Gradients
Gradients is a site-specific visual work for the facade of Donostia’s Kursaal, conceived through creative code, and generative algorithms. Commissioned by Tabakalera, it was created by Playmodes and curated by Irma Vilà.
The architectural grid designed by Rafael Moneo for the facade of Kursaal serves as inspiration for the artists, which transform this matrix into a creative canvas. The rows, columns, and cells that make up this architectural lattice act as geometric containers for a meticulous study on the perception of light and volume. In the quest for a perceptual metamorphosis of the building’s boundaries and volume, a 21st-century trompe-l’oeil emerges: a minimalist and essential visual dialogue that highlights the material, chromatic, and geometric austerity of Moneo’s work.
From this framework of austerity and closely related to the morphology of Kursaal, a new visual skin is born that establishes an intimate dialogue with the architecture. This skin erases the boundaries of the traditional perception of the “screen”, integrating itself as an additional layer of physical construction. The kinetic dynamism of these new layers of moving light gives the building a poetic dimension, showing that the architecture is “alive”. Beyond its role as a mere static container, the media-facade of Kursaal coexists in symbiosis with Rafael Moneo’s original project, reaffirming the tangible presence of architecture and its transformation through light.
As a site-specific work, the piece will just acquire its full meaning when seen on the Kursaal’s media facade. Checking the source material without the architectural context gives an idea on how much the project is thought as a skin for the building:
Gradients was displayed from September 14 to 17, 2023, as part of the Irekiak Gallery Weekend in Donostia, Euskadi.
Author: Playmodes Studio
Curator: Irma Vilà
Commisioned by: Tabakalera Donostia
Collaborator: Kursaal Donostia