What is the meaning of the NDK "underground" fountain in Sofia?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 10 Aug, 2023
- |
If there is any ulterior significance to an below-grade fountain, it is long buried, along with the individuals who were involved in the project, from its very concept to a long-overdue realization. It may have been the site itself, cratered by bombs, littered with a haphazard collection of buildings including military barracks and a train station and coal yard, along with a huge swath of barren land.
It may have been the evolution of the concept to build a large-scale cultural center; more accurately, for it to be bigger and better, grander and more grandiose than any other. An international design competition collapsed and the project became a collaboration, in both the best and worst senses of the word, between architects, engineers, government ministers and officials, and an assortment of others with varied and various credentials.
The NDK, both interior and exterior, is massive: the structure and its grand views, its promenade and allee, its fountains, both at- and below-grade, the latter both a water feature and a sculpture garden. It’s a very Modernist construct (or Brutalist?), and implies that the design is simply that, a well-realized, below-grade sculpture and water feature that engages individuals on multiple levels.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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