The late, great British architect Richard Rogers once said that “Architecture is always political.” Few buildings embody that idea more than the UN’s new visitor centre, the Portail des Nations (Portal of Nations) in Geneva. The building, which opened to the public in June, has been designed to welcome some 200,000 visitors each year into a microcosmic utopia of the UN’s own design: a threshold between Geneva and the world of international diplomacy.
Designed by Swiss firm Charles Pictet et Baptiste Broillet Architectes Associés, the Portail is located just beyond the Allée des Drapeaux (Alley of Flags), leading to the Palais des Nations, the UN’s main building. Visitors enter the Portail through a central courtyard Agora – a reference to the Grecian origins of democracy – that connects three pavilions housing immersive installations dedicated to the international organisation’s work. The installations invite visitors to imagine working collaboratively towards the greater good. It’s an idealistic yet somewhat ironic proposition given that international co-operation is in increasingly short supply.
