Kursaal, San Sebastián

The translucent cubes of the Kursaal – described by their maker as two huge rocks stranded in the bay of San Sebastián – have earned Rafael Moneo the FAD prize for architecture in its 2000 edition, prominent finalists of which, among others, were a student residence in Coimbra of the Portuguese Francisco y Manuel Aires Mateus, and the dwellings in the Illa Fleming of Barcelona by Bach & Mora. From a new location in the Convent dels Àngels, all four FAD award categories – the most traditional one being that of decorative arts – singled out interventions located in Barcelona and undertaken by Catalan practices. The prize for interior design went to the house in La Clota, by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue. For outdoor spaces the winner was the Botanical Garden of Barcelona by Carlos Ferrater, Josep Lluís Canosa and Bet Figueras. And for ephemeral spaces the honor was shared by the installations ‘Kelly, una seducció’, carried out for Hermès by Josep Bohigas, Francesc Pla and Iñaki Baquero, and ‘9m2 (+ o - ) d’instruments per a llums zenitals’, put up in the Urania Gallery by Elías Torres.