DISCOVERING THE BUILDING
One finds the building like a mineral shaped stone, almost as a tectonic event. One gets the feeling that this mass object belongs to that place, almost if it has been there forever, and forever it will be, in a glade surrounded by trees.
The first approach to the volume is involved in a kind of mystery that provokes wonder and curiosity. One feels attracted and seduced by its shapes, guided by curiosity and desire, to explore, to penetrate into the volume through the undulating gaps between the stone.
The experience takes the visitor through curved walls that reveal gradually the interior spaces, until reaching the core, shaped like a canyon void.
We designed the building not to be an obstacle in the park.
Therefore, we propose a permeable object, accessed by three different main strategic paths that cross the construction, in a fluid movement in the continuity of the park. The architectural gesture translates a respectful approach towards the site, also by not over imposing building high. We do not need to be more visible than the surrounding trees.
The building is a statement of a positive challenge, welcoming the visitor to the centre of the composition. The design offers an experience of scale, where the visitor can be surprised and self-conscious, by facing moments of the space. The dramatic scale can, at one time, mesmerize and reflect the human smallness, when facing something transcendentally significant (like when hearing a musical masterpiece). In other moments, the visitor can feel the opposite sensation, through a human related scale, where one can closely be embraced by space (like a comfortable caressing song).