Alejandro Echeverri / Emerson Marín
Ruta N is the new enterprises and innovation center of Medellin. It makes part of the institutional strategy created by the local government, which aims to develop the innovation projects emerging in the city.
The main objective is to place Medellin inside the worldwide network of innovative cities. The project is part of the urban renewal plan of the northern zone, and turns into one more building and public space of metropolitan scale. The project is becoming the driving force of the second phase of this development that will complete the innovation district of the city.
The concept was to generate a public building with a strong commitment with the environment (LEED certified Building), in permanent relation with the surrounding public spaces and simultaneously generate a representative architecture which evocates education, knowledge and innovation.
The project has three architectural pieces connected by a central patio, in which the architects brought up a garden with a diverse variety of tropical species, giving continuity to the ecologic system of the surrounding area.
The architects concluded that the best option for the project was to become a unit with the adjacent university and its vegetation, understanding it as the transformation epicenter of the city downtown periphery.