THE HAGUE | International Criminal Court

[stevendh]

The International Criminal Court was established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. As of November 2008, 108 states are members of the Court. (Wikipedia)

Currently the court has temporary accommodation in a suburb of The Hague.

An international architectural competition was held this year for the design of the new headquarters of the ICC, which includes courtrooms, rooms for the press, rooms for the prosecutors, etc.

A location was chosen close to the dunes and the prison of Scheveningen, where suspects are also currently held, among others for the tribunal for former Yugoslavia. It takes 10 minutes by car to get from this new court to the International Court of Justice in the Peace Palace.

The court is expected to increase the international reputation of The Hague as world capital of justice.

The winners of the competition were announced yesterday. There were 3 winners:

1. Ingenhoven Architects, Düsseldorf, Germany
2. Schmidt Hammer Lassen / Bosch & Fjord, Århus, Denmark
3. Wiel Arets Architects & Associates, Maastricht, The Netherlands



Ingenhoven Architects, Düsseldorf, Germany



Schmidt Hammer Lassen / Bosch & Fjord, Århus, Denmark



Wiel Arets Architects & Associates B.V., Maastricht, The Netherlands



Other candidates, which did not make it, were:

Architectus Australasia (identical with Architectus Brisbane), Auckland, New Zealand




Chipperfield Architects Ltd, London, UK




Claus en Kaan Architecten, Rotterdam, The Netherlands




Larsen Architects A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark




JLCG arquitectos, Ida, Lisboa, Portugal




Kuma, Tokyo, Japan




Mangado y Asociados S.L., Pamplona, Spain




Mecanoo architecten, Delft, The Netherlands




Moshe Safdie & Associates, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA




Neutelings Riedijk Architecten bv, Rotterdam, The Netherlands




Nikken Sekkei Ltd., Tokyo, Japan




OMA Stedebouw b.v. / SeARCH b.v., Rotterdam, The Netherlands




Sauerbruch Hutton GmbH, Berlin, Germany




Springall + Lira / BGP aruitectura, México DF, México




Stein Halvorsen as / ARCASA AS, Oslo, Norway


Xaveer de Geyter Architects, Brussels, Belgium




In the next few months discussions will be held with all 3 winners. After this a final architect will be appointed.

I wouldn't be surprised if you'll see some of these rejected designs end up somewhere else. Some of them are also really nice!

Source: ICC

[Fab 5]

Thanks for posting this thread!

Is it just me, or does it seem as if they are clearly opting for the more conservative proposals?!?

Henning Larsen Architects' proposal is awesome IMO.

[skytrax]

I like that from Copenhagen and Mexico!

[Darch]

Thanks for starting this thread!
Any more pics, anyone?

[Beholder]

ICC reveals new building design
Danish architectural bureau to build ICC

* Published: 08 March 2010
* Modified: 09 March 2010

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on 8 March revealed the design for its permanent premises after signing the contract for the development of the new building with a Danish architectural firm. The new ICC headquarters in The Hague is expected to be completed by 2015.

image hosted on flickr


Last year three winning architects were chosen by an international jury from a total of 171 applications. The design of schmidt hammer lassen of Århus, Denmark, met all the ICC criteria, such as design, sustainability, functionality and costs.

Integration into the landscape
According to the jury report, the sculptural composition of square buildings will make a very impressive and interesting architectural gesture and a great contribution to the city with an attractive integration into the landscape.

image hosted on flickr


'The selected design shows a safe place that captures the ICC’s core values of justice, independence, universality, diversity and transparency. A building incorporating these values and at the same time melting into the natural environment transmits the feeling of harmony and peace.' said ICC Registrar Silvana Arbia during a press conference. The Registrar signed the contract on behalf of the Court. The ICC will continue occupying the interim premises until the new headquarters is finished.

Landmark
Located close the North Sea, the new Court will be situated between the natural rolling dunes landscape and the edge of The Hague on the 72,000 m2 site of the Alexanderkazerne on the Van Alkemadelaan. The main design concept centres on the sculptural arrangement of buildings in the landscape and a landmark that will convey the eminence and authority of the ICC while at the same time relating to human scale. The overall building form can be seen as an undulating composition of volumes on the horizon, reminiscent of the dune landscape.

image hosted on flickr


'Faith in justice'
The new premises consist of a courtroom tower and five office buildings, with a public area on the ground floor with gardens and a mirror pool. The architect has put much effort in the sustainability and urban integration of the new premises.

'It was evident that connecting the dune landscape with the edge of the city had a striking potential. By designing a compact building with a small footprint, we propose to return the landscape to the city,' said Bjarne Hammer, founding partner and creative director of schmidt hammer lassen architects. He continued, 'To the victims, to their families and to the world, the ICC building must communicate respect, trust, hope and most importantly, a faith in justice. This building cannot be anonymous; it must have the courage to express the values and the credibility of the ICC.'

image hosted on flickr


Funding
The States Parties to the Rome Statute will jointly fund the project. The Netherlands, as host State, offered the use of this land together with a loan and an architectural competition.

The completion of the design in all its details is expected to be achieved in 2012, after which construction will start. According to the plans the building will be ready in 2015 for the ICC to move into.

About the ICC
The International Criminal Court is the only permanent international court established with the mission to help put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes.

Now that the architectural competition has been completed, the Netherlands has fulfilled its duties as host country: providing a site, a loan and an international architectural competition.

Text: www.denhaag.nl
Pictures: ©ICC-CPI

[Beholder]

Additional images and video:

Originally Posted by Marin

(schmidt hammer lassen architects)

Originally Posted by mlm

According to DR News, Danish "Schmidt Hammer Lassen" has won the new International Criminal Court in The Hague. It will be announced offically tomorrow.


© Schmidt Hammer Lassen

YouTube video from Schmidt Hammer Lassen

[IRaven]

it`s interesting, where will be criminals contain?

[Beholder]

In the United Nations Detention Unit (UNDU), which is part of the Scheveningen prison:
image hosted on flickr

Source: Neitram Hoever.

[Wey]

Precious!

Seems medieval, am I right??

[ikops]

No, it's from a much later period. It was built between 1882 and 1911.


Only the gate is from this period. The rest has been broken down or renovated.

[tanklv]

Great design.

I wonder how soon we can send bush* & cheney and the rest of the WAR CRIMINALS there!

One can only hope and pray that JUSTICE will finally be done - I don't care if they have to dig up their stinking corpses to do it post mortem...

[Ramses]

^Please don't involve politics in this topic. This topic is only about the architecture of the new ICC.


Nice design. I hope the building will be visible from the road