Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Friday, July 2, 2010

Two Day Trips and The Grand Finale

Our first day trip was to Igualada, where we visited a cemetery tucked away among industrial warehouses on the cliff of a large gorge. It was a very different style of cemetery with rows of tombs set into the cliff-side. Here was truely a place where people could visit their loved ones in a peaceful setting. On our return to Barcelona that day, we visited a public library that also included outdoor public space behind it. The library itself was really nice-I could see myself bringing work there, plus it was right next door to an excellent coffeeshop.
Our next day trip was to Granada where the purpose was less to see specific architecture than to wander around the small town. A long medieval wall runs along the top of a large hill overlooking the town and the mountains behind it and from there we could watch planes flying in and lightning striking the mountain tops.
Our last day in Barcelona we visited the Jean Nouvel shopping center which is very well integrated into the city fabric and looks a lot like a skyscraper turned on its side with its many setbacks along the street. From there we visited the School of Architecture at the university where those of us staying for the workshop in Barcelona will be spending two weeks. Also there was a fantastic architecture library and bookstore-both great places to spend lots of time, as I'm sure I will.
Lastly, we went to an apartment complex that really redefines living in an apartment building, for each apartment has either windows or patios both looking inward towards the interior courtyards and outwards at the city. The corridors leading to the apartments are such that you are forced to meet your neighbors and interact with both the people around you and the city. The whole complex acts as its own small neighborhood with movie screenings and outdoor pools on the roof. The architect's offices were right next door in these fantastic converted silos that looked like something out of jurassic park.
We were supposed to take the funicular up to the top of Tibidabo, the highest point in the city, but did not have time. (I did make it up there the next day and the views were amazing as you can see...)
That night we all went out to an excellent tapas dinner together where we presented our professors (who love maps) with a map of Spain/Portugal on which we had written and drawn all the random and hilarious thing that had happened in each city. It was a great night for reminiscing on all that had happend on our month across Spain and Portugal.

Chicken Heads, Fire Running, and Floating Planes


We started the day visiting a couple of Barcelona's famous outdoor markets where every variety of fruit, vegetable, and meat is sold. We had a fairly curious task here-to find the strangest thing we could buy for under one euro. We found some pretty strange things including chicken heads, rabbit heads and even some animal's brain that came in its very own brain box. If you weren't grossed out enough, here's a picture...
Aside from these oddities, the markets had so much that was delicious including lots of fresh and dried fruit-even dried kiwis and raspberries which i had to try, naturally.
We also paid a visit to the Barcelona Center for Architecture, which had an exhibit on state financed buildings as well as a fantastic architecture bookstore-always dangerous. Continuing our walk around the old city, we came upon an old Catalan tradition of fire running in which kids get to dress up like devils and run around with a firecracker on a pitchfork. Even the littlest kids were allowed to participate and didn't seem the least bit scared. I did creepily take a video of one of them...
After lunch, we walked to see Nouvel's iconic skyscraper that is as of now the tallest building on the Barcelona skyline and lights up in an array of colors at night. We continued down Diagonal street, so called because it moves diagonally through the city grid, go figure, and stopped at a park by Nouvel and one by Miralles both of which play with ways to make surfaces or planes that divide up the park. One even had the planters hanging as if they were the tree canopy.
We ended the day at a bar watching the disappointing results of the U.S. versus Ghana game. Oh well, maybe next time...
The next day we met at Plaza Espana and deaded to Mies mecca-the Barcelona Pavillion. Created for the -29 World's Expo, the Pavillion is a temporary structure that was rebuilt in the 80's and consists of a series of planes that seem to just float, as if they were in movement and were just captured for a moment in this position. The richness of the materials also make the pavillion somewhat of a jewel-different types of marble, pristine glass and, of course, travertine floors.
Right across the street was the Barcelona Cixa Forum housd in a converted warhouse. The roof of the building reminded me of the roof of Case Mila-with a series of interconnected walkways/roof surfaces, creating a small city on top of the city. There we found a plyaful photography exhibition by Jacques Lartigue of people mid-jump, in flight, and included a series of 3D imges.
We broke for lunch at the top of Montjuif which had fantastic views of the city and then continued up the mountain to the Botanical Gardens and site of the '92 Olympics. The Gardens were very pretty with plants from all over the world and, again, excellent views of the city. After taking the funicular down the mountain, we found another to climb-we were headed for Parc Gruell, the parc designed by Gaudi. This park was massive and had so much Gaudi in it, it could have almost been a Gaudi amusement park.
We ended the day in the Gracia neighborhood home to actual locals and a Lebanese bar/restaurant where Argentina was overwhelmingly favored to win in their game against Mexico, which they did.