Deconfining the colony

2021
Team point of view
Colonia Sedó was not conceived to fit into the ecosystem and preserve it. In fact, the colony generated a ‘wound’ in the landscape that is still present today. The starting point of our proposal is the will of sewing the existing landscape discontinuity between the mountain and the river through the colony in order to achieve the maximum ecological continuity and to reconnect the colony with its surroundings. We believe that heritage preservation must go beyond preserving the physiognomy of the colony, we understand biodiversity and natural resources as a kind of heritage that must also be restored and preserved. Moreover, we strongly believe that the colony will become a place to live and work in the time to come as soon as nature takes a main role in it.

Jury Point of View
The proposal reacts to the transversal topography discontinuity understanding Colonia Sedó as a wound that creates a discontinuity between the mountain and the river. Sewing this wound becomes the main aim to achieve the maximum ecological continuity. There is a firm believe that nature must regain a main role in the colony for it to become a place to live and work in the times to come. An understanding of biodiversity as heritage together with a recognized great potential of interaction of industry and housing are the guidelines of a sensitive project that deals in depth with the pre-existing to revitalize the colony’s built environment with a richness of different means.