La Plancha park captures awards at national architecture competition
Parque La Plancha in Mérida emerged as a standout winner at the 2024 National Biennial of Mexican Architecture, earning two major recognitions. The 50-acre public space project received both a silver medal for innovative lighting design and an honorable mention for landscape architecture.
Nine other projects from the region received honorable mentions, including the Maya Train station in Campeche, Hotel Sureño in Mérida, and several residential developments. These projects showcase the peninsula’s growing architectural significance, with La Plancha leading the way in sustainable urban development.
The park, designed by architects Javier Muñóz Menéndez and Carlos Eduardo Quesnel Moguel, transforms a former railway yard into Mérida’s newest green space. Its lighting design, developed by the Yucatán College of Architects, integrates landscaping with energy-efficient LED technology to enhance the visitor experience. The project dedicates 85% of its area to green spaces, establishing itself as a crucial environmental feature in the city’s urban core.
La Plancha’s development follows years of community debate and false starts but ended up an ambitious project with two museums, water shows, and an active amphitheater with live entertainment. While critics had envisioned a park that emphasized a natural habitat, walkers, joggers and families with small children have flocked to it.
Its dual recognition at the Biennial indicates its significance in contemporary Mexican urban design.
The Biennial recognized other notable projects from the Yucatán Peninsula, including three additional silver medals: the Quinta Montes Molina Cultural Center, the University of Anáhuac Mayab’s Architecture School expansion in Yucatan, and the Bacalar Ecopark in Quintana Roo. The competition’s highest honor, the gold medal, went to the Yancuic Museum in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district.
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