Design · 5 min
The Art of Living in Medellín
How a city rebuilt around public space produced one of Latin America's most confident design cultures.
Medellín's design language came out of civic architecture: libraries, transport stations and parks built to a standard that private developers then had to match.
Materials
Board-formed concrete, local hardwoods, brick and a lot of planting. Buildings are designed for cross ventilation rather than air conditioning, which is possible in a city that sits at a constant spring temperature.
Where to look
Provenza's galleries, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Ciudad del Río, and the workshops of Envigado where much of the city's furniture is made.
For buyers, this matters commercially as well as aesthetically: well-designed buildings in Medellín rent faster and hold value longer.
