V&J
The Clients, one of the oldest and most prestigious construction companies in Costa Rica, requested an extension in a corner lot next to their buildings of more than 40 years, the remodeling of the latter, and a new integral interior design.
They wanted a building that expressed strength and novelty to symbolize its corporate structure formed by three original founders and five younger partners.
The building consists of: a "solid base", with a skin of locally made concrete tiles, and a "light box", a ventilated façade with pre-patinated "green" copper skin, made of 95% recycled copper, material that "thrives" in difficult climates, especially in the tropics, and that will not require maintenance. It is an excellent material for our tropical climate since its continuous patination process is accelerated by constant exposure to rain and sun. The "box" of light copper skin is framed with edges, flashing and steel profiles flashing.
We oppose facades with large glazed areas in buildings in our latitude, because they are anti-tropical. We designed windows that frame views and introduce the necessary natural lighting. These volumes of windows are projected to decompose the box and to produce chiaroscuro, and thus emphasize shade and shadows on the surfaces.
It is a silent building that does not create a "fuss" in the city; a building that, now, seems to be a "protagonist", but in the future, it will become a "backdrop" supporting public spaces, sidewalks and streets, in short the urban canyon.
It also responds to necessary urban images in a city where the sensitive urban landscape is disappearing rapidly.
The building also responds to much needed urban imagery in a city where sound cityscape is fast disappearing. This building hugs the street giving strong support to the urban “canyon.”
We are convinced that architecture in Costa Rica, and elsewhere, must seek new paths, especially in the less developing world and with younger and less developed architectural culture. Architecture must be "here and now", without allegiance to any "cult", including the decadent and dogmatic, and almost 100 years old, Modern Movement, that has no real application at the moment and, much less, in places like Costa Rica.
The obstinate beliefs emerging from the Modern Movement equalize values throughout the world, among them "universal aesthetic commandments", usually wrong because places and cultures, although subject to "globalization", are unique and have special requirements, even beyond the aesthetic ones, from which architecture must emerge. Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas said some time ago that "architecture demands more Ethics and less Aesthetics", not altogether bad in our opinion, but we believe that "more Ethics and more Aesthetics with Ethics" is more necessary in our latitude.
The building shows solidity, maturity, like V & J, but also novelty, like the new V & J team.
The most important thing is to contribute to the development of a better urban landscape and, therefore, to the "experiential landscape". The design is "modern", in part, out of respect for the formal expressions of the existing V & J buildings, from which we drew yarns to weave the new one, because we thought it was more important to generate harmony between them than to implement a contrasting design.
WA AWARD
Van der Laat & Jiménez Headquarters Building designed by Álvaro Rojas/Fournier_Rojas ARQUITECTOS, in Costa Rica, won the WA Award Fifth Cycle.
