LANDFORM                    BUILDING

Spains City of Culture - Peter Eisenman

(by Jawad Ramal)

 

The city of Culture in the Spanish city of Galacia, was commissioned by the Spanish government in an attempt to create a landmark that would serve as a major touristic destination for people around the world. For such a large project, naturally Peter Eisenman was selected in a competition to carry out this project due to the conceptual uniqueness and harmonious nature of his proposed design. The uniqueness of this design is represented in the selected images while also illustrated the many traits of a Landform building. Using the topography of the landscape in the Spanish province of Galacia, as inspiration for the design of the structure, represents the main characteristics of Landform buildings. The hill like roof structure is reminiscent of the surrounding landscape. At the buildings extremities the building falls into the ground making it resemble the landscape and also become part of it. However, an interesting component of this building is the contrast between the structures shape and the materials used. It offers an interesting interpretation of the relationship between the man and nature. The building it self is designed to be part of the land but also combines components of Human ingenuity such as the rock like out structure with the street like indents in the roofs represent the collision of the natural and the man made components of the province. With the combination human and natural aspects of the exterior, this design almost seems to question whether these to components exist. Generally speaking, when looking at the exterior, the indents strongly contrast the free flowing nature of the roof, raises the question of whether nature and urban spaces can co-exist. As of the overall shape of the buildings, there is no pattern in design. Each building is slightly different in size and are separated by intersecting pathways that run between the buildings. The only commonality between the buildings is their direct connection to the ground. In addition, from a positional sense, the structure looks over the city of Galacia and from its location at a higher ground it seems to give it s more dominant presence as a representative of the city. The interior of each building consists of open space and is a fine example of contemporary interior design with its white walls and use of lighting. The interior fits the function of this structure, as it consists of a library, art center, Music center, and a center for the preforming arts, all of which require large open spaces to accommodate tourists. In this specific design, there is a partial fluidity and connection between the exterior and interior parts of this structure. The way the roof drops into the ground allows for tourists to walk on parts of the structures exterior and makes use of the outside spaces. This structure adheres to some of the characteristics of a landform building, however there are many others that contribute to this branch of architecture. Landform buildings can also take inspiration from redundant patterns, shapes or even materials that are prevalent in a certain landscape. Finally from a financial perspective, this project is yet to be completed and has gone massively over budget. Peter Eisenman has drawn attention to its importance to the city of Galacia as a global landmark as justification for its growing price tag. A final point of emphasis, would be that Landform buildings do not necessarily have to be a sustainable as represented by the building above.