La zona costera como interfaz entre escalas de paisaje: Un parque intermareal - 14ᵃ Bienal Internacional de Arquitetura de São Paulo

Project implementation: Chile
Project development: Chile

Student Isidora Soto,
Guidance: Ximena Arizaga and Osvaldo Moreno

The Humboldt Archipelago's geographical qualities offer refuge and foster significant marine biodiversity, thanks to an underwater canyon that ends between the coast of Chañaral de Aceituno and the Chañaral Island Marine Reserve. Whales that roam the oceans visit this location annually to feed. Due to its ecological significance, oceanographer Sylvia Earle named it a global hope spot.

In a territory historically inhabited by cultures linked to maritime practices, hundreds of tons of brown algae are currently extracted directly from its ecosystem each month. Exports are taking place on an industrial scale, driven by the growth in international demand over the past two decades.

Caleta Chañaral de Aceituno doesn't reflect its importance for conservation. It lacks adequate infrastructure to accommodate the approximately thirty thousand visitors who arrive each season, fostering a distorted view of the landscape as a tourist destination focused on whale watching. In this context, the site requires an integrated space that supports productive and tourist activities while protecting marine habitats, ensuring the continuity of a valuable landscape for local, national, and global populations.

Whale watching, marine forests, and fishing traditions coexist in the intertidal zone, defined as a mediating area between landscape scales. It is in this space that a park is proposed, extending from the sea—in marine forests on rocky outcrops—to the land, in boarding areas, seaweed accumulations, and spaces for locals and tourists to socialize.

Their strategies include: first, creating a pathway along the rocky coastline of Chañaral de Aceituno, transforming the rocks into an accessible path connecting sea and land; second, regenerating intertidal ecosystems with marine gardens where macroalgae can be cultivated, reproduced, and used as structural plant material; third, cultivating brown algae for artisanal fishing, contributing to local and oceanic ecological balance.

Breakwaters with ecological tetrapods are proposed, fostering the integration of organisms and serving as habitats. Inspired by the Living Breakwaters project by SCAPE, the proposal stands out for incorporating macroalgae as stabilizing agents, expanding the area conducive to their growth and offering more rocky surface for their attachment. This same structure transforms along the intertidal zone, creating spaces where the tide allows for recreational, productive, and sociocultural uses. This would mitigate anthropogenic impacts by connecting marine biodiversity to marine-related practices.

Participate in the program of debates, workshops and associated activities!

TODAY (10.10)

2:30 pm – table Risk-Free Periphery in the Context of Climate Change

4pm – table Knowing to Transform: Community Climate Risk Reduction and Adaptation Plans

6:30 pm – table Inclusive Adaptation: Nature-Based Solutions in the Peripheries

9am – Drawing Workshop: Oscar Niemeyer's Architecture in Ibirapuera Park and the Climate Challenge

IN THE NEXT DAYS (11 to 14.10)

ATTENTION the table Palmas: For 36 years, the ecological capital of Tocantins which would be held on 10/11 | 7pm was canceled.

11.10 and 12.10 | 9am – workshop Inventa(rio) Fronteiras: Playing for Multispecies Cities

11.10 | 10am – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 11am – table Learning to inhabit the Anthropocene: the crisis of architecture

11.10 | 2pm – table Architecture for Learning and Civic Use

11.10 | 3pm – table Culture and Public Architecture

11.10 – 15h – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 4pm – table Reconnecting with Nature & Circular Design

11.10 | 5pm – table Architecture of Belonging: Interpreting Heritage Through Place

12.10 | 10am – table Experience: Climate Refuges and Naturalized Public Spaces, with Eco-Neighborhood

12.10 | 10:30 am – table Childhoods and Climate: Climate Justice in Vulnerable Territories

12.10 | 10:30 am – Windsock Workshop with the Floating Collective

12.10 | 3pm – table Doing a lot with a little: architectures for a planet in transition with Esteban Benavides from Al Borde office

12.10 | 4:30 pm – table Earth – building a sustainable and democratic future

12.10 | 5:45 pm – table French presence at the Biennale and screening of the film AJAP – Albums of Young Architects and Landscape Architects

13.10 – activity Pantanal Action at IABsp

10/14 | 10am – table Urgent Panorama! Space as an act of permanence

14.10 | 6pm – Launch of the “Nature-Based Education” Guide

JOIN! IT'S ALL FREE!

And there's much more until October 19th!

NOTE OF CONDOLENCE

With deep sorrow, the Brazilian Institute of Architects – São Paulo Department (IABsp) mourns the passing of architect and landscape architect Kongjian Yu, a global leader in ecological urbanism, and the members of his team who accompanied him, tragically killed during the filming of a documentary. The institute is honored to have had him as a participant in the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, where his transformative vision strengthened the dialogue between global challenges and local realities. IABsp emphasizes that Yu's contribution, which transcends borders, will remain an inspiration for generations and expresses its condolences to China, to the families of all the deceased, to his friends, and to all those impacted by his genius and dedication. Read the full note here.

The coastal zone as an interface between landscape scales: An intertidal park

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile