Hotel de la Region | Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura

Marking the end of the Antigone axis, having come right to the east bank of the river Lez, this administrative building was constructed as the seat of Government and the regional Parliament. As a building emblematic of the region and the culmination of a major civic axis, it needed to have an easily recognizable monumental form. It was therefore conceived as a glass-clad triumphal arch, 50 m (166’) in height, with a central opening of 12 m (40’). The two pillars of the arch house the vertical circulation and various offices. The bridge element accommodates the great hall, laid out on three levels, with a large central window in which the Parliament sits. The two columns of the west façade are in fact glazed galleries which provide views out over Antigone and the new axis of the river Lez towards Port Marianne.