Château La Coste, art, architecture and vines

Hand Made

A few kilometers from Aix-en-Provence, a wine estate organizes fine encounters between architects, artists, and an environment of a rare beauty.

By Jean-Dominique Dalloz - Photos José Nicolas - February 2, 2012

More than 120 hectares of vines surround Château La Coste, one of the most prestigious winemaking estates of the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence appellation. It’s an environment dedicated to the production of fine wines, but not only. In this valley located a few kilometers from the town of the good King René, every renowned artist and architect of our time has been invited to enhance this natural setting with their works. It’s a fine example, in many ways, of the marriage between the work of man and the earth’s resources.

Today owned by Patrick “Paddy” McKillen, a rich Irish businessman, Château La Coste opened up to creators in 2004. Artists are approached to visit the estate and appropriate the landscape, before installing their works in the spot that seems the most appropriate. So Tom Shannon cast “Drop”, a metallic drop of water that appears to smash into the shadow of a linden tree; Liam Gillick has erected a structure of white beams stretched with multicolored bands; a mobile sculpture by Calder, resembling a giant wading bird, walks along the surface of a big grey pool.

But architects haven’t been forgotten, with no less than 5 winners of the prestigious Pritzker Prize: Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano. They have designed works whose sobriety and beauty are in total harmony with the natural setting in which they are embedded. Gehry delivered a marvelous wood and glass pavilion dedicated to music, while Nouvel designed the vat room, in the shape of a half-buried, white, oblong cylinder.

Paddy McKillen decided to open up his estate to as many people as possible, organizing visits throughout the year. So it’s possible to walk through the park and discover the works installed there one by one. An outdoor art and architecture gallery, Château La Coste is in perpetual transformation, as new works arrive. A hotel-spa by the Tangram agency is in the pipeline, and Oscar Niemeyer or James Turrell will in turn create pavilions. It’s an invitation to return and to discover one of the most beautiful expressions of contemporary Provence.

Discover

Château La Coste

2750 route de la Cride

Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade

T 04 42 61 92 90

www.chateau-la-coste.com

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