orchideorama.” urbanNext – Accessed December 5, 2024. https://urbannext.net/orchideorama/
Orchideorama.” urbanNext [Online]. Available: https://urbannext.net/orchideorama/. [Accessed: December 5, 2024]

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