Located on in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, Los Ocotes is an urban-landscape design and master planning project covering a surface area of 121,091m2. The intervention deconstructs traditional suburban zoning to establish a high-density, mixed-use central park ecosystem. The master plan proposes an urban growth model capable of accommodating 1,600 residential units along with office, commercial, hospitality, and healthcare programs, organizing them around a continuous public landscape that serves as the collective backbone of the territory.
The urban design project incorporates a rigorous curatorial strategy, treating public art as a primary structural and programmatic component. Within this framework, public squares are designed as active platforms for site-specific artistic interventions, large-scale sculptures, and traveling cultural programs. This intersection of art and urbanism is anchored by a collaboration with artists Alejandro Almanza and Jorge Méndez Blake. Particularly, Mendez Blake designed the open-air amphitheater at the physical and emotional heart of the project, which functions simultaneously as a symbolic monumental landmark, as well as aa vital cultural infrastructure and a civic gathering space.
The landscape design operates as a dynamic historical and ecological memorial, reintroducing the native ocote conifer forests that historically defined the region, with a dense, irregular, and rustic botanical layering that provides constant thermal comfort through seasonal shade. Water infrastructure is embedded into this geographical layout: the central park functions as a permeable system that integrates rainwater harvesting channels, seasonal regulatory basins, and a localized wastewater treatment plant (PTAR). Managing 80,000 liters of water daily to irrigate 20,000m2 of green surfaces, this circular network integrates infrastructure directly into the environmental experience.
Materiality translates the rugged essence of the western Mexican territory through an essentialist and restrained architectural language. Identity is constructed through simple, heavy textures: dense, non-slip basalt stone blocks, paved internal streets and pedestrian pathways, while irregular "elephant-ear" basalt flagstones dictate the slower pace of the park’s main promenades. This mineral foundation is complemented by crushed regional stone pavements, compacted sand pathways, raw masonry retaining walls, and warm Piñón quarry stone modules. These 45 x 45 x 60cm quarry modules operate as highly flexible, load-bearing units, transforming across the open space from playful architectural topography into rustic public seating unanchored by decorative artifice.
Design Team
Leonardo Díaz Borioli, Gerardo Sánchez Sendra, Noé Rodríguez, María del Mar Romero, Emmanuel Huacuja, Carlos Navarro, Rodrigo Velasco, Itzel Bravo, Mayra Guemes, Michelle Paredes
