On Academics as Politicians

Six days ago I attended a conference given by the Colombian Architect Alejandro Echaverri, responsible for some of the infrastructure projects known as “Library-Parks” that are known as the Medellín Model.

Alejandro Echeverri at Tecnológico de Monterrey

These library-parks are open public spaces that seek to reclaim the city for its citizens. Equipped with educational museums, libraries and technology centers, these parks were built to reconnect a city divided by the orography, the social and the economic differences of its inhabitants.

The architects tackled the problem thinking that if they were able to rebuild the city in an open, communicated, and equipped way, their citizens would be able to rebuild the social tissue that had been so scarred because of inequality, drug cartels, and violence.

With high-quality urbanistic projects, Medellín started to turn into a completely different city. Their citizens went from having spaces that even the police could not enter to occupaying them for family gatherings. These parks serve as a meeting point between the worlds of the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor.

The Medellín Model is so powerful because change was achieved through image, redefining the street as a project. The collective mindset changed as spaces were opened, renovated, and made attractive. The people approached their city with gusto. Violence went down, significantly.

These architects were able to show that cynicism could be overcome through hard work and collaboration. It was not the government who was providing these spaces, it was the people of Medellín who were rebuilding their city through government resources.

Library Park España in Medellín

Similarly, Bogotá experienced a foreceful transformation through their mayors Antanas Mokus and Enrique Peñalosa. Bogotá changed thanks to the power of symbolic actions: drivers showed a thumbs up card to good drivers and a thumbs down card to bad ones; mimes mocked people who did not respect transit rules; Mockus, dressed as superhero, removed trash from the streets; bicycle lanes were given the same importance as car lanes; the downtown area, once taken by criminals, was fully renovated and made accessible to everyone.

For a much more thorough overview of how Bogotá changed, watch this documentary.

Colombia demonstrated that our cities need not be as chaotic and Gotham-like as they sometimes are. The assault on politics by these academics is inspiring to say the least.

Let’s all remember that the way we approach the events in our lives, the light we choose to cast them in, can define our moods and the behavior of the people around us.

“Live high, live mighty, live righteously.” – Mraz