Recent environmental pollution incidents in the Chilean cities of Quintero and Puchuncaví have reignited the debate surrounding the health impacts on residents of so-called sacrifice zones. Last August, the Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported that these cities on Quintero Bay coexist with "15 major energy, chemical, and fuel companies," including a smelter, a natural gas plant, and four thermoelectric power plants.
In response, Chilean architect Leonardo Quinteros has developed "Marine Forest" as his thesis project. The proposal features a decontamination platform designed to bioremediate the bay using cultivated brown algae, drawing on research into methods for extracting and absorbing heavy metals to demonstrate the species' potential as a marine bioremediator.
Quinteros—winner of the 2015 CNPP and currently designing the new Providencia Municipal Building in Santiago alongside Tomás Villalón and Nicolás Norero—based his project on a decontamination plan known as FIC Algas. Developed by the Faculty of Ecology at Andrés Bello University (UNAB) in collaboration with the Regional Government of Valparaíso, FIC Algas
