Just a few blocks north of St. Francis Xavier College Church sits a building made of stone. The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, at 3716 Washington Blvd., houses works of art and a library. But the building is a work of art in itself.

The building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando, was completed in 2001 and opened to the public on Oct. 17. The construction, far from normal buildings of wood and brick, is comprised of glass and concrete.

The concrete structure consists of two long rectangles, one 10 feet taller than the other. The 23,600-square-foot building combines remarkably smooth concrete with glass, forming a series of geometric spaces. It’s combination of geometrical shapes, natural light and water give the structure a feeling apart from almost any other building on Earth-at least different from any other in the St. Louis area.

The Foundation provides everyone from artists and architects to scholars and students an opportunity to “initiate new and individualized experiences with works of art.”

The building is nothing short of a “place of possibilities,” Ando stated in the Foundation’s brochure.

The idea for the Foundation came about in 1989 when Emily and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. began to consider creating a place suitable for displaying their personal art collections. A site was chosen in Grand Center, St. Louis’ arts and entertainment district, and 12 years later a building hosts works from famous artists, including Monet and Pablo Picasso.

The late Joseph Pulitzer Jr. has a close connection to the St. Louis area. He was editor and publisher of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Workers of the Foundation are quick to point out that it is not an art museum. Instead, the Foundation serves as not only a viewing place for art but also a place where ideas, programs and discussions about art, architecture and contemporary culture might be cultivated. The Foundation also houses a library and offices for the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

In 2003, the Foundation will have a new neighbor: the Forum for Contemporary Art, located at the corner of Spring Ave. and Washington Blvd. The Forum’s new building will be 25,000 square feet, including performance and lecture space, three galleries and a caf? with outdoor seating. After its completion, the two buildings will serve as a center for intense intellectual and artistic synergy.

Ando described his work on the Foundation: “It’s basically just two simple rectangles. But as you enter this simple figure of a box, you discover a space that is complex and rich. Once you’re inside you learn things that could not be forseen from the outside. When you come here and see this simple ordinary box and then find a whole new world unfolding within it, I hope it might help you realize that life holds all kinds of possibilities and wonders if we only make the effort to discover them.”

To complement the building, the Foundation commissioned two new works of art in addition to the Pulitzer’s already extensive collection. Contemporary American artists Ellsworth Kelly and Richard Serra were chosen for the works.

Kelly created Blue Black, a 28-foot wall sculpture of honeycomb aluminum. Reflecting the name, the vertical rectangular piece is half bright blue and half black.

Serra’s piece, “Joe,” is a 125-ton weathering steel sculpture and sits in the exterior courtyard. “Joe” is in homage to Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. The sculpture is the first in a series of torqued spirals.

In addition to these works, the Foundation houses works of art on loan from the collection of Emily and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Their collection ranges from classic modernism, to pop art, minimalism and other contemporary movements.

Four themes are listed as the focus of the Foundation:

 the interrelationship between contemporary art, architecture and design

 the resonance of arts institutions within their communities

 the shifting framework of public and private arts initiatives

 opportunities for synergy between the visual, performing and literary arts

The new Contemporary Art Partnership, a program that links the Pulitzer Foundation with the Forum for Contemporary Art and the St. Louis Art Museum, coordinates tours.

The Foundation will have public hours of admission on Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no admission cost, but appointments are required.

On days when the museum is closed to the public, it is used as a home for research and discussion for those involved in the study of art, architecture and design. Attendees of these meetings include local university students and international visitors.

As opposed to most art museums, the appointments will allow for crowd control inside the Foundation. There will probably be no more than 50 visitors inside the Foundation at one time and about 700 visitors per day, said Foundation officials.

Reservations are required for groups of five or more. To schedule a visit, call (314) 754-1848, or email [email protected].

For information on docent-led group visits, phone (314) 535-0770 or e-mail [email protected].

For additional information, the Foundation’s telephone number is (314) 754-1851 and Web site address www.pulitzerarts.org.