assignment 1 for history

auf wiedersehn Barcelona, Hola Germany!

I can't believe it's almost over! Right now it's crunch time for final jury and then jury on the 29th! I have learned so much during this trip that I can't even begin to describe it. Hopefully I will be able to take all of the insight I have gained back home and be able to apply it to my work there.


a continued blog in Germany? We shall see...

barca, BARCA, BAAARRRCCCAAA

To increase our cultural experience of Barcelona Catholic paid for use to go to a FC Barcelona game and to go to a concert at the Palau De La Musica.

I went to the game with Teresa and her friend Brenna who was visiting. I have to say it was probably the most awesome sporting experience that I have ever had/ possibly might ever have. Everyone was chanting and screaming and there were so many different songs that they sung and so many different chants. The only comparison I can think of is a Maryland basketball game but that doesn't even hold a candle to how awesome this was. No wonder they don't sell beer...they don't need beer. It was an unreal experience and so fun to be able to take part in. Plus Barcelona beat Seville 4-0!!

Two days later I saw David Byrne at the Palau De La Musica. Also an amazing experience. He played alot of Talking Heads material so that was awesome. Plus the Palau is a beautiful backdrop and the sound quality was truly astounding!


Worried about getting the final project done? naahhhh never...it was totally worth it

When in Roma

For Easter break I had the opportunity to to go to Rome. Totally different city than Barcelona. It has so many layers to it that it's hard to decide exactly what kind of city it is. I enjoyed my stay there and thought it was a lovely city. Tons of cool churches that you can just duck into as your walking along to the next thing that your going to see. One of my favorite times was Sunday when I just wandered from piazza navona, to the Pantheon (gelato on the obelisk :) ), to the trevi fountain, to the spanish steps. It was interesting to see the people in action. I think that interestingly enough Catalan's and Italians are very similar people but for very different reasons. Both can come across as very aloof and closed up but for the Catalan's it is partially because you are tourist and partially because they have had a history of opression and so the hard shell is built up inside of them. For the Italians (as far as I know), however, it really is just because you are a tourist. :)

Highlights:

-Sistine Chapel!
-Pantheon!
-The forum!
-St Peter's
-Trevi Fountain (hey I actually liked it...it's intense...it's just such a small space for how many people go there )
-Spanish Steps

toto we aren't in Barcelona anymore

Having the opportunity to go to Morocco was an incredible experience and it is a part of the many reasons why I chose to study in Barcelona. It was amazing to see a culture that was so incredible different from anything that i've ever been a part of. In particular, the their concept of the the built environment is very different from Barcelona's and extremely different from anywhere in the United States. Everything is focused on the interior whereas in Barcelona they are focused on creating exterior meeting spaces through the use of plazas etc. In Fez, the exterior is not as important (hence the plain facades and tight, dense, and winding medina) rather, it is on the inside that the detail and oranmentation is lavished. It is interesting whata relief this provides when you enter from the tight street into a beautiful courtyard open to the sky.

Highlights:

- Riad Alkantar
- textile weavers
- Pharmacy
- tanneries
- roman ruins at vouliboulis
- lunch a moulay idress

my girona

Because of the silly king we weren't able to go to the Dali museum! However, we tooled around Girona alittle bit. Girona's interesting to compare to other cities that have rivers running through them because it was such an industrial city so the river was used for only commercial use and contained no aesthetic factor for the people. One result of this is that the city actually turns its back on the river and faces towards the street. It's odd to see the rows and rows of houses facing towards the streeet. After we wandered Girona we went to an office meeting in the small neighboring town. We saw two of the design's by the architects we were visiting be for we actually went to meet them. First we went to a very amazing restaurant that they converted from an old barn. We were very lucky to be able to go in it. A couple of people illegally snuck in and checked out a completely glass hotel that was nearby that the same firm designed. I didn't get to see it before they got caught :(
After that we went to a landscaping design that they did for a nearby park. Not as awesome but it was a smaller scale project.

This is school?

As a bonus field trip we got to go to Bilbao (mainly to see the Guggenheim) one day and spend the next day wine tasting in the rolling hills of Rioja. Bilbao was interesting city to visit because, like Paris, it has a river running through it. It was interesting then to compare both cities built environment's reaction to the river. In summary, although Bilbao tries to create the relaxed rambling attitude along the river that Paris acheives so well, I don't think it is as successful as a walk along Paris's Seine. Perhaps this is because up until recent history, Bilbao has been almost exclusively an industrial city. It might be that only after the Guggenheim was built did Bilbao really start to consider consider the pleasantness of its environment. There is, however, an atmospere about Bilbao that is very enjoyable...I enjoyed my stay immensely

Rioja....we tasted wine and saw architecture by Zaha, Gehry, Calatrava...what more do I need to say?

why I love Barcelona Pt. II

Spring Break

For Spring break I stayed half the week in Barcelona, while my friend Claire visited me, and the other half of the week I visited Paris. Having Claire visit me was awesome! It was nice to see a friendly face from home. It was also nice to re-visit places in Barcelona that I had not been to in a while and to be able to experience the atmosphere of the city as a whole while I showed her around.

The second half of my spring break I spent in Paris and that was amazing beyond belief. I saw many, many sites! One of my favorite aspects of Paris was its overall atmosphere…whether walking along the Seine or spending a picnic meal in the Luxemburg Gardens.

Villa Savoye was definitely one of the neatest buildings I saw while in Paris. Although it can be initially a little disappointing since the context of the building is quiet different from the way it originally was (and also from the way your teachers would have to you believe it still is!), once you get over that there are many things that you can learn from this building that no text book will teach you.

I visited many museums in Paris and so Ali and I began to analyze and compared their success through their use/control of light and circulation. There were some that were very successful is this but it is amazing how many museums there are that have very poor circulation and light. It makes you realize how complex the design of a museum actually is.

It was interesting to compare Paris and Barcelona's built environments especially since Cerda's expansion of Barcelona was going on at around the same time as Hausmann's changes to Paris. Hausmann definetely created much more bold gesture's than Cerda and this creates and city that feels much more grand and monumental. I think the variation in the scales of the city - from the Seine, to small scale buildings, to large, help to keep the city from feeling completely monumental in scale.

why I love Barcelona

Insider tour of the Sagrada Familia

We were very privileged to be able to get a tour of the current construction site at the Sagrada Familia. One of the most interested aspects was to get to see the synthesis between Gaudi's orginal ideas and current construction techniques. The best part was being able to see their current work on the roof; i'm sure it will be beyond incredible when it is finished.

The whirlwind trip: Southern Spa

The trip of a lifetime: Madrid, Cordoba, Granada, Seville, and Merida all crammed into a week…where to begin:

Madrid;

Madrid was very interesting to visit, because in comparison to Barcelona’s old city their old cities streets are very wide and the layout is much more open. It definitely felt like the D.C. of Spain to me since it had a much more civic and grand scale than Barcelona. It's also a much newer city than Barcelona and that definitely shows.

Highlights:

-“Power viewing” at the Prado, which is the largest painting gallery in all of Europe.

-Having my first churros and chocolate since I’ve been on this trip…actually not my favorite

-seeing the Cathedral de Saint Ma La Real de la Almudena

-Seeing the Guernica

Cordoba;

The next day we got up bright and early and headed over to Cordoba. On our way out of Madrid we found out that there was a car bombing in Madrid earlier that day so they were doing random checks on the highway. We didn’t get stopped but there was tons of traffic and it took us a while to even get out of Madrid, but finally we got to Cordoba. Cordoba is a really awesome city. If you ever just need a break from life to chill out think and see lovely, lovely things go to Cordoba! The city is extremely small so there really isn’t much life but at the same time it is very relaxing and peaceful.

In Cordoba I have never felt so safe in the built environment either in Barcelona or at home. When we wandered the streets at night they were empty but it wasn’t scary or eerie; it was nice, peaceful and still.

Highlights:

-Haman baths

-wanderi

ng the city

-Mosque of Cordoba

Granada:

After visiting the mosque we headed pretty much straight away to our next destination – Granada! I think Granada and Seville are tied as my favorite cities on this trip. For different reasons they are both completely awesome cities

Granada has a very interesting and somewhat odd juxtaposition of a built environment focused around the ancient Alhambra vs. the built environment of a completely new city. The procession that takes y

ou from the new city to the old is very interesting and I think it is reinforced by the actual physical action of having to go up a hill to reach the older part of the city.

Highlights:

-watching the sunset behind th

- Alhambra from the Saint Miguel Mirador.

-The Alhambra

Seville:

Seville is the city I love with my other half. Every section of the city is beautiful, open, tropical and warm

Highlights:

-cathedral of Seville

-the Alcazar

Merida:

Merid a was a small city that we went to at the end of our trip. It is mostly known for it's Roman ruins although there is an excellent museum by Moneo there as well.

Highlights:

-Roman ruins
-Moneo museum