ASAMBLEA LEGISLATIVA
PROJECT
ASAMBLEA LEGISLATIVA
YEAR
2013
TYPOLOGY
INSTITUTIONAL
AREA
58,000 M²
STATUS
2ND PLACE, NATIONAL CONTEST
LOCATION
SAN JOSÉ
COSTA RICA
PRESS KIT REQUEST:
MEDIA@CARAZOARQUITECTURA.COM
A NEW SEAT FOR COSTA RICA’S LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, WHERE THE NATURAL FLOW OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS ORDERS THE ARCHITECTURE AND AN OPEN PUBLIC REALM BRINGS CITIZENS CLOSER TO THEIR REPRESENTATIVES.
CONCEPT
The proposal for the new seat of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly, awarded second place in the national competition, starts from a simple conviction: the building must express the closeness between the Costa Rican people and their elected representatives, the very essence of the country’s democracy. It is conceived as a place where citizens are part of government rather than apart from it, and where political diversity meets in harmonious coexistence.
The composition is built on three fundamental pillars of a democratic society: the people, the state and the law. The natural flow of the legislative process orders the project. The state supports the people, the law rises above both, and all three converge again in the cylinder that encloses the plenary chamber, a symbol of equality, of the cyclical nature of democracy, and the landmark of the proposal.
Rather than relying on pure volumes, the project is understood as a tropical landscape: a whole composed of many small parts, where order emerges from apparent chaos. Towers of different heights, vertical and horizontal sunshades, columns, glazing, paving and vegetation create varied rhythms that form a single ensemble without losing their individual character.
PROGRAM
The 58,000 m² complex completes the Legislative Assembly campus in San José, bringing historic and contemporary buildings together. The design grew out of a detailed study of the work of legislators and of every department, based on interviews with staff at all levels and on careful observation of how the public, the press and officials move through the process of law.
The first phase is the Legislators’ Office Building, at the western end of the complex and closest to the city center. Conceived as an urban landmark, its slender towers are visible from much of the city, welcoming the flows arriving from the capital and announcing the seat of the Legislative Branch, the First Power of the Republic.
The second phase integrates the Legislative Building with the Parliament. Committees, technical services, the library and the archive are organized along the natural flow of the legislative process, with differentiated access for the public, the press and legislators.
A large open canopy and protected plazas create a pedestrian public space for civic expression, a gradual transition between inside and outside, with adaptable security that allows peaceful interaction between citizens and their institutions. Passive tropical design strategies, including natural ventilation, daylight control, sun protection and vegetation, adapt the buildings to the climate and reduce their carbon footprint.
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