28 DIGS.NET
| 2.10.23
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P R O F I L E | Á LVA R O S I Z A A N D C A R L O S C A S TA N H E I R A
space, light, shade, time, and also, what
is before and what is beyond," Castanheira
continues. His poetic assessment of the
space includes an interior where "we
look for our own internal, personal infinity."
Short or lingering, one look is all it takes to
concede the point.
As much a work to showcase art—includ-
ing a few pieces by Siza—as it is a work
of art itself, the pavilion is, as Castanheira
suggested, essentially sculpture. Wrapped
in light and pure of form, it is startling in
its neatness and thoroughly immersive,
a concrete canvas in a trance-like state
that one quickly adopts as they meander
through the building, taking note of details
ranging from wood and painted alumin-
ium doors, to stainless steel hardware, to
humble oak wood benches, to stunning
marble sculpture. While the mass is
imposing, almost forceful, the architects
allowed for light via strategic and precise
incisions in the walls and ceilings that bring
buoyancy and warmth into the cavity. The
disciplined doses of luminosity highlight art
and architecture alike in ways that seem
entirely natural yet ruthlessly controlled.
it clearly belongs (even as it also feels
mind-bendingly of the future). In describ-
ing the project, Castanheira proves a most
capable Virgil, stating: "The forest pathway
makes its way between high concrete
walls, rough in texture but elegant in form."
In approach of the pavilion, one passes
the library—a pensive, isolated structure
lost to its own silence—before crossing
the threshold "as if entering a sculpture
that absorbs us and enables us to feel
