Architectural Competition·2023·walk.office·Rae, Estonia

Blurring Limits.

A competition entry for the new municipal building of Rae, Estonia, awarded with a special mention and dedicated prize. Developed in collaboration with walk.office, the Barcelona-based studio led by Pedro Arroyo and Marta Blanco. The proposal dissolves the boundary between civic institution and public space: a permeable structure raised over the plaza, designed to function as one more fragment of the city rather than a closed building.

Blurring Limits — elevated volume over public plaza, Rae Estonia
Ground level — open civic threshold Pergola structure and urban continuity

Ground level: a permeable civic threshold continuous with the plaza

The building sits without a clear edge, diffuse and never intended as a barrier. Its ground floor is left entirely open, a covered extension of the square below. Above, a timber structure wraps a double skin of recycled textile modules, and the green space displaced by the footprint is returned to the roof. The visualization tried to hold the same quality as the architecture: never quite inside, never quite out.

Interior view — civic program and natural light Roof landscape and green strategy

Interior program and roof landscape: institution meeting nature

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