I was shown some photographs of a complicated building. Different areas, planes, and volumes seemed to overlap, slanting and erect, encapsulated one within the other. The building, whose unusual appearance gave me no clear indication as to its function, made a strangely overloaded and tortured impression. Somehow, it seemed two-dimensional. For I moment I thought I was looking at a photograph of a cardboard model, colorfully painted. Later, when I learned the name of the architect, I was shocked. Had I made a mistake, a premature, ignorant judgment ? the architect’s name has an international ring, his fine architectural drawings are well known, and his written statements about contemporary architecture, which also deal with philosophical themes, are widely published.