Château La Coste

Few weeks ago I visited the Château La Coste. We had heard about it several times, especially during the inauguration of Sean Scully’s Center of Art and Spirituality at the Santa Cecilia Chapel in Montserrat just outside of Barcelona.

We connected with Mara McKellan, who, along with her brother Patrick, is the owner of this magnificent vineyard (domaine). Daniel Kennedy, director of the Center of Art, welcomed us and explained a little of the history and goal of the place. Because Chateau La Coste is so much more than an organic vineyard and winery – it is a center for artistic exhibitions. Events are organized throughout the year: conferences, exhibitions, but also visits through the sculpture park where you can find displayed through the beautiful landscape the work of Sean Scully, Louis Bourgeois, Andy Goldsworthy, Alexander Calder, Tracey Emin, Tunga, Franz West and Frank Gehry, among others.

But the most remarkable to me is the extraordinary building designed by Tadao Ando, (Pritzker Prize 1995). It’s a building accompanied by several pieces of water in a minimalist style, which reflects the Japanese style of “art for art’s sake”. It’s quite simply a work of serene beauty which is reflected at different points throughout the vineyard.

Ando’s architectural philosophy is minimalist but full of warmth. He says himself: “We have all this architecture in the world which serves a function, but a house is meant to be a home for the soul.” His main theme is the Japanese word “kokoro” which can be translated as heart, spirit or center of all things. He continues: “A building should fill its function, but I want it to be a home for the soul. There are all these huge buildings in the world like business centers. It’s difficult for me emotionally to qualify them as homes for the spirit.”

Ando is mostly known for his religious architecture, such as the Church of Light in Osaka where the concrete behind the altar is cut in a cruciform fashion. The architecture doesn’t differentiate between the sacred and the contemporary. He says: “a church should be the birthplace of the soul, a space where the spirit lives. Great or small. It’s the home of the soul where you can feel yourself comforted when you enter. You can sense the richness of the spirit. I have to always consider whether or not I am constructing a home for the soul. A house should be the same thing. It should be a home for the spirit of the person who lives there.” In effect, we perceived this desire of Ando at the Center of Art and Spirituality at the Chateau La Coste and we left consoled.

Quotes from “In the spirit of The Great Ando”, Interview of Tadao Ando by Robin Harding

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