The identity of ‘Ministry’ reinterpreted as an entity that mediates the public and the government while presenting an optimistic future. Buildings do not last long in the rainforest. Regardless, as a series of pedestrian bridges and a gateway to Libreville, the building serves as the link between park systems and established neighborhoods and will remain a useful part of the built fabric instead of a privatized workplace.
Gabon contains some of the most incredible untouched natural ecosystems on the planet. Because of the scarcity of tourists and means of ecotourism within the country, very few people have ever experienced or have knowledge of these parks.
Even though the national park system was a positive stance on protecting Gabon's natural resources, statistics show that measures taken to protect the forest elephant population are not enough. It is estimated that they will become extinct within the next decade unless drastic measures are taken to prevent this tragedy to occur. Opposing the privatized park system to the north, the site proposes the first large public park in Libreville.
The project sites itself as this link connecting the busiest night life district and revitalized neighborhood park in the north, the largest beach front in the city to the south, and establishes the cities first large public plaza and recreation fields adjacent to the new building.
PROGRAM: Park Management, Park Education, Park Training
CONTEXT: Libreville, Gabon, Africa
CRITIC: Dan Wood
Because of the straddling of the forces of the city at this critical juncture, the GBN building absorbs the landscape and facilities of the beach and the energy of the public plaza.
