City Hall The Hague

With its 150.000 m² this building would have been one of the largest projects in recent European memory, by definition a radical break with the scale of the old city. The site has the form of a triangle, north and west façade align with the urban traffic system, to the south a pedestrian area. The building itself, in the form of a rectangle, is concentrated on the north edge, thus leaving a – sunken – triangular plaza that forms a cultural complex with the concert hall and the Netherlands Dance Theatre, and relates to the elevated plaza in front of the hotel. Con sus 150.000 m², este edificio habría sido uno de los proyectos más grandes en la memoria europea reciente, por definición, una ruptura radical con la escala de la ciudad vieja. La parcela tiene la forma de un triángulo, las fachadas norte y oeste se alinean con el sistema de tráfico urbano, al sur una zona peatonal. El edificio en sí, en forma de rectángulo, se concentra en el borde norte, dejando así una plaza triangular hundida que forma un complejo cultural con la sala de conciertos y el Teatro de Danza de los Países Bajos, y se relaciona con la plaza elevada frente a el hotel. Located on the ‘fault line' between the historical city and the 70-ties redevelopment area, the building is a composition of three parallel slabs, with various silhouettes punched out to reduce the overall effect of the colossal mass and to respond to different contextual conditions. In the lower part, sections of the middle slab are left out to create voids that coincide with the library. A concourse along the north façade connects the public desks of city administration. The assembly hall hovers over the public entrance.