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Jury Comments
- Certainly the decision to put cars underground in this revered landscape was critical to the success of the undertaking, and well done in that regard. With the entrance statement for pedestrians, that it’s set off from the cathedral and is a modest structure which takes you down into the parking areas, is well done. We were very impressed by the passage from the lower level up to the first encounter with the cathedral. A very beautiful experience. And then the appointment of the interiors of the lower level were right on the spot in terms of appropriateness and quality. This is a national shrine and it’s in the heartland of tourism. The owner’s decision, possibly helped by the architect, to take the buses off of the street in front of a national landmark, and put them below grade, was an absolutely brilliant move to improve the image of the cathedral. Prior to that, we’re sure the buses were all lined up the street and your experience of the cathedral was not to experience the lower-level façade, but buses. And now, they have successfully moved them away from the building, which we think is really brilliant. Who would have thought that you’d have such density of use, parking, buses, and all of this activity, below grade, in a serene setting, and be able to pull that off. The other thing that is extremely elegant about this and is really exquisitely done, is that sense of arrival as you ascend the staircase and the front façade of the cathedral is right in your view – it’s a wonderful way to enter a public building and space. The juxtaposition and choice of creating a glass pavilion next to the cathedral was also a brilliant move. One could have thought of all sorts of other really bad ways to handle it. It’s not a natural thought that a glass and steel-framed jewel box would necessarily be able to stand up to the cathedral, but in many ways it’s just as elegant without trying to say it’s better than the cathedral or that it’s modern architecture versus gothic architecture. It’s just a very complimentary, graceful, and in the end, a very subtle way of being able to get underground, which is a very tough thing to do. In five drawings, the architects have communicated the idea and the execution of the project. Well done.
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