Parque Reforma II reworks a peripheral ravine site in Tijuana into a shaded public ground organized by a perimeter corridor and a monolithic concrete canopy. The project addresses heat, glare, and safety by coupling passive surveillance with robust, low-maintenance construction and a clear spatial loop that concentrates recreation, play, and gathering in view.
Parque Reforma II Technical Information
- Architects: GI21 Arquitectura
- Location: Colonia Reforma, Tijuana, Mexico
- Completion Year: 2025
- Photographs: © Mariola Soberon
We treated visibility and shade as structure, using a perimeter porch to calibrate openness while consolidating activity in full view of the neighborhood.
– GI21 Arquitectura
Site Conditions and Brief: Topography, Safety, Climate
The site sits at the base of a ravine where the northern hillside is occupied by informal dwellings and the southern terrain slopes down to an avenue that reads as a clear urban edge. This topography compresses the project between steep backdrops and a softer frontage, so spatial boundaries are negotiated less by walls than by sightlines, thresholds, and level changes. Previous public works on the site failed to deter crime, in part because they created residual spaces and blind corners that proved difficult to monitor.
The brief targeted crime reduction through open recreation that would remain legible at all times, with a six-month delivery window and minimal maintenance capacity. The program focuses on children’s play, a multipurpose atrium-like zone, a running loop, and courts that leverage the slope to form bleachers. Every element needed to avoid fragile components, limit upkeep, and still read as civic infrastructure rather than improvised equipment.
Climate was as determinative as security. High temperatures, intense solar radiation, and a compacted soil substrate demanded a shade-making strategy with durable ground treatments. Instead of lawns or irrigation-dependent planting, the project adopts an earth-toned palette of concrete, compacted earth, and gravel that tolerates heat, limits dust, and relates chromatically to the surrounding hillsides.
Spatial Strategy: Perimeter Corridor and Controlled Transparency
A continuous porticoed corridor defines the park’s perimeter, establishing a soft boundary that permits full visibility into the interior. The corridor functions as an inhabited threshold rather than a fence, enhancing passive surveillance by making circulation and lingering coextensive throughout the site. Within this frame sit children’s play areas and a multipurpose platform, so activity occurs under a common visual field.
Transparency is calibrated through a regular grid of exposed concrete columns supplemented by secondary verticals that echo the main rhythm. This produces gradients of openness, guiding movement while interrupting long, uncontrolled lines of access. The resultant shaded thresholds are legible, easy to scan from outside, and avoid enclosing the park in a way that would diminish social oversight.
The courts, track, and cross-site paths consolidate activity where it can be seen. The natural slope forms concrete bleachers that double as stairs, stitching levels without producing cavities or leftover corners. The running loop encircles the program to tie pieces into a simple, walkable figure, providing a consistent edge condition and a predictable pattern of use throughout the day.
Structural and Material Tectonics: Monolithic Concrete and Economic Detail
The main volume sits on isolated footings linked with tie beams, a straightforward system suited to uneven ground and a compressed schedule. A four-sided, exposed-concrete roof slopes inward, intensifying the enclosure and shade while keeping the space fully open-air. The canopy concentrates shadow in the center, yielding a reading of the atrium as a single civic room rather than a dispersed set of structures.
Local sand and gravel give the concrete its beige, earthy tone without added pigment. The massing and column cadence create barcode-like shadow patterns that temper radiant heat and organize occupation throughout the day. This shifting pattern provides spatial rhythm at minimal cost, performing environmentally while reinforcing orientation and scale.
Ancillary elements follow the same economy. Restrooms are robust, non-glazed boxes with small, strategically placed openings for daylighting and cross-ventilation, avoiding fixtures prone to vandalism. Sliding doors in untreated weathered corten steel supply a tactile contrast to the concrete while resisting wear. The roof is acknowledged as a fifth facade. It is intentionally positioned to accept urban art, with compositionally legible fields that can take murals without compromising the clarity of the structural grid.
Landscape and Urban Interface: Native Planting, Ground, and Program
Planting supports safety and microclimate without sacrificing long views. Sotol, agave, and palms line the perimeter to preserve surveillance across the site, while light-canopy trees animate interior play areas with dappled shade. The only dense canopies are existing mature trees at the edges, which establish the oasis reading without creating concealed niches.
The ground plane uses compacted earth and gravel in the same chromatic register as the concrete, reducing dust and maintenance while blending built and unbuilt surfaces. Concrete benches operate as both seating and edge containment, particularly along the southern embankment and within children’s zones, where caregivers can occupy the perimeter corridor with continuous visual contact.
A perforated corten-steel vertical marker names the park and provides wayfinding without obstructing views. Its slender verticality counterbalances the horizontal atrium and reads as a civic sign at the scale of the avenue. The running track completes a clear loop that binds all program pieces, turning the park into an easily understood sequence of shaded thresholds, active courts, and open clearings.
About GI21 Arquitectura
Based in Mexico City, GI21 Arquitectura was founded in the early 2010s and is known for its context-sensitive, resource-efficient design approach. The firm emphasizes material expression, passive climate strategies, and equitable civic spaces that promote safety and community engagement through visibility and transparency. GI21 frequently works in underserved urban areas, applying architectural clarity to resolve programmatic and environmental challenges.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Client: SEDATU (Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development)
- Other contributors: Outreach Unit of the School of Architecture at UNAM
Thanks Archeyes for the publication. Great work.