The Gate House Visitor Center contains a small indoor gallery, gift shop and visitor check-in. The sculptural structure was conceived by Alexander Konstantinnov, a Moscow-based sculptor and architect, and was executed in collaboration with Art Forms Architecture principal Grigori Fateyev.

 

The building unfolds with a dream-like sequence of phenomenological moments hovering somewhere between memories and metaphors. The massive stucco doors at the entry part ways to let the path of marble stones (sourced from the site’s abandoned quarry) flow into the park. The walls of the building embrace and frame the exposed marble bedrock while at the other end of the building a cantilevered steel stair beckons visitors to the roof terrace. The glass bridge leads across a gap slicing through the building to the roof scape shaped like a gentle hill and covered with wild flowers. The visitor is allowed to fully experience every side and every element of the building.

​

Photography by Lisa Vollmer