Rocío Castañeda
The amalgamation of talent, skills, and perspectives stemming from contemporary art, landscape architecture, and sustainable engineering brought to life the Urban Culture Park (Parcur) in the Third Section of Chapultepec Forest. The restoration of this park was spearheaded by the renowned Mexican contemporary artist Gabriel Orozco Félix, landscape architect Bruno Jarhani Palomino Ramírez, and Sergio Armando Ayala Rangel, a professor at the School of Escuela Superior de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (ESIA), Tecamachalco Unit.
Due to the significance of this development, Ayala Rangel, an architect-engineer from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), and Palomino Ramírez received the Silver Winner awards from the London Design Awards 2023, Architectural Design from the Outstanding Property Award London 2023, Bronze in the Landscape Architecture Designs category from the International Design Awards 2023, and the Gold Award Landscape Design 2023 from the Global Architecture Design Award.
Furthermore, Ayala Rangel was the sole polytechnic recipient of the Carlos Contreras Pagés Award for professional trajectory in the category of "Urban Development Projects and Landscape Architecture," bestowed by the College of Architects of Mexico City and the Society of Mexican Architects.
The opportunity to participate in this project arose through an invitation from Bruno Jarhani Palomino Ramírez, who recognized the potential of the polytechnic graduate. Without hesitation, Ayala Rangel accepted the challenge, as "there isn't always a restoration project in Chapultepec Forest, considered the Best Park in the World in 2019."
For engineer-architect Sergio Ayala Rangel, this contribution meant significant lessons, as he stated: "The recognitions received and the support of Gabriel Orozco and Bruno Jarhani fill me with gratifying emotions."
During the execution of the project, which commenced in 2020, one of the major challenges was to readapt the site without damaging or demolishing structures or deforesting the soil. This required direct contact with Master Gabriel Orozco, who provided the architects with extensive insights and feedback to finalize this space.
Sergio Armando Ayala Rangel, who also studied at the Centro de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos (CECyT) 1 "Gonzalo Vázquez Vela" and the ESIA Tecamachalco, was responsible for integrating landscape architecture with water and environmental sustainability.
In the Urban Culture Park, spanning nearly 12 hectares, the polytechnic graduate calculated all pumping equipment, potable water supply networks, storage volumes, rainwater harvesting systems, and wastewater treatment, reuse, and infiltration systems.
As a professor in the field of installations and promoter of rainwater harvesting systems, he detailed that the park features a wastewater treatment plant with a continuous water cycle used for toilets and urinals. Rainwater is captured, cleaned, and directed to sanitary fixtures for reuse.
"New drainage systems were also implemented because there was no sanitary sewerage. Therefore, the water from the toilets had no destination. A treatment plant was built to store clean water for reuse. Importantly, all this was achieved without damaging existing structures," he explained.
Furthermore, the engineer-architect designed substations and electrical panels with energy savings. He also devised the installations for the entire Cinema Agora within an existing circular space, equipped with four screens, a 2.1 audio system (8 front speakers) to prevent distortion, two subwoofers, amplifier equipment, and scalers, as part of automation.
"Parcur involves a lot of engineering, and we were given the freedom to innovate and apply novel environmental technologies to this project designed for social well-being because it's one thing to build, but another to know how to build it," he remarked.
Currently, Sergio Ayala continues to oversee the engineering department at Parcur, whose restoration resulted in an outdoor venue for artistic events, Cinema Ágora, three sports bowls for skateboarding: one for children or beginners, the second for more experienced skaters, and the tiered bowl for expert skaters.
In addition to a graffiti market, street areas, green spaces, and various zones for dance and parkour practice (a physical discipline involving overcoming obstacles without equipment).
Proud of his education at the IPN, Sergio Armando Ayala Rangel expressed that he didn't consider this project solely as a professional activity but as a direct action for societal, particularly environmental, benefit.
He emphasized that the awards obtained demonstrate the educational excellence received by students at ESIA Tecamachalco and the Politécnico, and as an educator, he aims to motivate, inspire, and support them with his experience to achieve their personal and professional goals.
Selección Gaceta Politécnica #171. (February 29th, 2024). IPN Imagen Institucional: Read the full magazine in Spanish here.
INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL
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