Peace Center
Bogotá, 2017 | Schematic Design | Unbuilt | 5.000 mt2 | Peace research center, historical archives of the Colombian peace process.
Design: Ramón Bermúdez
Design Team: Juan Camilo Ortegón, Laura Dorado, Santiago Salazar.
Urbanism: Trayectoria S.A. Zoila de Vita
Visualization: Santiago Salazar.
The peace process of the Colombian government with the FARC guerilla movement took over 5 years, during which an infinite number of documents, archives and videos were created, which deserve to be collected and preserved in a single place. With the Nobel Peace Prize granted to President Juan Manuel Santos, an exceptional opportunity presents itself to promote a place for the conservation and memory of the entire process.
Against this background, the vision of the project is to create a peace research center that contains the archives of the particular peace process, but also encourages peace studies about different places, contexts and moments in history. In association with the Escuela de Gobierno of the Universidad de Los Andes, the Presidency promoted a preliminary study to evaluate the viability of such an undertaking.
The site chosen for the project was a magnificent corner plot owned by the government, located in one of the most appreciated boroughs of the city. An open L-shaped building volume was proposed, that consolidated the facades of the adjacent constructions and embraced a generous public space in a traditionally closed urban block. A solemn, two-story colonnade with a timeless character, serves as the background of the public plaza and as a transitional area preceding the interior spaces. The project covered a peace interpretation center, the complete archives of the peace process, an extensive study and reading area for the specialized researcher and an auditorium to host related events, besides a restaurant, shop and administrative areas.