About
DONIS is an international studio of architecture, urbanism, research, industrial design, and art. The studio has won several international prizes, including the Dubai Frame, selected as the first-prize winner from 926 proposals in an international competition regulated by UNESCO-UIA; the first prize for the National Palace of Justice in Paris; and the winning design for a new landmark for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the City of London. DONIS designs, develops, and builds projects across a wide range of scales and programs, consistently pursuing innovative, sustainable, and socially engaged architecture. DONIS was founded by Fernando Donis, Mexican Dutch architect who received his Master’s degree from the Architectural Association in London through the Design Research Laboratory (DRL), where he studied under Patrik Schumacher and Brett Steele. He also received a PhD in Architecture from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), through the doctoral research program The City as a Project, led by with Pier Vittorio Aureli. His doctoral research, FRAME, is a five-chapter study of the archetype of the frame and its role in the architectural and urban history and culture of Mexico. Following his studies at the Architectural Association, Fernando Donis worked closely with Rem Koolhaas as an Associate at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) for nine years, from 2001 to 2009. During this period, he was the main designer of the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, among numerous other architectural projects and masterplans. He also collaborated with AMO, OMA’s research and design branch, contributing to research projects concerning the European Union. Fernando Donis has taught at the Berlage Institute and the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam, as well as at Universidad Iberoamericana and Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico, integrating architectural research, design, and urbanism across multiple scales. His work and career have received international recognition. In 2011, CNN Expansión selected him as one of the 30 most promising and influential people in Mexico. In 2015, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs selected him as one of the country’s most creative Mexicans living abroad.
A New Green Archipelago
Ubicación – Ciudad de México, México
Año – 2015
Programa – Parque, Bosque, Agricultura, Deportes
Superficie – 750 hectáreas
En 1977, Oswald Mathias Ungers y Rem Koolhaas imaginaron Berlín como un Archipiélago Verde: una ciudad en contracción organizada como un mosaico urbano inmerso en un vasto bosque.
Con la esperada futura reubicación del Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México, propusimos la condición opuesta. Dentro de las 750 hectáreas del actual aeropuerto —casi el tamaño del Bosque de Chapultepec— concebimos una laguna verde compuesta por parques, bosques e islas urbanas inmersas en una retícula de agua, creando un nuevo Archipiélago Verde dentro del incesante tejido urbano de la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México.
Dado que el oriente de la ciudad carece de un parque metropolitano comparable al Bosque de Chapultepec, el proyecto propone su contraparte. En lugar de reproducir las formas orgánicas de la naturaleza, reinterpreta la memoria de la antigua Tenochtitlan mediante un sistema contemporáneo de canales y bloques urbanos flotantes. Inspiradas en las chinampas mexicas, estas islas de 200 × 200 metros se conectan mediante puentes que permiten tanto la circulación peatonal como la navegación.
La propuesta transforma un antiguo aeropuerto en un nuevo paisaje ecológico y cívico, recuperando el legado lacustre de la ciudad y creando un gran parque público que mejora la biodiversidad, la calidad ambiental y la calidad de vida de millones de habitantes.
