Organized by the Colombian Society of Architects - Bogotá and Cundinamarca Chapter (SCA BC) and the Administrative Department of the Public Space Ombudsman (DADEP), the II Bogotá Public Space Biennial 2021 (BEP BOG) aims to recognize and showcase projects that contribute to the creation, recovery, and sustainability of public space in the city of Bogotá.
Under the theme Spaces of Life, Meeting Places, the biennial featured all public space projects built over the last five years, between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2020, with the goal of raising awareness and fostering a “public space culture” among architecture and engineering professionals, institutions, builders, and the community, while promoting and sharing best practices.
Three participation categories were established. First, Built Public Space Project corresponds to projects developed on public land or urban land dedications formally handed over to the Capital District, such as parks, plazas, sidewalks, pedestrian promenades, and bicycle infrastructure, among others. Second, the Comprehensive Public Space Management category includes private, public, or socially co-responsible actions—whether initiated by citizens or any public, private, or community entity—carried out on public land or land designated for public use, aiming to promote best practices in public space intervention, use, management, and sustainability. Finally, the third category, titled Private Spaces for Public Use, recognizes built projects that generate public spaces on privately owned land.
The jury was composed of Diana Wiesner Ceballos, Carlos Niño Murcia, and Felipe Van Cotthem Villa representing the SCA Bogotá and Cundinamarca, and Eduardo Samper Martínez and Javier Andrés Cárdenas Gómez representing the District Administration. Out of the 16 submitted projects, one award was granted in each of the three categories, along with two honorable mentions in one of them. The Biennial's most outstanding project, which received the Fernando Jiménez Mantilla Award, was the Borde Activo Corferias. Below are the winners for each category:
Built Public Space Project
Comprehensive Public Space Management
Private Spaces for Public Use
This article was written by Agustina Iñiguez. The translation is powered by AI.
