Spain inaugurates new Gehry-designed hotel at celebrated old winery

MADRID, Spain — Already boasting the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain's Basque region has unveiled its second work by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, a fanciful display of glimmering and cascading titanium ribbons, housing a hotel at the center of one of the country's oldest wineries.

The building at Marques de Riscal, the oldest winery in the town of Elciego within the heart of the northern Rioja wine region, was inaugurated by King Juan Carlos. It cost $88 million and took eight years to build.

Since 1997, the Basque port of Bilbao has been home to the Guggenheim Museum, designed by the Gehry and considered one of the world's great modern buildings and among Spain's most popular tourist attractions.

Information

Hotel Marques de Riscal: For details on the hotel (which is managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts) see

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1539

At first, the Canadian-born architect did not want to tackle the small winery project because it would have required many flights from his base in Los Angeles. Then the winery owners took Gehry to the oldest cellar, called "the cathedral," where bottles dating from 1862 are stored. After a 1929 vintage — Gehry's birth year — he warmed to the project.

"It was very good, and after a few glasses I accepted," the 82-year-old Gehry told Spain's El Mundo newspaper.

For the Hotel Marques de Riscal, Gehry used a canopy of pink, gold and silver titanium ribbons to shade a sandstone hotel building, a radical departure from the winery's existing architecture, which includes two structures dating from the 19th century.

Besides a hotel, the complex includes a spa, exhibition area, wine tasting rooms and a restaurant.