Puerto Vallarta Project in Mexico approaching its completion

11/2011 | newsletter | West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture

A joint venture of West 8, Trama Arquitectos and Estudio 3.14 design an urban renewal project for Vallarta’s iconic waterfront, locally known as the Malecón. This project has been carried out through the summer of 2011. By Thanksgiving, the work will reach its completion. This will mark a Renaissance for Vallarta’s historic district in a matter of just 5 months.

The initiator of this waterfront project is the mayor Salvador Gonzatez Reséndiz. He committed to an urban transformation with a rather inventive approach. The Town of Vallarta now holds an progressive and large-scale visionary strategic plan for the next twenty years, with a series of tourist destinations including the Malecón as the soul of the Historic District.

The West 8 design aims to project the Puerto Vallarta atmosphere, Mexico’s only beach destination set in a traditional village, into a new paradigm without losing its identity. It is conceived for the locals and tourists to mingle harmoniously with the romantic sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. 

The public space scheme of the Malecon, uses a series of strategies to reintroduce the public realm to a human scale. The design provides comfortable shade in pedestrian areas accommodating inspiring view-lines to the ocean for visitors and residents. Innovative lighting has also been introduced to enhance the romantic moonlit effect.

The main feature of this unique place is the Mosaic paving, using the traditional local pebble-stone pavement technique. A native myth of creation, as narrated through drawings by the Jalisco born artist Fidencio Benitez, gave birth to the composition of the new mosaics pattern. The pattern is crafted under supervision of a professional prominent craftsman Amador Gomez Piña.

The scale and challenge of the mosaics paving enhances the identity of local ethnicity and handcraftsmanship, two of the major attractions of Mexico, positioning Puerto Vallarta for a new era. These custom designs transform Malecón into a contemporary, vibrant and pedestrian-friendly public space.

more information: Puerto Vallarta Project in Mexico approaching its completion

  • Adriaan Geuze talks about Schouwburgplein at de Unie, Rotterdam

    Every first Thursday of the month: De Unie Late Night at De Unie, Rotterdam. It is a talk show about who, what, where and when in Rotterdam. Adriaan Geuze is invited to this spectacular Rotterdam debate table on 1st Dec., hosted by Ernest van der Kwast, a columnist of NRC, writer and actor, to talk about the revitalization of Rotterdam Schouwburgp read more

  • Steel construction of Rotterdam Station has reached its highest point

    23 November Councilor Jeannette Baljeu together with key persons of ProRail, NS, Metropolitan Region, director of steel factory Iemants, Raf Iemants and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment hoisted a flag to celebrate that the building construction of the new Rotterdam Central Station has reached its highest p read more

  • Book presentation 'Aesthetics of Sustainable Architecture'

    Aesthetics of Sustainable Architecture (ed. Sang Lee, 010 Publishers Rotterdam) is a collection of essays, with contributions from Kengo Kuma, Kenneth Frampton, Matthias Sauerbruch and West 8's Matthew Skjonsberg, whose essay 'Magic, Inc.' evaluates the link between perception, belief and the forces at work in the city for - and against - justice, asserting that ethics are embedded in aesthe read more

  • Urban Project Prize, XIII International Biennale of Architecture in Buenos Aires BA11

    West 8 is awarded the Biennial Prize for Urban Project in the XIII International Biennale of Architecture in Buenos Aires read more

West 8 urban design & landscape architecture, Schiehaven 13M, 3024 EC Rotterdam, The Netherlands. tel. +31 (0) 10 485 5801, fax. +31 (0) 10 485 6323, public relations: pr@west8.com, general enquiries: west8@west8.com

The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.

Please consider the environment before you print this message.