New Forms Taschen 144

architecture: "The installation represents the work site of an enormous building, probably a magnificent Pałace of the Futurę. The bases of five enormous columns surrounded by scaffolding are visible. Below, construction materials of various kinds are piled... and in the middle of the site, there is a panel showing what a remarkable place the completed Pałace and the city around it will be... But by looking carefully. the visitor will notice that the work here stopped long ago, and that everything has been abandoned. The scaffolding and the construction materials are only a huge waste heap... What was supposed to be a radiant futurę became the hopeless present, and no one seems to know where to go.¹⁸ Though Kabakov's apocalyptic vision is related to the specific problems of the ex-Soviet Union, his commentary is nonetheless valid for many other grandiose architectural plans. The sense of disorder that he brings to his work also permeates the thinking of archi-tects such as Steven Holi, who seeks to embrace the fundamentally ephemeral naturę of urban buildings.

Moving once again to the perspective of an architect who creates in a sculptural modę, the Unazuki Meditation Center, in Toyama, Japan (1991-93) by Barcelona-based Enric Miralles is certainly striking. According to the architect, "A bridge, a smali park and an old pilgrim's path are unified and attuned to each other to form this ensemble, experienced as a union with the rugged beauty of naturę."¹⁹ A surprising arabesque of Steel tubes encircles a viewing platform, integrating architecture and site-specific art into a convincing whole.

Dominique Perrault, the young French architect responsible for the vast new Bibliotheque nationale de France, in Paris, makes elear his own interest in art. "The architecture of the library represents an attempt to create a work which is of its time. The art movements which I look to for inspiration are Land Art or Minimalism. I would have like to have shown this building to Donald Judd before he died. Richard Serra did visit it, and he was extremely favorable in his comments. In my opinion, it is high time for architecture to assimilate the art of our time," says Perrault. When

Pages 154/155 JcanPierrc Raynaud "La Mastaba"

La Garenne-Colombes, Franca, 1988-90

Located in a working ciast suburb of Paris. this highly unusual struć-turę is neither the home of the artist, nor his atelier. It is a kmd of private gallery where few outsiders are admitted. Within, in an underground room (visible to the right), he placet works of his own m juxtaposition, to see how they 'react' to each other. Inspired by funerary designs, it is entirely dad in white tiles.

154 Aer and Architecture