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Recently, a media contingent from South Africa was laying over in France on the way to an experience offered by Corona beer, in which they host an epic party and experience on an island off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia.
South Africa is one of the first 11 countries to experience this island. This soft launch will be in preparation for this island to be availed to the public for visits – a place where the libations never dry out, jet skis zoom off the coast and fun in the sun is a given.
Speaking on behalf of Corona Island, former Miss Universe Paulina Vega, who is responsible for curating the leisure programme, spoke highly of this venture.
She said: “When (they) reached out to me, I fell completely in love with the project. The fact that the brand chose Colombia, out of any other part of the world, to develop a sustainable project where people can truly connect with nature blew my mind.”
The driving premise is more than just enjoying time away to drink beer; it’s about escaping the manic and mundane routines of the iron jungle, switching off and enjoying a natural way.
Vega adds:
Hers is to curate these moments of relaxation and to ensure that they are immortalised in the minds of anyone who visits.
The design aspects of this island have been taken care of by Mauricio Galeano, architect, co-founder and director of James and Mau.
Galeano said: “I want to thank the Colombia team, headed by Leonardo Iregui, for sharing their thoughts with me in the first place. They had some ideas for this project and they showed me what they wanted to do, so I started working on how we could put together the island's essence and architectural design. That’s how we created the ‘listen to the sea’ concept, inspired by golden ratio.”
Again, the idea of disconnecting from the daily grind dominated his thoughts when considering the design of this island.
“The real luxury is pure connection with nature. As this is an island, the sea is undoubtedly the main protagonist, and the reflections and sensations it evokes in all human beings in one way or another. All the architectural language we have proposed is inspired by it, in its organic forms, in its movements, and in the life it carries. On the other hand, we emphasise some of these forms to make our visitors reflect on the outside and inside of the spaces.”
Galeano mentioned that all the structures are based on the “listen to the sea” motif.
“Trying to reflect on how we connect with nature – especially, but not only, the sea – and how that connection requires a disconnection from our daily routine. So, what we tried to do is to create an environment with big spaces that work as ‘ears’. That way, all visitors can ‘hear what nature wants to say’ and create a fully relaxing spot.”
Another inspiration for the design are the four natural elements, which have been interwoven into the design of this island escape.
“Additionally, the use of solar panels to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in power generators, and recycling and treatment of the different waste that our visitors will generate, guarantee a sustainable architectural focus.”
Treated pine and oak are used for the structures, and bitter hay is used for the roofs and some of the finishes. All are locally sourced. One of the fundamental ideas of the project is that the environmental and visual impact of its landscaping should be as low as possible, to be as respectful as possible of the surrounding landscape.
“We want to go unnoticed within the environment. And subtle but powerful forms on the roofs of the spaces will be precisely what emphasises and make that contact of the project with the sea.”
Look out for our review of this experience on the Trending pages.
