Ágora Tech Park

2nd Place – National Architecture Competition

In an urban context as distinct as it is inhospitable, a new agora must create, from within itself, the locus for a possible and future citizenship in a public realm still in its infancy. This potential citizenship is not expressed through deep ideals of political representation but rather as a contemporary locus of urbanity that is necessary for the hub intended to be established on the isolated campus. This urbanity is urgently needed, given the activities of storage and logistics that are currently more occupied by machines than by human beings. Therefore, the space proposed by this Occupation Plan is a shared space, more etymologically connected to the idea of the res publica, in contrast to the non-place created by closed warehouses arranged according to principles of efficiency and economy.

Although the space is private and access is controlled, the goal is to anchor creative and speculative activities at the back of the campus, capable of generating an ecosystem of companies and fostering small revolutions or emergencies—disruptions within an environment of healthy cooperation and interaction. Thus, it is necessary to recreate the territory and its connections, starting from its most significant element: its landscape with an open horizon, mediated by the remaining Atlantic Forest that penetrates the area designated by this Occupation Plan. Although the removal of this forest remnant was indicated as a possibility in the competition guidelines, it has been ruled out. Instead, its preservation becomes a “non-negotiable clause” of the plan, forming its first and foremost strategy.

From this, three zones emerge in a hierarchy: Remnant Forest Zone: Characterized by the necessary and rigorous preservation of native forest, with the possibility of intensive use by Agora users. Interventions will be low-impact, discreet, and dedicated to pedestrian use, allowing for small facilities for maintenance, monitoring, and observation of this zone.

Buffer Zone: A transition zone between the native biome and the designed landscape that will encompass the entire site. This zone will consist primarily of trees and shrubs from the Atlantic Forest that can survive in isolation and more sparse configurations, in the style of a park. Aedificandi Zone: Characterized by autonomous and deliberately disconnected building zones, each with its own construction parameters.

The buffer zone’s primary function is to lead toward covered and uncovered patios, pilotis, and open lawns for gathering—whether for moments of leisure and celebration or for teaching, research, and collective co-creation meetings, as well as workshops that can leverage this connection with the landscape as a way to stimulate holistic and complex thinking.