Plaza del Tenis, Prelude to the Comb of the Wind
>The exhibition offers a chronological overview of the events that led to Peña Ganchegui’s project, organized around three key aspects essential to understanding the Plaza del Peine del Viento: its natural, architectural, and sculptural dimensions
>On display are photographs and archival plans reproduced specifically for this occasion, old publications, audiovisual material, sketches, and other original documents, as well as recent photo essays.
>The exhibition will be open to the public through September 27 and will be accompanied by other activities organized in honor of the architect from Guipúzcoa.
This morning, the Basque Architecture Institute unveiled the new exhibition from the Peña Ganchegui Archive, “Plaza del Tenis, Prelude to the Peine del Viento,” the centerpiece of the program commemorating the centennial of the birth of Luis Peña Ganchegui (Oñati, 1926 – Donostia, 2009). The exhibition will be open to the public at the Institute’s headquarters starting this Friday and running through September 27, in a particularly significant year: Plaza del Tenis is celebrating its 50th anniversary and has just completed its renovation.
The presentation was attended by Denis Itxaso, Basque Government Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda; José Ángel Medina, director of the Basque Architecture Institute; Rocío Peña, director of the Peña Ganchegui Archive; and Mario Sangalli, curator of the exhibition.
In Itxaso’s words, “Today we are presenting much more than an exhibition. We are presenting an opportunity to see with fresh eyes a space that is part of the collective memory of San Sebastián and the Basque Country. Because the Plaza del Tenis and the Peine del Viento complex are not merely a physical location or an internationally recognizable postcard image. They are a way of understanding the relationship between architecture, landscape, city, and culture.”
According to the councilor, Peña Ganchegui’s work achieved “something extraordinary: intervening in one of the most sensitive and powerful landscapes along our coastline without imposing itself upon it. He knew how to create a space that engages in dialogue with the sea, the rock, the wind, and, of course, Eduardo Chillida’s sculpture. A space where architecture and art cease to compete and instead complement one another.”
Furthermore, this exhibition “comes at a particularly symbolic moment,” he added. This is because three significant events coincide: the centennial of Peña Ganchegui’s birth, the fiftieth anniversary of the plaza, and the recent completion of its renovation. “Three distinct eras—memory, legacy, and future—that converge in 2026,” Itxaso explained.
In that regard, she emphasized that “the Basque Government firmly believes in the need to preserve, study, and promote our architectural heritage. And to do so not only from a technical or academic perspective, but by bringing it closer to the public. Because architecture is part of our daily lives. It defines our public spaces, shapes how we live together, and also expresses our values as a society.”
For her part, Rocío Peña, the architect’s daughter and director of the Peña Ganchegui Archive, explained the choice of Plaza del Tenis as the focal point of the commemoration and the exhibition: “The coincidence of this anniversary of his birth with the restoration of my father’s most notable work has been providential. Plaza del Tenis is not only his most important work, but it also encapsulates most of the defining aspects of his earlier and later work. It was inevitable that it would take center stage in the centennial and in the exhibition we are presenting today.”
The exhibition focuses on the architectural component of this iconic San Sebastián landmark: the Plaza del Tenis, the public space created by Peña Ganchegui as a prelude to Eduardo Chillida’s Peine del Viento XV sculpture complex. To help the public understand the key elements of this work, the exhibition traces the various stories that converge within it: the architect’s personal and professional journey, from his birth in 1926 to the completion of the work in 1976; and the events that shaped the setting that hosted his intervention, from the genesis of the site reclaimed from the sea to the evolution of Chillida’s sculptural project, without which the plaza would not exist.
A chronological journey through three dimensions
The exhibition offers a chronological journey through the three dimensions that converge at Plaza del Tenis: the architectural, the natural, and the sculptural. Around the cloister of the former Convent of Santa Teresa, visitors will find documentation related to the events that define the context of the work, accompanied by visual records that illustrate the life and professional career of Peña Ganchegui. Following this prologue, the exhibition focuses on the completed work, supported by original documentation, before moving on to a description of the recently completed restoration project, which concludes the exhibition as an epilogue.
The narrative is structured in eight stages, spanning from the origins of the site and the architect’s birth in 1926 to the restoration completed in 2026. Among the milestones of the exhibition are Peña Ganchegui’s training in Madrid, the start of Chillida’s research into the idea of installing a sculpture at the end of the Paseo del Tenis beginning in 1952, the construction of the Plaza de la Trinidad in 1963 as a direct precursor to the Plaza del Tenis, and the period of conception and completion of the complex between 1974 and 1977. To illustrate each of these stages, a wide variety of sources has been used: archival photographs and plans reproduced specifically for this occasion, old publications, audiovisual material, sketches and original written documentation, and recent photo essays.
Publications, family workshops, and lectures
La exposición viene acompañada de una serie de actividades dirigidas a públicos diferentes. La primera actividad del programa empezará el 5 de junio con el taller para familias “Land Art” que se repetirá el 19 de junio y que correrá a cargo del equipo educativo del instituto, Maushaus. En este taller se trabajará a partir de la materialidad de esta icónica obra de arquitectura tan ligada al paisaje que remata Donostia experesándose libre a partir de un solo material.
The exhibition is accompanied by a series of activities aimed at different audiences. The first activity on the program will begin on June 5 with the “Land Art” family workshop, which will be repeated on June 19 and led by the educational team from the Maushaus institute. This workshop will explore the materiality of this iconic architectural work—so closely tied to the landscape that crowns San Sebastián—by freely experimenting with a single material.
Additionally, as part of the exhibition, the book “Plaza del Tenis” will be presented; it is the fourth volume in the Peña Ganchegui Collection and will be released before the exhibition closes. It will be presented at the institute on September 10 in the presence of Iñaki Ábalos, author of the accompanying text. His talk will inaugurate the series “Peña Ganchegui, a Centennial Legacy,” which will take place throughout the fall, coinciding with the exhibition “Peña Ganchegui, Enlightened Architect,” which will be on view at the institute starting in October.
In addition, as part of the exhibition, the book *Plaza del Tenis*—the fourth volume in the *Fondo Peña Ganchegui* collection—will be unveiled before the exhibition closes. It will be presented at the institute on September 10 in the presence of Iñaki Ábalos, author of the accompanying text. His talk will inaugurate the series “Peña Ganchegui, a Centennial Legacy,” which will take place throughout the fall, coinciding with the exhibition “Peña Ganchegui, Enlightened Architect,” which will be on view at the institute starting in October.
The exhibition is also part of a series of prior milestones: the publication of a monographic article on the cultural platform MAS Context and the online edition of Mario Sangalli’s thesis, available as of March 29, 2026, to mark the centennial of the architect’s birth.
The exhibition handout is available here
