Our design arose from the notion of building shade in the desert by means of a contemporary reinterpretation of the significant types and shapes provided by history.
The design, which was awarded first prize in the competition called for construction of premises in Antofagasta for the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Justice, stands facing the harbor, on a triangular plot along the seafront. Located at the right angle of the triangular site, the project proposed a solid stone cube hollow at its center, to provide at this space shelter and shadow.
From this opeation came a natural split of the two government agencies into two different buildings, given the lack of strong functional links between them. This gave rise to a organizational strategy where the creation of a meaningful public space for the city was reiforced by the buildings party itself.
The latter are joined at the cornice level by a galvanized steel roof that graduates the sunlight and provides an intermediate space favorable to repose. The entrances to this hall are intended to enhace urban hierarchies: the most significant one faces north and connects with the rest of the city and the future development along the seafront. Each entrance faces a specially designed open square, one animated by a fountain that hepls refresh the enviorment, the other with palm trees.
The specific building location enables both entrances to be seen from the diagonal course of the seafront, and a foreshortened view of the whole is posible from the distance.
