Material presence and the mystery of the object

La Congiunta, Peter Märkli's house for sculptures in the Leventina valley, is an enigmatic concrete structure. It has the appearance of a large rock, its density strengthened by a complete absence of visible openings. No hint is given of its content or its entrance. And so our curiosity impels us to explore the block's exterior. The horizontal divisions of the shuttering create at a glance the impression of large stone slabs. On closer viewing, the individual boards and the grain of the timber are revealed as traces of construction. Our understanding of the volume develops gradually, through contact with its material qualities.