Barcelona, Spain 11.04.07

German Pavillion, Mies van der Rohe. I was expecting to see every joint, edge, and mullion to align. That wasn't the case. It was the free flowing spaces, blurred distinction between the outdoor and indoor spaces, facilitated by the clear definition of each plane, wall and column that made this such a memorable experience.

Caixaforum, Arata Isozaki. New addition to old brick silk factory was a nice and respectfully done project. 'Respectfully' meaning, instead of building a monster modern addition that would dominate and block the existing facade, Isozaki sunk the plaza/sculpture garden/entry allowing the white travertine to contrast with the richly colored brick.

Edifici Forum, Herzog + De Meuron. Asti thought this was the worst building she'd seen so far, referring to the parking lot like asphalt floor, dark atmosphere, funky construction/details, and the weird-for-weird sake geometries. Photographs are snazzie though, and the mirrored lightwells are "coooool dude", was my response.

Barcelona has redeveloped it's waterfront, with lots of public spaces, swimming facilities, a massive PV array structure (shown here),

and covered areas for what I assume are for food markets/swap meets? The place was a ghost town, as you can see, because it's winter, but summer pictures reveal tons of life.


Jean Nouvel's Agbar tower.

Moneo's Auditori de Barcelona.

Meier's MACBA.

Caltrava's Torre. Eyelash curler and a toothpick.

Carlos Ferrater's Jardin Bontanica.

Pompeo Fabra University Library. An old reservoir, renovated into a library. There is a large body of water above (no public access, we tried hard...) but the upside down mirror-pyramids over the skylights wash down a blue reflection of light.


Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi. Only a couple of more decades left! I can see the inspiration behind Calatrava's work.

Woahhh. I can only guess at what half of these were. Wish I could try each and every one. I read that Barcelona, a seaport town, only supplies 15% of the seafood it consumes. They eat a lot of fish, and jamon.

Like the plethora of seafood at the markets, barcelona is big and booming with lots of trendy architecture and skin buildings. Housing projects, univeristy building, library, office/retail development.

Gaudi's parc Guell, Casa Botin, bunch of clay vases on the wall, Miralles' mercat St. Catarina.

the three of us at the beach, pointing to gehry fish in the background.