Page 20 - Court: The Place of Law and the Space of the City

20 Court

1 2
1 & 2

A ubiquitous detail wraps all
facades evenly - the negation of
an ‘entrance’ or ‘exit’, ‘front’
or ‘back’.

3 4
3 & 4

Each block twists to defy
recognition of a singular point
of inflection, or ‘face’.
Decentralised and without
axial relations, it is a model of
‘deferral’.

5 6
5 & 6

The Court is built upon
precedent - a body of Literature
to which individual cases refer,
and are referred; the Case
Records form an aggregate of
social histories.

7 8
7 & 8

Neutral and homogenous
facades assert that the Court
belongs not to its locality, but
to a realm ‘beyond’; the
transcendent body of the Law.

9 10
9 & 10

Constructed upon a tabula
rasa; its scale, expression, and
orientation, implies the
declaration of a new city - a
city ‘outside’.

Deconstructing the City of Justice, Barcelona
Figure 12: Elements and symbols of the City of Justice.