built ON the river

So this week- a normal week I guess you could call it- Jam packed every minute of your day, it just came and went. My parents also came and went before rushing out on Friday for their Mediterranean excursion.

Girona. A simple town-sized city.
Tuesday we went to Girona for field trip and history classes. The small time city was stunning with its quaint charm and winding old streets. Besides its overly huge cathedral -mind you it has the largest nave of any Cathedral in the world, at 22 meters ( I believe), and beautiful little stairways that peel away from what you already thought could be the smallest street ever, the city is built along their river. And when I say built along the river, it is not like Bilbao where the building were set back from the waters edge creating a pedestrian edge between the buildings and the water. But rather in Girona the homes are built directly on the retaining wall for the river, sometimes even cantaleavering a small amount above the water.


This then, unlike Bilbao, forces the people to walk amgounst the buildings in the shade and then with a break in the building creating an avenue of light that leads to a bridge to cross. The river is not only the edge but the buildings help to redefine that edge, a very solid edge.


Along with this idea of edge, when we went to the small town of Olot, after visiting Girona, we went to visit a resturant built by the firm RCR Architects that created this idea of 'illusions' between edges. By this I mean that they used large amounts of glass- but just in the right places- that it created this feeling where you weren't sure where the buildings inside and outside began, they made the edge between nature and man undiscoverable.




This idea that they have created in many of their pieces and their philosphy that we were able to learn about from the 'C' in RCR Carmen at a firm visit later that night, is that nature is nature with help from man, so one must create an equal balance that one does not over take the other when building architecture. And when they built this resturant they did not want to create an edge between the outside and the inside, they wanted them to flow together, almost to act as one space-- elimating the edge.

wine_does the body good

The past week went by faster than imagined. To begin we only had 3 days of classes. From there we, as a class, traveled along the northern part of Spain, enjoyed plenty of wine. And to end, it was my 21st birthday.

At the beginning of the week for field trip class we spent both days at the MACBA/CCCB complex. It is a more modern complex just slapped down in the outskirts of the old city. The complex is near our studio but does not leave a burdening impression upon the surrounding areas. We were studying how the 3 new buildings in the complex are put together in a very anayltical way that creates a series of placas with continuous lines and ideas running through the placas and the buildings. Getting off to a rough start I tried again the second day to map out in plan the old vs. new in that block. In doing this, on my own and with others help, I was able to realize how specific walls line up with other walls to create different spaces and thru spaces. Each wall or architectural element was placed for specfic reasons, a lot of the elements helping to create some type of edge to a space. Whether it be along the street creating the side walk, the lineing up of placa spaces (terminations), or even just the simple walkways around and through buildings that help to create an edge for the pedestrian to walk around, through, or follow along. I am not necessarily sure if the series of spaces are my favorite- I like each part separtly but sometimes i still feel a lack of welcomness to the spaces.
And from there we continue north. Catching an early plane ride into Calatrava's extension to the Bilbao airport and also examining his bridge and Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum equaled out to be a busy Thursday. Bilbao itself, I really enjoyed. I felt that although 'there is not much to see' the dynamics of how the river cuts directly through the city creates a new way of looking at a city-for me at least. Although the river is not necessarily used as it used to be, it creates yet another edge for pedestrians to walk along, buildings to be contained in, and the intriguing cut from one side to the other.

The second day of the trip was spent traveling around La Rioja sipping wine and glancing at the most interesting and well hidden architecture. To begin, I 1)enjoyed traveling through the country side to be able to experience something different than the center of a city and 2) Enjoyed spending time in architectural marvels that were not in a city- but rather in the quite areas of rolling mountains and sprawling fields. Each place that we stopped had its own dynamic and for that I liked each as its own. The one that I best feel approached its surroundings the best was Calatravas winery. Although quite modern with nothing to dull the experience it is just his building and the fields and the moutains behind it. The roof line creates an rolling experience that when close up meets directly with the blue of the sky. When stepping back it blends in with the rolling of the far mountains. I do feel that there could have been a better way to 'end' the building for I feel that he cut a beautiful idea short by just cutting off the ends. But in the end that was one beautiful day all around.

Back to Barcelona:
And so here I am sitting to you writting just 60minutes passed my birthday, awaiting my next defining edge.

All around the world

So yes, it has been awhile. And quite frankly I don't know how to make it up except to write a another blog, so here I go.




Whirlwind Southern Spain trip:

That was a world and a half- who knew that all within the same country ideas and cultures could completely change. Madrid, Cordoba, Grenada, Seville, Merida in 8ish days. Each city had its own vibe and social interaction, along with new colors and new architectural marvels. In Madrid it was interesting to focus on how the Palace is on one side and the Paseo de Prado is on the other and that is what contains or forms the edge of the old city. Past those, the city changes into its new ideas and more modern flavors. But to notice how these things change from one side of the street to the other how it inadvertanly creates an edge. In the city of Cordoba we did not spend much time, nor did we have to. The city itself is very small and compact- but with an early morning walk I was able to discover that there is a modern side to the city, with large blocks and multiple laned streets, once again on the outskirts of the old city. Grenada, a beautiful city but I have not quite figured out how to classify the city yet modern or old. But the further south, such as Grenada, we go the more spanish you see and feel but also the more arabic influences as well. There is no wall or edge to explain the influence of Arabic architecture, for it was something that slowly ate away at Andulusia so when one travels to all of these cities they in a way all tie back together. Seville was just all around more colorful than any of the other cities and a lot larger than I ever expected. Last but not least Merida, the city of Roman ruins. It was a nice change from what we had seen along the trip and in Barcelona as well. It gives one a little snap back to reality that there was something here years and years before us.

Once circling back at the end of the trip and back on the train to Barcelona I had the time to sit and actually think about the cities and the places that we had just been to. And when everyone asks which one is your favorite and I couldn't think of one I now understand why. All in all each city, to me, had a completly different flavor, where I liked each one for what it had to offer. But there is no "favorite" or "Best" in my book, it was what does give off and offer to the surrounding people.







Then back in Barcelona we had a brezze of two weeks, a project, family and friends visiting, the Sagada Familia, the beginning of Lent, and the arrival an preparation for spring break. It was a crazy two weeks let me just leave it at that.












From there Spring Break:
Istanbul & Prague

This was beyond anything that I could have ever imagined and possibly my most favorite trip I have ever taken. Turkey was beyond amazing, I don't even know how to describe it and let me tell you it was an ambitious 3 days. We tried to hit as much as we could and I am pretty sure we succeeded. The buildings, the people, their lifestyle was just amazing I would go back in a heart beat. The problem is that is was so amazing that I don't even know how to put it into words. Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Baslica Cistern, The Grand Bazaar, The Spice Bazaar, The Palace, the Ferry rides to Asia, The 4th largest suppension bridge in the world, the Istanbul Modern, THE FOOOD!

Then to Prague, saw the biggest castle in the world, charles bridge, Old town Square, the Astronomical Clock, The Tyn Church, Fred and Ginger, National Museum, Wincelas square, the Jewish cemetery, the Municpal House and so many more things. The two cities were just phenominal each with new and greater things to offer.

This weekend Northern Spain...