An award-winning architectural project, Costa Rica congress hall in san Jose fell under the category of the experimental architectural project and won the World architecture festival award in 2016. The entry was sent by a well-known firm of innovators named CAZA, (CARLOS ARNAIZ ARCHITECTS) a Brooklyn-based studio, which has an optimistic eye by keeping the historical values alive and transforming the material culture to bring a social expression in the frame.
The project was not just a contextual approach towards the political expression of the city but it is a wonder of structural stability, imposing green and creating a juxtaposition impression to the city.
San Jose, a home for cultural institutions is the capital of Costa Rica, is a country known for its beaches, volcanoes, and biodiversity. Congress hall is a building that caters to the need for political gatherings and meetings to take place, a public realm to have a sense of unitedness, and to celebrate the public gatherings.
The design of the building was based on the concept of hypercubes connected to transfer the loads and become structurally stronger. Hypercube structures are based on the theory of interconnected nodes, which support each other to bring stability to the structure. The theory that works behind hypercube’s stability is interdependent stability, linking of the nodes, following the N=2n processor interconnected in the n-dimensional binary cube. In this theory, each node is assigned with another one to be linked in such a manner that the location of two adjacent nodes differs in exactly a single numerical position.
These hypercubes are cast in concrete and cladding with steel louvers. The firm explains that these hypercubes don’t only give the stability to the structure but, ‘demonstrates the precarious role of public buildings in today’s wide-angled democratic environment’
This congress hall with an outstanding example of architecture represents this field as a host of public gatherings and a place to celebrate the natural beauty around. These cube structures also cater to the naturally grown flora and fauna around and have used the terraces as a verdant landscape. Giving a glimpse of tropical modernism in south America this project brings new meaning to public meetings. The hanging gardens represent the myriad political perspective of costa-Rica. Placing this kind of architecture other than in an eco-touristic capital of the country would have been a blunder but in San Jose, this structure will become a landmark to define the imageability of the city.
There hasn’t been much information out by the Brooklyn based award-winning firm CAZA. But the images provided can be analyzed as an outstanding example of architecture, celebrating people, life, and their surroundings. Making the place unique by its unique architectural style, awarding it a new meaning through the political perspective of the country, conserving the natural greenery in the exterior, and making it a more inviting place. This congress hall will bring a new side of sustainability, conserving the character of the country by introducing ecological fantasies.
References:
- https://cazarch.com/about/
- https://cazarch.com/project/costa-rica-congress-hall/
- https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/hypercube-interconnection/
- https://www.modlar.com/news/210/how-tropical-modernism-is-making-its-mark-on-architecture/#:~:text=Tropical%20Modernism%20is%20known%20for,where%20did%20it%20derive%20from%3F
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/001632879090047L
