Parliamentary Complex and 50 Ha masterplan

Winning international competition entry for the new Iraqi parliamentary complex and masterplan.

2013

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“A brave new vision for the country.” - The Guardian UK

"We selected as winner the entry that held the best promise to house the future parliament of a country with an ambition to create a genuinely open and participative democracy, in a city with one of the oldest urban civilisations." - Jury Chair Sunand Prasad, RIBA president

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The scheme is approached as urban design and not as one architectural object, with the majority of the complex formed as a pattern of streets (indoor and outdoor), green courtyards, key landmark buildings, and plazas.

The Council of Representatives and Federal Council buildings use the hemicycle geometric form, allowing multi-party coalitions as well as point address by visiting heads of state.

The proposed main circular building addresses its surroundings equally, with generous terraces behind monumental brise soleil where the public may look simultaneously down into the debating chambers and out across the city of Baghdad.