design-gasm medellin style

as a designer im almost immediately attracted to other designers. like in aiesec you can always talk about aiesec-related topics, with designers you can always talk about design things no matter where you are or what youre doing. a few weeks ago i met the cousin of a friend of mine here who happens to be an architect...and not just any architect, but in fact the architect for the metro here in medellin. i was immediately fascinated and asked to see his sketches and renderings for the new upcoming stations in sabaneta and la estrella, which has led to a really awesome friendship. and that friendship totally comes with perks! yesterday i got the amazing opportunity to preview the new metrocable that goes from santo domingo to santa elena, an opportunity that wont be available to the public until the second week of february. this metrocable is an AMAZING experience, because you literally go through the forest and get to see places up in the hills that you would NEVER have the opportunity to see otherwise. 

aside from that we also did a tour of medellin, complete with the other metrocable on the other side of the city and tours of 2 of the parque biblioteca pilot projects (i would have to save an entire post to explain that government project, which is one of the most successful social projects medellin has ever seen). ALSO, due to my small bladder and my new friends' vip metro status, i got to see the behind the scenes of the metro, including the offices, the awesome kitchenette for employees, and of course the bathroom. 

all in all it was a day chock-full of design-gasms.