Sorry for answering until now, Solivagant, I have had a very demanding week.
On your comment on Virgilio Barco Library, I do think that the body of work of Rogelio Salmona is outstanding, but as I seed I would rather choose a few more works which are a travel of half a century between the most orthodox expansion of the International Style in the world, to almost the present day, in which I think Salmona was quite perceptive to bring an alternative within modernity, as Barragán did for example.
I don't think that Criterion i may apply solely, I would rather go for iv and maybe iii. I want to expand a little bit further on why criterion iii: I think it expresses with supremacy the change of focus in the urban spaces from the 1960s on: the change from a centrally designed-centered on the auto planification, to more participative, socially and espacially integrated approach. Thats why:
Solivagant:
its spatial conception, its subtle integration with the city in spite of the latter's physical isolation from its immediate urban context, the expressiveness achieved with the use of material ... and the offer of experiences and alternatives of use that go beyond the specific architectural programs for this type of projects
is a great wording for what I think is outstanding in it. And that is an expression of the modern urban society in the world, that's why I would go for iii, and of course iv.
But I don't think I would apply that same words to the Sydney Opera, it's influence is based more on being revolutionary on structural and aesthetic aspects. So...if I were in the colombian board of heritage, I would have gone for other approach based on the wording of the justification of universal value, definitively not criterion i.
Barragán applies in a sense as a comparator, but by rendering a regional alternative to the Modern Movement, that is by the way, very Bogotan. Barragan's work is a lot more cryptic, and developed throughout private residences, but Salmona also bringed in many of his works the let's say 'mysterious' aura that Barragán is known for: the play of colors, materials, light and shadows that also Tadao Ando has. In and out of WH sites as comparators, the works of the late Le Corbusier (Salmona worked in his studio), Arab architecture, Precolumbian mesoamerican architecture, Tadao Ando's works, and cultural centers throughout the world that are based on those principles (Sendai Mediatheque, Centre Georges Pompidou, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the examples in Medellín, and many others), are even better comparators. Virgilio Barco Library is in the intersection of those diverse influences.
As I said, important as it is, I would rather nominate a little larger body of work: Torres del Parque, Nueva Santa Fe, National Archive, the Guest House in Cartagena, Quimbayá Museum in Armenia, and the Gabriel García Márquez Cultural Center. But of course, that's not up to me. Those would balance the fact that the library is way too recent, by showing an evolution towards what is now becoming common practice in the architectural field. That's for me the most important side of Salmona, not creating iconic-perfect for pictures architecture, like Brasilia, but predicting and influencing a wave of more liveable, socially integrating architecture. And well, that's the sign of the times.
