Description (eng)
New Parliamentary Assembly for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Looking at all 193 parliamentary assemblies, the most common typologies are temple, dome and Pantheon. These three typologies were initially houses for gods and therefore a signifier for power. Their civic expression is oneness which can either refer to a single person, party or a unified nation. The oneness gets expressed by the appearance of the building as well as the one monumental entrance. Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of three ethnicities, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. All are permanently represented in the government. Therefore the project proposes a parliamentary assembly which expresses three-ness.
Three clusters of objects share a common façade and the roof, which allows them to stay individual while getting unified. The project aims to be contextually conscious, but being different at the same time. Negotiating between the surrounding typologies, house, block and tower, ties the project to the site, while the form distinguishes it from the rest of the city. When approaching the assembly, all users have to decide between three entrances. All of them lead into the colonnade space, where everybody gets mixed up. From there, politicians go up the escalators into the lower and upper house or the council of ministers. Journalist and politically engaged civilians enter the slab on ground level. A network of paths reconnects specific users on the upper levels.
The plenary hall design defines the spatial and political relation between the leadership and all representatives, between the various parties as well as between politicians, press and citizens. Looking at all 193 plenary halls, one can distinguish five seating arrangements: class room, opposing benches, horse shoe, semi-circle and circle. Till today, every arrangement still has an identifiable hierarchy. One can identify the leadership while representatives get grouped according to their party affiliation. The circular seating arrangement proposed in the project for the plenary hall is broken up into smaller patches. The patches get shuffled and therefore break up large unified groups of people. Speakers occupy the center temporarily and can no longer address a distinct group of people. A dome like ceiling is used in democracies to unify all representatives of various parties. A temple like ceiling is used to direct the space towards the leadership in one party systems and dictatorships. I propose a patched roof of three different kinds of patches which are defined by the differentiation of the plenary hall ́s plan.
The clusters and slab provide functionally very specific spaces whereas the space in between is vast and generic. Like the agora, it allows all users to interact, gather and debate. An informal place for interchange.