León’s Cube

By Linda Tancs

Its cuboid structure oddly reminiscent of Rubik’s Cube, the Castile-León Museum of Contemporary Art (MUSAC) is an emblem of 21st century Spanish architecture in León, Spain. Designed by Spanish architects Emili Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla, the mosaic of 37 colored glass panes on the exterior façade was taken from the digitalization of an image of “The Falconer” (one of the oldest stained glass windows) from León Cathedral. With a nod to the city’s past as a Roman encampment, the interior floor plan evokes pavements of ancient origin characterized by squares and rhomboids. Amidst the exhibition halls and library is the MUSAC Collection, comprising more than 1,650 works by nearly 400 regional, national and international artists.