The transformation of residual spaces into quality public places: under the Medellín Metro lines

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the research "New Approaches", developed by the Transepto research group of the National University of Colombia, Medellín Campus, of which the degree work carried out by the architect Daniel Narváez is part and is a reflection on the possible and urgent ecological transformation of residual spaces in our cities:
Specifically, those spaces linked to large road infrastructure works such as viaducts, which in most cases are designed and built without taking into account their immediate context, neglecting, for example, the public space that surrounds them, becoming dark places with litter and crime and thus generating rejection on the part of the inhabitants of the sector and also of the city. Thus, within the research, several types of problems related to these urban strips were identified and analysed and initial approaches were defined in order to generate project responses that would allow these places to be used in terms of the regeneration of public space, the redefinition of the natural landscape and the functional programmes that they can accommodate.