New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos

New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 2 of 20New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Exterior PhotographyNew City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 4 of 20New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 5 of 20New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - More Images+ 15

  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  2700
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2016
  • Photographs
    Photographs:Felipe Fontecilla
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Cordova
  • Lead Architects: Loreto Lyon, Alejandro Beals
  • Design Team: Philip Zurman, Alessandra Dal Mos, Claudio Viñuela, Daniel Iragüen
  • Clients: Municipalidad de Nancagua
  • Engineering: B y B Ingeniería
  • Landscaping: Beals Lyon Arquitectos
  • Additional Area: 4.500 m2 of public square
  • City: Nancagua
  • Country: Chile
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New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 6 of 20
© Felipe Fontecilla

Text description provided by the architects. The new City Hall in Nancagua, a small rural town in Central Chile, aims to create a space able to accommodate various public situations and events. Because of its location, close to an old public park and to several historical buildings, it also makes possible the recovery and enhancement of the local heritage, both natural and manmade. The project, winner of a public competition, focuses not on the construction of an iconic volume, but rather on the creation of a memorable and public void that effectively connects the city with the valuable, but previously overlooked the public park.

New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Exterior Photography, Fence, Garden
© Felipe Fontecilla
New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 15 of 20
Ground Floor Plan
New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 12 of 20
© Felipe Fontecilla

As with other spaces with a high civic spirit, like the agora of Assos in Greece or the Piazza San Marco in Venice, the project emphasizes the construction of a void over the construction of isolated buildings. Spaces with a public void are created and “charged” so that it becomes a catalyst for public life. In order to connect the city with the park, we propose an open square that links the city with the park, limited on its two longer sides (north and south) by the new municipal building. The square, non-existent in the competition brief, becomes the center of the project. An urban void that allows for a wide range of unexpected situations and events to happen, whether individual or collective.

New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 2 of 20
© Felipe Fontecilla

The project builds a connection between the two other ends of the square, which face completely different realities, reacting accordingly to both of them: while to the street it creates a void corner which opens the city, it builds a portico and a step that rises over the park. These two thresholds work together, effectively connecting the city with the park in a gradual and continuous sequence. Thus, we hope to revert the derelict condition of the centennial park, making it appear and bringing it closer to the city.

New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 4 of 20
© Felipe Fontecilla

Galleries formed by a regular colonnade, which takes its size and materiality from the galleries of the former patronal house of the park, and which was formerly used as the city’s town hall, is what defines and unifies the main central space. At the same time, but on a smaller scale –more domestic as it were- is in these galleries where the daily life will take place, hiding all that could happen in an unforeseeable and uncontrollable way with the building behind.

New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 9 of 20
© Felipe Fontecilla
New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 17 of 20
Sections
New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos - Image 8 of 20
© Felipe Fontecilla

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Project location

Address:Nancagua, Libertador Gral. Bernardo O’Higgins Region, Chile

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos" [Nueva Municipalidad de Nancagua / Beals Lyon Arquitectos] 12 Jul 2019. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/920880/new-city-hall-in-nancagua-beals-lyon-arquitectos> ISSN 0719-8884

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