San Sebastian is one of the main cities of the Basque Provinces on the Atlantic Coast in northern Spain. The site is a triangle facing the Ocean on one side, and one of the important city axes connecting the old City Hall and theaters on the south. The main program of the competition was for a cultural facility comprising a 1500-seat auditorium, a 500-seat hall, a multipurpose hall and an exhibition hall, with offices and hotels to be added in the second phase. The auditorium is to be used mainly for conventions including international conferences, but may be used flexibly for theatrical performances and music concerts.
For the second phase we proposed plateformed blocks on the side facing the roads. The big and small halls, the multi-purpose hall and the exhibition hall on the side of the coast were given characteristic forms. The massive block, which seems to float in the air at the center is the small hall, and the space surrounded by pilotis underneath is open to the sea, functioning as an entrance lobby. We proposed a new acoustic method in the main hall; i.e. the 1500 seats are separated into units of a few hundred and sets of these units are housed in a huge box. This may be considered as an extension of the vineyard style, which secures the required room capacity, and at the same time maintains excellent acoustic characteristics observed often in a hall of 1000 seats or less.