Lava rock gardens maintain Mexico’s natural Landscape

By: Jimena Martignoni

The Ecological Preserve of Saint Angel Lava Rock (REPSA, or Reserva Ecológica del Pedregal de San Angel) is a designated area within the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) which protects the ecosystem of the “Pedregal”.

The Pegregal, which is the colloquial name of this natural environment, is the 80km2-territory situated south of Mexico City which was covered by lava from the Xitle Volcano approximately 1670 years ago. Today, the conserved fragments of the pedregal extend over only 29.5km2, something like 36% of the original area. Part of the remaining lava field is located within the UNAM campus, which covers a total area of 719 hectares representing the largest and more important university in Mexico; for this reason and with the object of protecting this original and cultural landscape from the rapid urbanization of Mexico City, in 1983, the university’s authorities decided to create the preserve with an initial area of 124.5 hectares. In 2005, after several delimitations, REPSA was finally defined as an area of 237 hectares.

The lava spewed from the volcano extended from 3,100 meters above sea level until 2,270; along this altitudinal gradient different plant communities were developed over time: Conifer woods (3,000 to 2,850), Oak (Quercus desertícola) woods (2,850 to 2,350) and the xerophile brushwood (2,350 to 2,100). The latter is the ecosystem that can be found in the UNAM campus, becoming the last relict of this arid landscape within the most populous city in Latin America. More than 300 drought-tolerant species grow in the Saint Angel Pedregal -senecios, echeverrias and cacti being

the most common- and more than twenty species of terrestrial orchids, some of them endemic, make the pedregal an orchid sanctuary.

The basaltic bedrock protected in REPSA has a high biological, ecological and geomorphological value, allowing the recharge of water tables and maintaining levels of humidity and air quality. The preservation of this ecosystem not only means the evolution of the wildlife of this relict but the conservation of an endangered landscape in the Mexico basin. On the other hand, the UNAM’s main campus is on the World Heritage List –declared in the 31st Assembly of the World Heritage Committee in New Zealand, 2007– adding another highly significant component to any conservation projects implemented within this area.

The UNAM campus in Mexico City was build between 1949 and 1952, on the site of the original pedregal, following trends and principles of the Modern Movement and including artistic works made by some of the most important Mexican muralists. The conceptual layout of the campus was based on the integration of architecture, planning and landscape. However, over time, this last component lost relevance and the rocky landscape of the pedregal was replaced –those parts and outcrops appearing in the borders of the campus and in between the buildings– by manicured gardens. With the object of bringing back to sight the lava rock and the native flora growing on it, in order to rescue the original landscape of the pedregal and to conserve the local biodiversity, in 2005 the university commissioned a first project called Exhibiting Gardens of Native Flora (Jardines Demostrativos de Flora Nativa), after the final definition of REPSA. This would be a thematic space and would provide the plants for all new gardens following preservation concepts.

Later, in 2013, another project was developed with same objectives but taking things to a higher level and incorporating the rock as a main design element: the gardens of the National Laboratory of Sustainability Sciences (LANCIS, or Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad).

The new landscape concept that would guide the design and construction of these two gardens is called, in Spanish, “Xero-jardineria”, which means “Xerogardening”. This is a play of words, referring on the one hand to the native xerophile flora of the pedregal, and on the other hand to the word “zero”, meaning that this design would imply no gardening at all. From a maintenance perspective, these spaces would greatly reduce the use of water, thus closing a circle of sustainability, preservation and innovation.

Exhibiting Gardens of Native Flora (EG)

The commission for the planning of these gardens was given to the School of Architecture and, more especially, to the School of Landscape Architecture, where landscape architect Pedro Camarena, one of the listed professors, was chosen to lead the project. Camarena was, in addition, Chief of Special Projects of REPSA, being in charge of the transformation of the formal gardens in the campus into “xero-gardening” ones.

The project, which covers 2.46 hectares, was developed in 2005 and built in 2007, to open in November of that year.

The layout is very simple and presents a series of square and rectangular plots at ground level, whose size ranges from 12 to 50m2, knitted together by a central paved path. The plots, which are 42 in total –21 on each side–, are divided by short lineal walls made of the reclaimed rock and debris from the construction of an art museum located 800 meters away, part of the campus.

The floor of every garden is made of the lava rock, recreating the natural surfaces of the pedregal and, in this manner, eliminating any possibility of a formal garden, made of dirt soil, sand, gravel or grass. This makes the space appear as a rocky extension of black and grey tones, only interrupted by the green and reddish hues of the plants growing in the natural cracks and voids in the bedrock, bringing the original imagery of the pedregal close to the visitors and students. With this rock, which is the most common material of the pedregal, were built all short and enclosing walls in the campus since 1949.

All plants were either transplanted from the preserve’s area or spread from seeds or cuttings also collected in the preserve. The site includes a propagating nursery and a small educational area. Some of the plots and the edges of the gardens are planted with shrubs, small trees and agaves, all native to the pedregal; this group creates a green mass that adds a more compact and larger scale to the black landscape dotted by ornamental plants.

Located in the central path, a very shallow water mirror, almost a depressed square basin cut into the pavement, collects rainwater during rainy days. The layer of water remains while the rain keeps falling and evaporates naturally when the dry season begins, acting as a simple and humble water reservoir with no artificial hydraulic system. Birds and other small animals gather at this water fountain, a symbol of life.

National Laboratory of Sustainability Sciences (LANCIS)

The Laboratory of Sustainability Sciences was founded by the directors of the Institute of Ecology of UNAM. This Institute has three main departments –Ecology of Biodiversity, Evolutionary Ecology and Functional Ecology– and the new sustainable building that houses

all offices and research rooms was completed and opened in April 2014. Built with recycled material, the building incorporates water and energy reduction methods, natural ventilation, solar panels and a rainwater collecting system connected to REPSA. In order to respond to the same objectives of recovery and conservation of the landscape of the pedregal in the UNAM campus, the spaces around the building were designed not as gardens or lawn areas but as a reflection of the black lava rock environment and the plants that live in it.

The project is conceptualized as a series of drawings on the floor, repeated as patterns that combine areas of rock, crushed rock and pavement. These drawings are based on the overlapping of two of the most representative shapes of sustainability: the molecular Borromean rings and the Sierpinski triangle. This fractal layout, which mingles scientific data with design expertise, resulted from the collaboration between leading landscape architect Pedro Camarena and scientists of LANCIS. The remaining spaces, which are left from the combination of those fractals, shape the planting beds. The largest planted surfaces extend in front of the facades of the building, creating a natural foreground that vividly recalls that of the pedregal.

The plants displayed in this area are the ones which were proven to grow well in the Exhibiting Gardens. Only two new species –climbing plants also native from the pedregal– are added to cover a concrete wall: Passiflora subpeltata (white passion flower) and Cissus Sycioides (princess vine).

Chosen by their sculptural character, their size and fantastic shapes, some agaves were also incorporated into this planting scheme. Part of the cultural landscape of Mexico since the time of the pre-Columbian civilizations, the agave is one of the most emblematic plants of the local flora; in this land, 150 species can be found out of a total of 200, and almost 70% of them are endemic.

Once more and more spaces in the campus choose to rescue and conserve this landscape, the pedregal will again be the most distinctive image and, most importantly, will be sheltering the kind of wonderful life that cannot be found anywhere else in the planet.

Location: Mexico City, UNAM campus Landscape Architect: Pedro Camarena Exhibiting Gardens of Native Flora, Area and date of completion: 2.46 hectares, 2005 Client: UNAM’s Rectory Laboratory of Sustainability Sciences, Area and date of completion: 1,870m2, 2014 Client: Institute of Ecology of UNAM

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