La Rioja Courthouse
The project arises from a double situation, on the one hand must be understood as a useful, economic and accurate construction according to restrictive conditions that respond to a very precise program; Another must respond to its status as "Palace", with the commitment that this type of buildings has with the citizen as a representation of one of the public powers of the State. In its interior must govern the equity, the responsibility and, to some extent, the truth. How to make compatible one with the other? How to combine utility with representation, economy with meaning, efficiency with identification?
For this we use the old building that already existed in the plot as a tool of character. Its reuse brings to the whole the psychological "stability" of what has remained over time in the face of the "insecurity" generated by a new building. This pavilion is emptied completely to transform it in the public place, in the great door of the "Palace", in the really significant space of the whole. And this allows the new constructions to be conceived, on the contrary, from strict conditions of economy and functionality.
The size of the intervention has been exploited as an opportunity to resolve the "ill-resolved wounds" that our accelerated urban development process always entails. The work on the tight building has been reflected in the search for the largest possible public space, creating a new urban hall that oxygenates the dense residential fabric of the environment.
A large plant wrap unifies the four new buildings in a single volume. We pretend that this light element acts as mediator between the functionality of the proposal and the urban conflicts that such action generates. "Wrapping content in leaves", that would be the most direct explanation of our attitude, and this vegetal veil allows the elimination of direct views of the courts from the street, improving the creation of shade and refreshment spaces for the building.
