City of Justice
Barcelona ES
b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos
David Chipperfield Architects
2009
Type
Institutional
Tags
public spaces, urban function, new urban developments, Spain ccc
Visitability
Visible from the street
Description
The project centralises most of the justice departments of Barcelona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. The project’s most significant proposal was to fragment the ambitious plan - a total built surface of 232,369 m² - into a series of separate but interconnected buildings, which are laid out over a space intended to be a public square. The proposal aimed to balance the different relationships between work areas, public areas and the landscape. The buildings appear as measured blocks, with load-bearing facades of coloured, reinforced concrete, each one in a different colour. The atrium became the main public space of the complex and acts as a feeder and access filter for the judicial offices. (Description provided by the architects)