P.L.A. — Landscape Architect · Researcher · LC.ES Ecology Operating System

L. Carolina
Arias RuizConvergent Ecologies

“I read territory as a living system: I identify convergences of processes, gradients of metabolic continuity, and zones where a precise intervention can restore what the system still holds.”

Boardwalk crossing wetland toward mountains
Based in
Bogotá → Bilbao 2026
Education
MAP · UPC Barcelona
Languages
ES · EN C1 · CA B2 · FR
Research
LC.ES · PICM · Bilbao 2026

L. Carolina Arias Ruiz — landscape architect and researcher

I work at the intersection of landscape ecology and territorial metabolism. I am developing a methodology to identify which processes in a territory have lost continuity, and where a precise intervention can reactivate them.

A graduate of Fundación Universitaria Jorge Tadeo Lozano, with a Master's in Landscape Architecture from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (with an emphasis on Landscape Ecology and Urban Metabolism). Eight years of practice across environmental consultancy, public space and landscape projects in Colombia, Spain and the United States — and, since 2023, my own methodological research.

The methodological system I am developing — the PICM — identifies which processes lose continuity, where, and to what degree. The ICM assesses the metabolic state of each ecotope. The AMA act on the cause of the interruption, not on the visible flow.

“My research starts from the hypothesis that territories are not ecologically inactive, but rather contain metabolic ecotopes: territorial units where processes operate with varying degrees of continuity — and where that degree determines the system's capacity to generate flows across scales.”

In transit toward Bilbao, 2026 — where the margins of the Nervión and its industrial metabolism in transformation open a new field of territorial observation. Research by doing. Observe to understand. Represent to activate.

Education
UndergraduateLandscape Architecture U. Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Bogotá
Master'sMAP · Landscape Architecture UPC, Barcelona (2022–2024)
Languages
SpanishEnglish C1Catalan B2French
L. Carolina Arias Ruiz — territorial research and ecological mapping

Ongoing · 2023–present
LC.ES — Ecology Operating System
Researcher · Methodologist
Development of the PICM methodological system to identify, read and diagnose metabolic ecotopes in living territories. Pilot application in Bogotá. Methodological transition toward Bilbao and the Nervión.
Bogotá → Bilbao
BIOTOPÍA
Founder · Ecological outreach collective
A platform translating between territorial research and public territory. Situated workshops, ecological narrative and documentary observation — the interface of LC.ES toward wider audiences.
Ecological representation · Editorial documentation
Produced ecological representations for the Fire Station Tower — fauna, vegetation and flow continuity from the Rec Comtal and the market square as integrated layers. Documented in English a climate shelter designed by the studio. Organised the studio's complete publication archive into a chronological record.
Barcelona, Spain
2024 · Feb – Mar
Carles Enrich Studio SLP
MAP internship
Landscape · Sustainable project management
Led landscape, bioclimatic and eco-park projects for private clients — from the initial meeting with referred clients through to on-site delivery. Developed concept, design and sustainability criteria; handled permitting with public bodies, coordinated contractors, and presented progress to investors and management.
Bogotá, Colombia
2022 – 2024
INNVOLVO S.A.S
Project consultant
Landscaping · Species selection
Designed and selected species palettes for landscape projects across private residences, resorts and hotels — translating programme and climatic context into specific plant systems.
Miami, USA
2021 · Sep – Dec
XMC — Resort Scapes
Landscape Architect
Territorial landscape · Public market development
Designed landscape proposals for Wastewater Treatment Plants (PTAR). Submitted public tenders and led sustainability meetings with municipal authorities to open and consolidate a market in territorial public procurement.
Bogotá, Colombia
2020 · Jan – Jul
Nattivo LA S.A.S
Sustainability architect
Public procurement · Bioclimatic consultancy
Prepared bids for tenders on SECOP I and II — forming temporary joint ventures and following each process through to resolution. Acted as bioclimatic consultant for the Bella Vista prison and as landscape consultant for the Casa Blanca (Bosa) and Indusel district schools.
Bogotá, Colombia
2019 – 2020
Promotora Valores
Bioclimatic and landscape consultant
Sustainable landscape · Market development
Designed the landscape for a residential development in Tenjo — integrating vegetable gardens, housescape and bioclimatic principles into the housing proposal. Coordinated the team and led project presentations. Opened market niches in sustainable design for the studio.
Bogotá, Colombia
2019 – 2020
Sobre Ciudad Studio
Architect · Project director
Bioclimatics · Design for public facilities
Developed bioclimatic proposals for schools of the Adaptation Fund and the Department of Education, day centres and the Supersubsidio building — including sustainability analysis. Prepared the technical presentations and represented the studio in meetings with public bodies.
Bogotá, Colombia
2018
Cenit Consulting Group
Landscape architect
Bioclimatics · Full project cycle
Accompanied full-cycle projects as bioclimatic architect — from client search and proposal presentation through to execution and final handover.
Bogotá, Colombia
2017
MSA Arquitectos S.A.S
Project manager · Bioclimatic architect
Stamped concrete · Site management
Directed stamped concrete and roadway projects across large surfaces — design, budgeting and materials logistics. Managed on-site execution and coordinated project handover. Commercial advisory to clients.
Bogotá, Colombia
2016
Creando Soluciones en Colombia
Project manager · Design architect
Design and construction · Residential and commercial projects
Delivered design, interior design and construction projects for private clients — homes, cafés, restaurants and spas — managing the full cycle from referral acquisition to handover. Coordinated interior design, drawings, permits and contractors.
Bogotá, Colombia
2015
LC — Práctica independiente
Architect · Interior designer

Academic education
2022 – 2024 · Barcelona
Master's in Landscape Architecture
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya — UPC
2015 · Bogotá
Architect — P.L.A.
Fundación Universitaria Jorge Tadeo Lozano
2017 · Bogotá
Landscaping, Gardening & Floral Art
Escuela Colombiana del Diseño & las Artes — ESDIART
International workshops
2023 · Barcelona – Girona
International Intensive Workshop: Remaking Landscapes
La préseance du vivant — MAP · ETSAB · UPC
2022 · Cagliari, Italia
International Workshop Paesaggi Minerari
Paesaggi dell'energia — AUSI & MAP · Università degli Studi di Cagliari
2018 · Antigua, Guatemala
Ibero-American Seminar on Earthen Architecture & Construction
18° SIACOT — Faculty of Engineering, USAC

LC.ES — Ecology Operating System · Architectural Chain V13

A methodological system to read,
diagnose and activate living territories.

LC.ES is not a portfolio. It is the epistemological framework from which all of my work operates: the interface between territorial research, situated practice and multi-scalar representation. The complete chain — from planetary context through to the production of knowledge.

Contexto
SALUD PLANETARIA
Mecanismo explicativo
METABOLISMO TERRITORIAL
Marco teórico
ECOLOGÍAS CONVERGENTES
Marco epistemológico
LC.ES — Ecology Operating System
Fenómeno observable
CONVERGENCIA METABÓLICA
Coincidencia espacial de ≥3 procesos activos con ≥2 escalas simultáneas · se delimita metodológicamente con el PICM
Objeto de estudio
ECOTOPO METABÓLICO — umbral de ascenso escalar
Unidad espacio-funcional delimitada por el PICM · resultado del protocolo, no categoría a priori
Procesos metabólicos · 9 portadores
P1 Captación · P2 Transformación · P3 Almacenamiento
P4 Distribución · P5 Intercambio · P6 Regeneración — 9 portadores: agua · energía · materia · carbono · nutrientes · biodiversidad · información · conocimiento · movilidad
Lectura territorial · Medición
ATLAS DE CONVERGENCIAS METABÓLICAS
Cartografía P1–P6 × escalas × continuidad funcional · Identifica dónde los procesos pierden continuidad y a qué grado
Diagnóstico cuantitativo · F08
ICM — Índice de Continuidad Metabólica
Índice multimétrico (IBI): 10 métricas vs referencia · peso igual · 0–25 · 4 estados: Activo · Latente · Interrumpido · Degradado
Protocolo de acción · F09
PIM — Protocolo de Intervención Metabólica
Traduce el diagnóstico ICM en vector de acción: proceso objetivo · escala de intervención · AMA asignado · intensidad
Ejecución · AMA — Agentes Metabólicos Adaptativos
BIORIGEN
AMA 01 · Escala edáfica
Activa P1 y P6 en la base del ciclo. Sin continuidad edáfica, ninguna escala posterior puede funcionar.
P1 CaptaciónP6 Regeneración
BIONEXUS
AMA 02 · Escala humana
Media la interfaz ecología-persona. Activa P2 y P5 donde los flujos se traducen en hábitos y apropiación.
P2 TransformaciónP5 Intercambio
BIOTRAMA
AMA 03 · Escala urbana
Reconstituye la conectividad metabólica en trama urbana fragmentada: P4 y P5 bloqueados por infraestructura.
P4 DistribuciónP5 Intercambio
BIOREGEN
AMA 04 · Escala productiva
Reactiva la capacidad de regeneración autónoma donde la fragmentación productiva la ha suprimido.
P6 RegeneraciónP1 Captación
REORGANIZACIÓN METABÓLICA → CONTINUIDAD FUNCIONAL
CMA · F10
Monitoreo Adaptativo
T0 DiagnósticoT+6 LecturaT+12 ICMT+18 EvaluaciónAjuste PICM
Metabolismo del Conocimiento
ObservaciónDatosInformaciónConocimientoTransferenciaRetroalimentación
Ecological outreach collective
A platform translating between research and public territory. Situated workshops, ecological narrative and documentary observation — the interface of LC.ES toward wider audiences.
biotopiastudio.com →

01Doctoral hypothesis
Theoretical framework

Metabolic Ecotopes as units of territorial diagnosis

Fragmented territories are not ecologically inactive. They contain metabolic ecotopes with varying degrees of process continuity — active, latent, interrupted, degraded, or with regenerative potential. That degree of continuity determines the system's capacity to generate flows across scales.

Zonneveld (1989) · Holling & Gunderson (2002) · Folke et al. (2005)
02Methodology
PICM — 10 phases

Protocol for the Identification and Characterisation of the Metabolic Ecotope

A non-negotiable ten-phase sequence: territorial survey → LC.ES Matrix (P1–P6 × scales) → reading and mapping → convergences → ecotope delimitation → IBI → PIM → AMA → CMA. The intervention zone is not chosen: it emerges from the analysis.

Forman (1995) · Taylor et al. (1993) · Costanza et al. (1992)
IBI — Index of Biointegrity

Quantitative diagnosis of metabolic state

Ten equally weighted metrics across three dimensions: Ecological, Metabolic and Socio-ecological. It does not measure whether flows exist — it measures whether the processes are capable of generating them. It yields four states: Active · Latent · Interrupted · Degraded.

Bossel (1999) · Urban & Keitt (2001) · Jørgensen et al. (2004)
03Pilot territories
Pilot 01 · Bogotá 2026

PICM implementation — territory of evidence

Metabolic reading S01–S09 using public data (IDEAM, IGAC, IDECA, SDP). Detection of convergences and delimitation of ecotopes. Design of the strategic AMA for the zone of greatest metabolic density. Operational window: Jun–Dec 2026.

Sources: QGIS + IDECA + IDEAM + IGAC + situated fieldwork
Pilot 02 · Bilbao 2026–2027

The Nervión as comparative metabolism — territory of legitimacy

The Nervión as an industrial metabolism in transformation. Applying the PICM with European data confirms the method's replicability beyond the Latin American context. Bogotá builds the evidence; Bilbao builds the academic legitimacy.

PhD target: UPV/EHU · Wageningen · TU Delft
04Pedagogical dissemination
Pedagogy · Convergent Ecologies

Like a Seed — lecture and pedagogical cycle

A cycle of talks and workshops where the research is translated into territorial pedagogical practice. First lecture presented at Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Bogotá, 2026. A platform for dissemination and territorial appropriation of the LC.ES system.


Pilot 01 · 2026
BOGOTÁ
Active AMA: BIOREGEN · BIONEXUS · Reading S01–S09

The PICM's first pilot territory. Metabolic reading across nine layers (S01–S09) using IDEAM, IGAC, IDECA and SDP data. Identification of convergences, delimitation of ecotopes, ICM calculation and AMA intervention design. Operational window: Jun–Dec 2026.

Dominant ICM state
Interrupted / Latent
Pilot 02 · 2026–2027
BILBAO / NERVIÓN
Basque Country, Spain · Industrial metabolism in transformation

The margins of the Nervión as a territory of metabolic reading in a European context. Industrial metabolism in post-productive transition. Applying the PICM with European data sources confirms the method's replicability outside the Latin American context. Territorial basis of the PhD.

ICM state
Under exploration — Latent / Interrupted
Next territory
TO BE DEFINED
The territory emerges from the analysis — it is not chosen.

Selection of the next site of practice will follow the ICM criteria: maximum density of metabolic convergences with the greatest potential for activation through AMA intervention.


Methodology · PICM V13
Atlas of Convergences — multi-scalar reading P1–P6
Pilot 01 · Bogotá 2026
S01–S09 — territorial metabolic reading in QGIS
Workshop · Cagliari · 2022
Paesaggi Minerari — landscapes of energy metabolism
Workshop · Barcelona-Girona · 2023
Remaking Landscapes — la préseance du vivant
Research · AMA 04 · 2024–2026
BIOREGEN — metabolic agent at productive scale
Diagram · ICM
5 metabolic states — territorial diagnostic system
Observation · Bilbao 2026
Margins of the Nervión — first territorial record
Practice · Barcelona · 2024
Carles Enrich Studio — landscape and heritage restoration
Contact

Collaborations, research,
workshops and territorial projects.

Based in
Bogotá, Colombia
Bilbao, Spain · 2026 →
Active practice