Stage 1 of the Las Salinas Urban Park Competition ended with the selection of 4 teams of architectural offices, corresponding to the submission of the teams’ background information and the main idea for developing a proposal for a green area within the almost 2 hectares of the central park that will include the future Barrio Las Salinas. During Stage 1, a total of 14 design proposals were received, of which 4 were selected for the final by the specialist jury, composed of local and national experts. The second phase implies that these teams must develop their ideas to a preliminary project level, which will generate a space with the highest standard for the city of Viña del Mar, which will be transformed into a multifunctional green area in the future neighborhood. Thus, the task now is to design this 1.8 hectare area in a strategic location in the city, which will become an important work of integration, as it will be an open space for public use and accessible to all. A place for social, cultural, sporting and educational gatherings, which will also establish a biological connection with the wild surroundings thanks to the system of parks and green areas proposed by the urban project, based on a concept of resilience and climate adaptability, and existing in the urban area of the city and the region. This second stage, in addition to continuing with the development of the park design, should include a proposal for an economic evaluation that supports the sustainability over time of the operation and maintenance model of the Urban Park. In this regard, Esteban Undurraga, ILS Development Manager, points out that “the proposals selected by the jury leave us very reassured, as they address the principles of sustainability, operation, territorial integration and connection that this competition encompasses. We want the future park to be a democratic space with efficient operation, aligned with the strategy of territorial integration and socioeconomic integration of the future Las Salinas neighborhood” The selected teams are: 1.- , architect and landscape architect of the Catholic University of Chile in 2014 received the National Architecture Award and since 2016 is an Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects, United States. Among his main works are the remodeling of the Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Quinta Normal Park and the National Stadium; the design of Parque Inés de Suárez, in Providencia and Parque Bicentenario, in Vitacura. Outside Santiago, the Kaukari Park in the city of Copiapó, which has become an urban landmark in that city. 2.- is the architecture office of María Loreto Valenzuela, a graduate in Bioclimatic Architecture, who has dedicated a large part of her work to sustainability issues. Her work includes Antumapu, an environmental study for the use of 300 hectares of the South Antumapu Campus of the University of Chile in La Pintana. is an architectural office with 15 years of experience whose projects address diverse scales, from urban design, hospitality, real estate development and housing; it is an architecture, urbanism and landscape office with extensive experience in public space projects, landscape architecture, master plans and territorial planning: it is an international and multidisciplinary firm with 65 years of professional practice with extensive experience in architecture, urban planning and design, landscape architecture, engineering and interdisciplinary expertise.
is the architectural firm that built Las Tacas and Cantagua and has projects in the United States, Spain, Peru and Argentina. It also has projects in Abu Dhabi, after the sheikh of that nation commissioned them to design a luxury mega-resort. From there they moved on to Qatar and Abu Dhabi. In Chile they have carried out several master plans and designed large urban developments in various cities in the country.
