Search

×

Zurcher’s indigenous design in Papagayo

Ronald Zurcher, president and principal architect of Zurcher Arquitectos in San Jose, Costa Rica, has been visiting Peninsula Papagayo most of his life. Early on, “there was nothing there,” he says – just beaches and the distinct flora and fauna of the dry forest. In 2000, he returned, this time as one of a team of architects scouting hotel sites, camping, hiking and hacking their way through the dense jungle.

“One of the ambitions from the very beginning was to keep this place as pristine as we found it,” says Zurcher, who has designed many of the buildings on the peninsula, including, currently, the Four Seasons Private Residences. That included stringing cables to accommodate the overhead “fauna corridor” of monkeys and raising fences to keep debris from washing onto coral reefs. And while only indigenous plants were used in landscaping, one was eradicated: pica-pica – “itch-itch”– whose seed pods displace stinging hairs.

An aerial view of the Andaz Papagayo, which Gencom purchased in October.
An aerial view of the Andaz Papagayo, which Gencom purchased in October.

Design, too, is indigenous. Pre-Columbian pottery he found on the peninsula took inspiration from cocoons, thorns and seeds. Those, in turn, inspired his building designs. The peninsula is uniquely Costa Rican, and it will stay that way, he says. “It’s not that (hotel companies) are coming in and implementing a foreign culture. We’re enhancing our own culture.”

Comment