La UVA is an architecturally and landscaped design for the city of Medellin, more so made for the
people of entire city's community. I had the opportunity over spring break to visit this beautifully man
made park, it looks as if the buildings created and built just sprouted up front he hills and slopes of the terrain. The beauty of the city its is mountainous structure to the city. With views as far as the eye can see.
"UVA" stands for "Unidades de Vida Articulada". Translated it means "Communities of articulated life". The word "uva" also means grape in Spanish. This is an important aspect for the city of Medellin to provide areas for the people of Medellin to come come together as citizens to learn, grow, aspire, cultivate community, and of course recreation and exercise. There are over 25 UVA's in Medellin now in all different neighborhoods of the city. Each UVA vary in size and activities but uphold the same mission and values.
My Aunt took me around the newest UVA that was built. It has direct access to one of the largest malls in the area, El Tesoro. Just to give you an idea of what i mean by mall, the malls of Medellin aren't you're run of the mill malls. They are all about the scale of a Mall of America, in Minnesota. Malls are another source of recreation and relaxation for the people of the city.
This UVA is in a prime location up the mountain with incredible views all throughout. As you start at the bottom you follow a paved pathway that ramps up back and forth as you hike up the mountain. It was originally a sloped land full of trees that then turned into this beautiful landscaped park. There are soccer fields, basketball courts, areas for sitting and barbecuing, outdoor exercise machines, playground areas for children, and public use buildings that slope out of the ground with green roofs. As you make your way up you don't even realize that you are walking on top of the buildings themselves.
These buildings are used for public primary school classrooms during the week. It is absolutely free for the families of the city. During the nights and weekends, the buildings are used for extra-curricular classes not only for students for all people of the community. There are art, environmental, cooking, gardening, and many more classes offered also for free. The people who teach are active member within the community itself.
This is such a great way to create a lively inviting and safe space for a community. This shows a
successful way to approach the problem of bringing together a community with an open air space. This is helpful to see how something that is situated right next too one of the poorest communities can bring light to the city and cultivate a sense of community and safety. This can definitely run a parallel to what Lena and I have proposed at Midterm.
These are just a few images of the UVA I visited. Taken with an iPhone 7.
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OMG!! I am REALLY REALLY proud of you! My dear Luz Angélica!
By reading your observations about my beautiful and so greatly misunderstood city of Medellin, really gives me that special sentiment! So I think it was completely worth taken you back to Colombia starting at only 6 months of age and returning year after year up to last Spring break 2018. You have not only seen the family and tasted the delicious Colombian food or shapde up your Spanish language skills, but you have also felt the culture and appreciated the region I came from. You have admired it and have been inspired by the sense of community we as “Paisas” or citizens of Medellin now proudly share wit…