Luis Alfaro: The trees

Luis Alfaro is an architect and landscape architect graduated from Isthmus, Panama City in 2008, with a master's degree in Landscape Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (ETSAB) in Barcelona (2014). He has been recognised by the Congress of New Urbanism for the landscape planning of urban project of the firm Moule & Polyzoides (Pasadena, California). He designed and built the landscaping for Altos del Maria and is the designer of the tree plan for phase one of Porta Norte. You can see more of his firm's work at www.laap.space.

In this third episode we talk about the Porta Norte phase one tree plan and pedestrian-focused urbanism. This episode was recorded on site, together with 100 architecture students from the University of Panama, Universidad Santa María la Antigua, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Universidad Interamericana de Panamá and the School of Architecture and Design of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Listen to it or watch it on your preferred platform:

Links to the episode:

• Connect with Luis Alfaro:

  • Twitter

  • Website

• Follow the growth of the trees:

  • Avenida La Unión

  • Panama Boulevard

  • Boulevard Porta Norte

Summary of issues:

• Trees on Union Avenue

• Trees on Boulevard Panama

• Trees on Boulevard Porta Norte

• Evergreen trees

• The human scale

• Panama City False Paradigms

• Marginalised groups

• The identity of each street

• Green infrastructure

• Engineering for trees

• The history of Panama City's urban development

• The characteristics of pavements

• The experiments (Giants' walk and fruit walk)

• Beyond planting trees

• Simplifying Porta Norte

• Temperature with trees