Editorial
The new Cité de l'Océan et du Surf Museum designed by american architect Steven Holl in collaboration with brazilian
architect and artist Solange Fabião opened on 25 June 2011. For three days Fernando Guerra photographed life inside. Whether it was someone inaugurating the museum or simply passing through in a hurry back from the beach, one observed an encounter between the opening ceremony in formal attire and a surfboard under the arm. Figures caught in a structure extending in a perpendicular fashion to the ocean in a concave wave that houses the translucent buildings. A wave is a privileged stage between sky and ocean, as illustrated in Steven Holl's conceptual designs at the root of the project. Here a museum was born that unites scientific research of the ocean with the playful aspect of living and sharing experiences through a sport which, interestingly, Steven himself has been a practitioner of, bestowing him with an extra understanding of the spirit and relationship with the ocean.
In collaboration with the New York studio, this special dossier presents these previously unpublished images, as well as watercolours of the creative process, final drawings and texts about the work written by those who have seen the completed building, as well as a piece by a long-time collaborator with Holl studio. Such elements allow all those who cannot pass through Biarritz to get to know the project in some depth.
Hence, the ultimasreportagens.com website continues its work of not only disseminating a photographer's work and national architecture, but also of buildings with an international reference. After a series of projects in Latin America by Isay Weinfeld, it is the turn of this work by Steven Holl in Europe. All of these projects constitute a large database and a collection of resources for consultation and reference that will remain available online. This is our daily goal.
Motivated by the uniqueness of this project and the piece that resulted from it, we decided to provide a print publication that documents the entire process. The book can be easily ordered online.
SEE SPECIAL DOSSIER
