Provocative structure studio Reverse Workplace designed the Castillo Congresso wall to encompass Brasília’s Nationwide Congress and rework the Oscar Niemeyer-designed constructing right into a “fortress to guard democracy.”
The studio designed the wall as a “response to the storming of Brazil’s Nationwide Congress in Brasilia by supporters of President-elect Bolsonaro,” it mentioned.
Earlier this week, Bolsonaro supporters rioted in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, destroying the enduring Oscar Niemeyer-designed buildings of the Nationwide Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Supreme Courtroom, as they demanded the ouster of Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , referred to as Lula.
![Wall designed to surround the Oscar Niemeyer buildings in Brasilia](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2023/01/castillo-congresso-by-opposite-office-wall-brasilia_dezeen_2364_col_1-852x595.jpg)
To stop this from taking place once more, the Reverse Workplace designed the Castillo Congresso wall. The mission is anticipated to rework Brazil’s Nationwide Congress constructing right into a “fortress to guard democracy,” in a mission the studio described as “dystopian.”
A stable, 1.5-meter-thick wall manufactured from recycled bricks would encompass the constructing, which was designed by Brazilian architect Niemeyer and accomplished in 1960.
The studio designed the wall with geometric shapes primarily based on Niemeyer’s constructing designs, though Reverse Workplace architect Benedikt Hartl mentioned the Brazilian architect won’t have favored it.
“After all, we as Reverse Workplace are conscious that accessing an architectural icon like Niemeyer’s work could be very troublesome and delicate,” he informed Dezeen.
“In all probability even Oscar Niemeyer wouldn’t agree with this design. Typically, we tried to design as sensitively as potential, however it is usually clear that a stable wall, a protecting wall, may have a sure presence,” he added.
“Safety will not be free! If we fail to resolve the issue of dividing society, we’ve got to construct partitions and we can not take sensitivities under consideration.”
![The wall of the Castle of Congress in Brasilia, next to the office opposite](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2023/01/castillo-congresso-by-opposite-office-wall-brasilia_dezeen_2364_col_0-852x1278.jpg)
The Castillo Congresso design is a follow-up to the Capitol Fortress, which Reverse Workplace launched in January 2021 after the constructing was invaded by Donald Trump supporters.
The studio recommended that Castillo Congresso could possibly be seen as a “recycling mission”, utilizing the identical brick design as that of the Capitol Fortress mission.
“After all we needed to regulate the design relying on the constructing, however our wall is a modular system, consisting of various geometric shapes,” mentioned Hartl.
“We now have triangular, round and straight components. The Capitol and the Congresso are fairly comparable in form and circumference. The Capitol is about 230 x 107 meters, barely bigger than the Congresso, which is about 200 x 75 meters,” he added.
“For the Castillo Congresso mission in Brasilia, we tried to reuse all components of the Capitol Fortress wall. In line with the general look of the constructing, we solely needed to change the association just a little.”
![View of the National Congress building surrounded by the Castillo Congresso wall](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2023/01/castillo-congresso-by-opposite-office-wall-brasilia_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x568.jpg)
Having initially designed the wall to guard the US Capitol constructing, the studio believes that seeing historical past repeat itself is a testomony to how divided the world has develop into.
“Initially, it would not say something good concerning the state of our political system,” Hartl mentioned.
“In lots of international locations, society appears to be divided into two components which might be drifting additional aside, as an alternative of becoming a member of fingers,” he added.
“So once we see comparable issues taking place world wide, every part turns into polarized, opinions develop into increasingly excessive, we should always actually attempt to work on options that carry folks collectively.”
Different speculative Reverse Workplace initiatives embody a proposal to show the Nord Stream gasoline pipeline right into a website for worldwide cooperation and to show Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport right into a super-hospital.