Quarry Patterning: “Quarry Patterning” simultaneously addresses Bogota’s two primary challenges: economic equity and environmental sustainability. Bogota has some of the largest numbers of inhabitants living in informal conditions in the world, and migration from rural areas to the city continues to accelerate. This is placing enormous pressure on the city’s surrounding hinterlands, natural environments that are vital to Bogota’s resilience and livability. One of the most threatened of these ecosystems is the mountain range east of the city, the Cerros Orientales, which has provided an imposing backdrop to Bogota’s development since its foundation. The Bosque de Maria neighborhood at the base of the Cerros is adjacent to an abandoned quarry. The quarry walls generate violent rock falls which severely damage Bosque de Maria’s infrastructure and threaten its residents. “Quarry Patterning” is a hybrid solution which responds to the community’s need for affordable housing and rock stabilizing infrastructure. The rock catchment structure closely follows and patches the most precarious sections of the exploited quarry walls, generating figural patterns which are visible from the surrounding city. The rock stabilizing grid is thickened to host flexible high-density affordable housing.
