Luis Mansilla
The projects of Mansilla and Tuñón are enlivened by a constant tension between rational deduction and wilful inspiration. The variegated plan of the MUSAC contemporary art foundation, for example, was inspired by the pattern of ploughed fields in the surrounding countryside. Taking its cues from the work of a famous local painter, the iconic facade of the Leon Auditorium is likened to a cubic lion with a thousand eyes.
Often inspired by nature, Mansilla and Tuñón transforms simple and clear organising principles into rich and complex spaces of exploration and exchange. A "natural" element from the site (be it physical, intellectual, material, cultural), is captured, and through an "artificial" operation, such as scaling, is developed element into an architectural device. As such, aside from creating strong, beautiful, predominantly public buildings, Mansilla and Tuñón bridges the architectural divide between the analog and digital, the contextual and formalistic.
