Chillida Leku in San Sebastian

This is a very nice thing that Chillida's park in San Sebastian is opened again after 8 or 10 years during them it has been closed to the public.

 If you are the opportunity to come in San Sebastian, the visit of Chillida Leku (Leku, the name for site or place in Basque language) is mandatory (for my opinion).
This is a delicious place of 11 ha composed of meadows and forest in which 40 sculptures are exhibited in a close relationship with the nature and in a relationship between themselves. This is a place of freedom as Chillida conceived his artworks.


Chillida passed away in 2002 and for him his park was something he dreamt as he wrote : "One day, I dreamt of an utopia : find a space where my sculptures could be rest and wher people could walk through them as in a forest."


Chillida is one of the most famous contemporary Spanish (more, Basque !) artist. His artworks can be seen in many places in the world but it is here, in San Sebastian, just beside the center, than you can probably have the best experience of his art.


In the middle of the park, there is a huge traditionnal sheepfold that Chillida refurbished with a local architect to reveal the raw materials of this ancient shelter. Inside the sheepfold visitors can see details about the way Chillida worked his art pieces. Sculptures, paintings and drawings are exhibited in an extraordinary space.

Chillida began to study architecture but he quitted after only 2 years due to the poor teaching. But his work has allways been influenced by architecture and space, light and materials are the 3 main items of his design.

One thing that I find is very interesting in Chillida's work is the the way in which he plays with paradoxe; his art pieces are often oxymorons : solid and delicat, full and empty, heavy and light, complex and evident, strict and random, rough and smooth, angular and voluptuous, massive and areal, steel and stone, ...

The architectural trend with which he would be the closest would be perhaps the brutalism. The good example for this is the Jinhua Reading Space of Herzog and de Meuron, built in China in 2008.