LANDFORM                    BUILDING

Kursaal Congress Centre and Auditorium

San Sebastián, Spain

 

The two prismatic structures of Kursaal act as a chameleon — they become one with the natural environment they are surrounded by. During the day, they are but two of the countless jutting rocks across the site. When the tide comes in and night falls, they are the moon. When experienced from inside, they are the night sky.

 

As a contemporary movement, Landform Building features a shift to geological form. Architecture’s traditional markers of scale are absent in these projects— the sites chosen in this gallery had demanded something more geological than architectural. Here Rafael Moneo has uncovered nature, recognizing and revealing the site‘s presence. The distinction between figure and ground has collapsed — this is Landform Building in its simplest form. [2]