Plaza de las Artes

Overview

Plaza de las Artes sits at an intersection that San José built up in layers. Facing the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, where Calle 9 crosses Avenida 4, three existing public spaces were pedestrianized to form a 56 by 63 meter quadrant. Calle 9 is the Paseo de los Estudiantes, named after the 1919 demonstrations against the Tinoco dictatorship. The project names the quadrant, ties it together and gives it character.

Each element of the program has a precise reference. The 14 yellow cortez trees in black planter benches emphasize the urban axes. The 10 diagonal benches respond to actual pedestrian flows. The six urban kites along the Avenida 4 axis provide shade and direct the eye toward the church. The floor tiles carry the colors of the Colegio Superior de Señoritas and the Liceo de Costa Rica (blue, white, black and gray) as a tribute to the students who shaped Costa Rican democracy.

The canopy to the north, centered on the Calle 9 axis, reaches a height of 8 meters, crowns the entrance and represents the student and the teacher. Together with the Plaza de la Cultura, the Plaza de la Democracia and the Plaza de las Garantías Sociales (barely 50 meters to the west), Plaza de las Artes forms a system of urban focal points that strengthens the civic scale of downtown San José.