Punta Piedra Waterfront Microcity by Marcello Rodriguez Pons Receives the Silver A' Design Award in Urban Planning and Urban Design

Marcello Rodriguez Pons recognized for urban planning and urban design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Urban Planning and Urban Design category for Punta Piedra Waterfront Microcity by Marcello Rodriguez Pons, designed for Rodriguez Pons Architects. The result belongs to the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

The Silver A' Design Award Explained

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

More About Punta Piedra Waterfront Microcity

Punta Piedra is a waterfront masterplan development in the city of Carmelo, Uruguay. This is a human scale micro city, 100% ecologically oriented, based on a 15 minutes city concept premise. Its oval shape has been conceived as an elliptical boulevard called the Gran Via, which runs through the entire enterprise from the forest inland into the Rio de la Plata waters. Located all along it you can find residences, offices, commercial and cultural areas, nurseries, schools, the yacht club, promenade, parks and beaches to give it functionality and public-spirited presence 24/7.

About Marcello Rodriguez Pons

I aim to design elegant and efficient buildings to grace the people and cities around the globe

Award Record

This recognition makes Marcello Rodriguez Pons a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' City Planning and Urban Design Award

The A' Urban Design Award is an international urban design competition recognizing good urban plans and designs by best urban planners and architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to urban planning designers, urban architects, city planners and urban designers from all countries. Typical entries include masterplans, zoning proposals, infrastructure designs, landscape blueprints, public space concepts and urban renewal projects. The awarded urban plan designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/urban-planning

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://designers.org/160409
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/160409
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!160409
Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/277411
Further Information from the Laureate: https://rodriguezpons.com/

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

###

Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Punta Piedra Waterfront Microcity
Function: Waterfront Microcity
Category: Urban Planning and Urban Design
Discipline: Spatial Design
Industry: Architecture and Social Impact
Colors: Light Steel Blue, Black, Cadet Blue, Dark Slate Gray and Light Slate Gray
Images: 5
Client: Rodriguez Pons Architects

The Recognition

Laureate: Marcello Rodriguez Pons
Country: Argentina
Recognition: Silver A' Design Award
Edition: 2024 - 2025
Design ID: #160409

Credits

Design Details

Unique Properties: Punta Piedra is a new river waterfront masterplan development in the city of Carmelo, Uruguay. Its oval shape has been conceived as an elliptical boulevard called the Gran Via, which runs through the entire development from the high inland forest into the waters of the River de la Plata. Located all along it you can find residences, offices, commercial and cultural areas, nurseries, schools, the yacht club, promenade, parks and beaches to give it functionality, mixed use and public-spirited presence. Two high-rise towers crown the city view from the river which will be the new city icons.
Inspiration: The initial idea of this neighborhood was to create vibrant public spaces and by extension an animated microcity. To do so, the waterfront promenade was designed with several public access points to the coast all along the masterplan, so people could participate of the coastline in many ways from swimming or fishing, dining or picnicking dockside, boarding boats to feeding the ducks. Creating these specific designed connection points also means enticing people to the waterfront on foot or bike and with that create a real community living place.
Research: The master plan is very respectful of the local topography, water influences (rains and tides) and plants (eucalyptus forest in the highlands & the mangroves by the river) and has adapted itself to preserve and enhance them, thus providing the maximum functionality and flexibility for the XXI century living requirements. All of it designed with rigorous rationality and adjusted to a viable budget and execution.
Challenge: The waterfronts in this microcity are not dominated by residential developments. Why? Because these are places that are full of people, day and night. They are the sites of festivals, markets, fireworks display, concerts and other high energy gatherings. A high concentration of residential development limits the diversity of waterfront use and an ideal 24/7 hour activity from flourishing. This mixed use development was achieved with project explanation to privates and authorities vs their economic interests.
Realization and Technology: Construction and demolition waste (CDW) from the city of Montevideo, the country capital, will be used for filling the sheet pile walls and to produce new concrete and other materials for streets and buildings. The development aims to use 50% of recycled materials for all its new constructions.
Operation and Interaction: This will be a human scale waterfront microcity. The masterplan is based on a 15 minutes city premise: the proximity of everything you need in a city (residences, workplace, supermarkets and shops, nurseries, schools, culture and parks) are within a very short distance on foot or by bicycle. Additionally, 100% ecologically oriented with plug-in services transport for electrical vehicles (EV city) have also been designed.
Project Duration and Location: The masterplan project started in 2019 and was finished in late 2022. It was exhibited at the World Architecture Community New York, USA and other city planning conventions because of its compact and multi-use design concept. Phase 1 of the marina sheet pile walls and the promenade filling construction should be starting late 2025.
Specifications: Location Colonia Uruguay, Total land area 910.000m2 (91 hectares), Built Up Area 450.000m2, Land occupation 78.000m2 only 8 %. Uses: marina, residential, offices, hotels, commercial, restaurants, church, cultural center, hospital and sports center. Housing units 3.500 Expected population 15.000 to 20.000 inhabitants (residents + visitors). 400 boats in the marina and 1200 boats in dry docks.
Keywords: Marina, Microcity, 15 minutes, Oval, Waterfront, Yacht, Park, Carmelo, Uruguay