1st place national architecture competition
Deployment and General Concept
Designed to represent the municipality's centrality while simultaneously symbolizing the new territorial structure, Várzea Paulista's Municipal Palace aims to make its presence unmistakably known. The civic space, characterized as a meeting plaza, was conceived considering its strategic location within the urban context, visible and prominent from the elevated areas of the surroundings, and noticeable from all directions at pedestrian level, serving as an unmistakable point of orientation. The deployment strategy is a direct result of the natural flows experienced daily by those who heavily use this central area, with strong attractions that feed into the public space, such as the Municipal Palace itself, the railway terminal, the urban bus terminal, the shopping center, all defined and directed by the street structure, the elevated road, and surrounding avenues. A strong north-south axis is evident in the proposal, aligned with Eduardo de Castro Filho Avenue, leaving pedestrian traffic free to flow to Ipiranga Avenue, near the bus terminal, favoring future connections between the Municipal Palace and the North Zone Urban Project, linking both sides of the city fabric. The design of the urban ground, or its redesign, aligns with the direction of these roads, accommodating the parts of the program more related to daily citizen support services, easily accessible and without interference with specific areas of public administration, shaping the plaza as a whole, minimizing the impact of secondary buildings, leaving the user and the generous space to play the leading roles.
From the plaza, defined by predominantly horizontal spaces and lines, emerges the tower, a landmark and symbol, in response to a convergence of collective demands, simple yet treated with the firmness and austerity necessary for the civic character of the space. Housing the Executive Secretariats, City Hall, and Vice Mayor's offices, this shaft expresses the administrative spaces befitting the desired centrality, hence the choice of a predominantly vertical element, contrasting with the horizontality of the other sectors composing the plaza, closer to the language of the immediate surroundings. Arranged on two levels, this spacious area capable of hosting a large audience for concerts, orchestras, and events features a stage elevated four meters high, configured by the upper slab that surrounds and defines the orthogonality of the plaza.
Modenatura with a Focus on Environmental Comfort
The orientation of the buildings within the built space aimed to find the best situations concerning solar exposure, ensuring that the necessary protections for achieving optimal comfort are only skins capable of reducing heat and maintaining natural lighting in indoor spaces, significantly reducing the need for artificial lighting. Energy efficiency was sought through the correct placement of openings, pergolas, and balconies, as well as the positioning of the vertical circulation tower to the west in the main executive building.
Modenatura, therefore, seen as the particular way of treating each part of the ensemble in a plastic manner, is viewed here as an integral and inseparable part of the overall proposal, including the insertion of the already designed theater, adapting it to this new context so that it seamlessly belongs to this setting. Just as the main tower of the complex is clad in a thin metal mesh, we decided to treat the theater with a similar enclosure. We reserved the rear area of the theater for performances, rehearsals, backstage, and given the proximity of the restrooms near the cafeteria, they could also serve as dressing rooms during rehearsals and various presentations.
Program Distribution
The main tower, located in the northern portion of the site, housing the executive and legislative secretariats while occupying a small footprint, opens up space at its base for a large civic plaza, configured to the east by a well-defined north-south axis, containing easily accessible services such as banks, pro-consumer agencies, legal assistance, health, and workplace safety, all on the ground level and facing the large public esplanade on the site. Similarly, positioned on the southern face of this plaza, we have the theater and cafeteria, connected by a large veranda that links to the service sectors, creating a grand integration foyer.
Above the service sector and in an area with lower noise levels, we placed a suspended block housing the library and telecenter, with direct access from the plateau connected to the viaduct at the eastern end of the complex.
Environmental Compensation
Since the site is at a lower elevation in the city's topography, we aimed to maintain the existing natural levels and even raise certain points to block rainwater runoff, especially from the current access via Fernão Dias Paes Leme Avenue. Drainage for open areas will be through elevated concrete floors, permeated by strips of grass and pebbles, capturing, treating, and reusing graywater for general cleaning and garden maintenance. Any significant vegetation that needs to be removed for the complex's implementation will be appropriately compensated for or replanted in strategic locations as an integral part of the overall landscape proposal.
