The School of Architecture and Design at the University of Morón (ESAD) has presented the expansion and renovation project for the Club Atlético Boca Juniors stadium, widely known as La Bombonera, located in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Led by Alejandro Borrachia alongside a team of ESAD professors and students, the project proposes rethinking the stadium's capacity and its adaptation to modern demands, aiming to address the needs of club members and officials, the social issues affecting local residents, and the city's environmental challenges.
In the second half of 2023, the Boca Juniors group led by Osvaldo Spataro commissioned the School of Architecture and Design at the University of Morón to develop an updated project that considers the potential expansion of the stadium and its surroundings.
As detailed in the project brief submitted by the designers, “this project's philosophical foundation lies in research conducted 15 years ago and the commitment made by the University to 72 neighborhood organizations to address the lack of green areas in the La Boca neighborhood and prevent the construction of residential towers on the vacant land of Casa Amarilla, which was pushed by the City Government. At the time, residents demonstrated—with technical support from ESAD, its professors, and students—that all this housing capacity could be distributed among disused, run-down, or underoccupied properties already existing in the neighborhood. This approach would improve not only the social fabric but also buildings that posed serious risks to their inhabitants, while integrating thousands of new people into the existing urban fabric. This work, which involved an exhaustive block-by-block and house-by-house survey in addition to the urban design proposal, was ultimately delivered to the residents and the City Government, resulting in the first expansion project for La Bombonera, which was received by then-president Ameal and his board of directors.”
The new "Piel de la Bombonera" (Skin of the Bombonera) project centers on three main pillars. The first proposes expanding the stadium to reach a capacity of 85,000 spectators while preserving the memory and cultural, social, and symbolic relevance of the building designed by Sulcic, Delpini, and Bes in 1940, as well as consolidating the area currently linked to club activities.
Additionally, by keeping the stadium on its original site, the project aims to develop a comprehensive urban proposal integrated into the neighborhood, featuring a large public park, smaller parks, plazas, pedestrian streets, and high-quality spaces for residents and visitors to enjoy. This would create a series of transition buffers to manage entry and exit during club matches, concerts, and other massive events. This system of adjoining parks would also serve the residents of La Boca.
Thirdly, the project considers the vast amount of materials, structure, infrastructure, and energy involved in a project of this scale, recognizing that this energy can serve not only human inhabitants, club goals, or neighborhood residents, but also the millions of organisms that inhabit our earth and are often displaced by human development. The proposal seeks to become a powerhouse of energy and oxygen, attracting flora and fauna like a park or ecological reserve. Through a skin that wraps around all club activities, it aims to interact with the natural environment by generating oxygen, treating water, and being covered in vegetation that can provide food for both humans and non-humans.
The design is based on the activities within this "habitat" and represents a paradigm shift and a call to consciousness in construction. It views buildings as opportunities to integrate into city infrastructure, environmental networks, food chains, and the ecosystems that existed before the city.
The expansion project for Boca Juniors' stadium aims to generate oxygen through vegetation integrated into the vertical and horizontal perimeter elements, forming a porous, permeable skin that breathes and interacts with the climate. Furthermore, it will function as a water treatment plant, filtering and transforming rainwater harvested from the roofs into potable water for human consumption. It will also process water from the nearby Riachuelo river, which can be brought from the adjacent shoreline to join phytoremediation systems, integrating into the city for irrigation, humidifying public spaces, and use within the stadium itself.
In the words of its designers, “we imagine a system in constant interaction with city networks, improving and reducing the consumption of the sporting activities and massive events at the stadium, as well as the daily activities of the surrounding area. We are incorporating facilities into the project that will allow energy for lighting parks, streets, and avenues to be generated from this massive surface area exposed to the sun. Additionally, rainwater that currently goes directly into sewers and sanitation networks can leave the building clean, or even be put to other uses so that waste is not its only end. Within this green skin, we will eventually be able to treat any type of waste and create recycling zones that coexist with stadium activities. For example, the stadium roof was designed as a chain of phytoremediation ponds formed by the shape of the pods that make up the skin. These will be accessible to maintenance staff as well as visitors on non-match days.”
Programmatically, the project proposes to incorporate, expand, and improve the urban linear park along the railway tracks. This includes: a public sports park in Casa Amarilla for all residents; pedestrian bridges connecting club activities above vehicle traffic and some inter-neighborhood facilities; a renovated sports court for the club; and the opening of a new street linking east and west, which are currently divided by the tracks. Within the stadium, it features commercial and dining areas, public viewpoints overlooking the city, educational spaces focusing on water treatment and green walls on the stadium's new skin, entrance plazas, underground parking for events, and the potential to connect La Boca with Puerto Madero and other southern neighborhoods via a tourist train, introducing a new way to move around the city.
University of Morón Authorities
Rector: Héctor Norberto Porto Lemma
Vice-Rector: Enrique Otero
UM Board of Directors
Lead Architect: Alejandro Borrachia (Dean of ESAD and Principal of Estudio Borrachia arquitectos)
Project Documentation: ESAD Students: Matias Carloni, Lucila Varangot, Lorenzo Mansilla, Mauro Juri
Advisors: ESAD Professors: Alejandro Albistur (Director of the Architecture Program), Gabriel Sottile, Gastón Budin, Jerónimo Novua
UM Departments Involved: UM Outreach Secretariat: Secretary Carlos Gowland, Mauro Vivas; UM Maintenance: Edgardo Litovich and Team; Media and Communications Department: Lucas Pinzone and team; other authorities and guest professors from UM-ESAD
This article was written by Agustina Iñiguez. The translation is powered by AI.
