Fragments: Lines In Motion – Fostering An Architecture That Connects The Senses With The Landscape Of Dibulla, Colombia | Architecture Thesis

Site Context

In areas dominated by extractive industries, the intrinsic connection between people and the land is overshadowed by infrastructures that fragment and exploit the territory. These industrial “patches” spread across strategically important zones, functioning in isolation from local economies and ecological systems. They deplete natural resources, disrupt traditional life, and leave behind environmental degradation and social disconnection.

These constantly shifting extraction points form a visible line through the landscape—a logistical path and a trace of environmental damage. This line transforms the terrain, interrupting ecosystems and displacing communities. Its trajectory culminates in a port at Dibulla, where it extends 2 kilometers into the sea. The port imposes a significant burden on both land and marine environments, disturbing natural rhythms and further fragmenting habitats and human life.

Design Process

The project begins by confronting the way the mining port’s expansion has fractured the spatial layers of the territory, opening up possibilities for a renewed interpretation of the landscape. Instead of perceiving the horizon as a distant visual marker, it is reimagined as something felt and navigated through the body—drawing inspiration from Richard Serra’s sculptures, which create a physical and perceptual dialogue with their environment. In this view, the landscape is no longer a passive backdrop, but an active agent in shaping spatial experience.

Once intended solely for extraction and export, the port is re-envisioned as a connector—one that re-establishes a relationship between people, the horizon, and the surrounding ecology. Shifting from its role as industrial infrastructure, it now acts as a mediator that supports renewed interactions between humans and nature. The proposal introduces a series of architectural interventions that engage both land and water, aiming to restore ecological balance disrupted by mining activity. These structures promote new sedimentation processes and explore the potential of soil regeneration to aid in the recovery of mangrove ecosystems that have suffered extensive damage.

Ultimately, the project envisions a space where conservation, integration, and sensory engagement come together to heal both the landscape and the community.

Final Outcome

Along the stretch of the mining port, the project introduces new spatial layers that aim to mend the broken ties between ecosystem and community. Each intervention is thoughtfully positioned along the port, responding to the natural rhythms of the landscape.

The first structure supports mangrove regeneration through mobile cultivation units that move with the tides. The second creates a space for artisanal fishers—providing areas for repairing equipment and processing their catch, thus revitalizing a displaced way of life. The third focuses on regional cuisine, fostering a reflective connection with local traditions and the surrounding environment.

Floating, mobile modules travel between these core interventions, serving as flexible connectors that link people and spaces across the water. At the far end of the port—where sea and sky converge—stands a tower that lifts the gaze toward the horizon. 

Wrapped in fabric that shifts with the wind, water, and light, the tower transforms observation into a full sensory encounter. It also gathers water to sustain the entire project. In this vision, architecture becomes animate—anchored in movement and sensory experience—dissolving the boundaries between people and nature, form and environment, presence and perception.

Conclusion: The port is transformed from a symbol of fragmentation into a connective tissue between land, water, and community by integrating architecture and landscape. The intervention offers a new model for inhabiting damaged territories, healing, integrating, and reimagining the relationship between humans and the environment.

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]