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Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet

An art intervention by Spencer Finch enhances the contemplative quality of Mies and Lilly Reich’s Pavilion.

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American artist Spencer Finch transformed the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion into a zen landscape, inspired by Kyoto’s Ryōan-ji garden. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich probably never imagined to see fifteen stones landing in their architectural design, which play of reflections enhance the contemplative quality of the space.

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Ryōan-ji zen garden and the Barcelona Pavilion: two icons meet Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought.

Spencer Finch, Fifteen Stones, installation view, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 2018. Photo Anna Mas

Read also: Mies in Berlin, from our archive

Spencer Finch’s “Fifteen Stones” is linked to the artistic program initiated with Jeff Wall’s intervention in 1999. Following a long list of guest artists and architects that intervened in the Pavilion with their temporary installations – such as SANAA, Ai Wei Wei and Enric Miralles – Spencer Finch’s contribution aligns with the meditative mood of the modern building. Finch brought the Ryōan-ji zen garden into the water mirror of the Barcelona Pavilion, two physical spaces that he understands as catalysts for abstract thought, both able to project the visitor into a contemplative relationship with a “metaphorical landscape”, as the artist named it. In this proposal, water takes the place of the pebbles on which the rocks of the Japanese karesansui – or dry garden – float in Ryōan-ji. Even if the dimension of the two spaces is similar, approximately 25 by 10 sqm, materiality changes the perception of the pool, producing reflections and multiplying the lines of Mies’ slabs of travertine marble.

Artist Spencer Finch at Fifteen Stones, Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich

The iconic construction, built for the 1929 International Exposition in the Catalan city, had been rebuilt in 1986 by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe. The institution was created in 1983 by the City Council of Barcelona with the specific purpose of reconstructing the pavilion. With time, the foundation became a platform for the dissemination of knowledge on architecture and the urban environment, while promoting the studies on the German master and, more broadly, on the Modern Movement.

  • Fifteen Stones
  • 27 September - 1 October 2018
  • Barcelona Pavilion
  • Avenida Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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