Barcelona, the city, is the capital of the province of Barcelona - one of four provinces, including Girona, Lleida and Tarragona that comprise the autonomous community of Catalunya. The region as a whole has been designated a “nationality” by its Statute of Autonomy under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Efforts by a majority of the Catalunya population to declare independence from Spain as a separate country are intense. The, as yet, almost entirely peaceful movement is now at the heart of the everyday life of this place. One of the results is that the issue of language has become a rallying point for those wishing to separate from Spain.
When people speak about the Spanish language, they are actually talking about Castilian. That there is one language was a conceit promulgated for decades by Generalissimo Franco’s dictatorial government in its attempt to unify this portion of the Iberian Peninsula. There are possibly four, if not five, additional languages spoken in the present-day country of Spain: Catalan, Valencian, Majorcan and Galician, and perhaps, Basque, although its use is very limited. Whether these are languages in their own right (as has been argued forcefully for at least Catalan) or actually just dialects of Castilian, I will leave to the linguists and the various nationalist groups to argue.
This linguistic Estofado (a “Spanish” stew) creates a dilemma when writing about specific locales and places. For instance, street names in Barcelona have long been converted to Catalan, but historic maps that are readily available and still in use show the same streets in Castilian. The names of institutions likewise are reported in various sources in various ways. Where possible, then, I have tried to use the Catalan spelling, but I will be the first to admit that, as yet, I have no real idea which of the indigenous “Spanish” languages I am actually using.
I have to admit to being blown away by Barcelona. I visited the city over twenty years ago and remember my pilgrimage to all of the Antonio Gaudi buildings, a stroll down the Ramblas, and a three-star meal in a restaurant far from the center of town. I still have a wonderful black-and-white photo of mine of the Ramblas showing an almost lost age of older men sitting peacefully at café tables watching the world walk by. It was an interesting place, but it did not capture my full attention or imagination.
This time, it was like entering a new world. The place seems dynamic. Every street corner had something visually new to offer. There are several dozen new museums, cultural centers, and public and private buildings to explore and admire. I cannot imagine that I am that much better of a traveler this time around, but I found various sections of the city on this trip that I did not know even existed before.
I selected an upscale, boutique hotel off the internet located in the Raval, a barrio of the city about which I knew nothing except that it was the in old quarter. When I alighted from the taxi, I found myself in…North Africa! The barrio has seen an influx of immigrants from Morocco, Egypt, etc. There are cafes and restaurants serving mint tea and tagines of lamb dishes. The pastelerias (pastry shops) are as likely to have baklava and kanafeh, as they are local sweets. The cellphone shops are manned by Arabic speakers. You are likely to hear their native language on the streets and alleys as you are Spanish.
It was marvelous.Yes, the wider city has its fair share of tourists even in this chilly winter month; yes, the Ramblas has turned into an outdoor tourist mall; and yes, prices are nothing to write home about (Where is the Spanish recession? The 24% unemployment!), but the atmosphere does not seem at all artificial, nor at all depressing. Perhaps, I am just being artificially swayed by the sense of design I see everywhere. Maybe it is result of the resurgence of Catalan national pride. Or possibly, it is just the contrast from the last stop on my travels. This place is great.
So, I toured. I started looking seriously at places to live long-term. I ate my Moroccan lamb dishes and my Spanish tapas. I enjoyed myself.
MODERNISME
This travelogue is focused on architecture in context. I am not sure what that means exactly, but I am working on it. Visiting Barcelona, the only way to start understanding the contemporary architecture is to understand a little about the art movement known as Modernisme (Catalan) / Modernisma (Castilian).
Modernisme, also known as Catalan modernism, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement. Its main form of expression was in architecture, but many other arts were involved (painting, sculpture, etc.), and especially the design and the decorative arts (cabinetmaking, carpentry, forged iron, ceramic tiles, ceramics, glass-making, silver and goldsmith work, etc.), which were particularly important, especially in their role as support to architecture… (The movement) was centered in Catalonia and Barcelona which were intensifying their local characteristics for socio-ideological reasons after the revival of Catalan culture and in the context of spectacular urban and industrial development.
(Wikipedia)
The movement closely paralleled artistic developments in France and Belgium (Art Nouveau); Germany (Jugendstil); Austria (Sezession); Italy (Liberty style); Scotland (Modern or Glasgow Style). It certainly also was inspired by the English Arts and Crafts movement. (In case you are interested, all of these architectural currents eventually found their way to the United States.) The time period is a thirty-year period roughly from the late-1880s to the mid-1910s.
It is estimated that there were more than 100 architects who made buildings of the Modernista style in Spain, three of whom are particularly well known internationally for their outstanding buildings: Antoni Gaudi, Lluis Domenech i Montaner, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Gaudi lived and designed in a world of (primarily religious) fantasy that is hard to comprehend by others and almost impossible to re-create with any degree of originality. Cadafalch, was also a politician and historian whose work centered mostly on restoration of older buildings in the Neo-Gothic style.
"These are two of the finest contributions to Barcelona's architecture…The Palau de la Música Catalana is an exuberant steel-framed structure full of light and space, and decorated by many of the leading designers of the day. The Hospital de Sant Pau is equally bold in its design and decoration, while at the same time perfectly adapted to the needs of the sick…These two monuments are masterpieces of the imaginative and exuberant Art Nouveau that flowered in early 20th century. The Palau de la Música Catalana has uniqueness, authenticity, and beauty and it is an unparalleled testimony, in the Modernist style, to a public concert hall whose symbolic, artistic, and historical value is universal. The Hospital de Sant Pau is the outstanding example of its type of exceptional interest because of its beauty, size and unique architectural design."
(UNESCO World Heritage listing.)
Palau de la Musica Catalana
Completed, 1908
Hospital de Sant Pau
Started in 1901; first phase opened in 1911,
completed by Domenech’s son in 1930.
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| A model of the remaining built portion of the much larger planned complex. The administration building is in the foreground. Along the main, planted axis is the operating pavilion. Straddling either side of the main axis are eight ward buildings. |
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| The extraordinary, for the times, network of underground passageways linking all of the buildings. It is now highlighted by some nifty moving images superimposed on the walls. |
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| A period photo of one of the pavilion wards. |
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| ...and the conserved space today. |
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| An interesting contemporary renovation of a space in the Administration building for use as a conference center. |
GLORIES
Emblematic of this new (at least in my eyes) city is the redevelopment of an area to the north of the city center called Glories, centered on the Placa de les Glories Catalanes. This is or was a large square, first designed by Ildefons Cerda to serve as the new city center in his original 19th century urban plan for Barcelona. The shift never happened and the area surrounding Glories fell into obscurity. It is at the junction of three of the city’s most important throughfares: Aveninguda Diagonal, Avinguda Meridiana and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. In its most recent history, it served largely as a roundabout of elevated highways.
Beginning in the 1990s and through to today, a massive redevelopment project was initiated, aimed to give the square a new role in Barcelona and to revitalize the northern districts of the city under the name, “22@”. The first building to be built was the controversial Towr Agbar skyscraper. It has now been joined by a museum, a national theater, a concert hall, a rebuilt and revitalized Mercat (market); a modern shopping mall; and large civic landscaping and infrastructure projects.
Unfortunately, the individual structures all seemed a bit lost and sitting alone on their individual sites with no clear master plan linking them, nor any grand panorama view. There certainly was no clear pedestrian path between the various buildings, lots of dodging between cars and trams and fences, and around staircase popping up from the Metro to get from one to the other. I did not let any of this deter me.
Towr Agbar
(Agbar Tower)
This is the new headquarters for Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar), the municipal water company, charged with running the city's water supply, as well as its sewerage and other civic activities including health care provision, vehicle inspection and tax collection. Towr Agbar rises into the sky at 33 (above-ground)-stories tall and 142 meters (466 feet) in height. Designed by the world-renowned French architects, Ateliers Jean Nouvel and completed in 2005, it is often referred to, diplomatically and at the prompting of Nouvel, as a geyser. It is now a major element on the Barcelona skyline and, as you can see from the vantage point of my hotel roof deck, it is very prominent indeed.
Technically, the building is made up of two non-concentric oval cylinders topped by a glass and steel dome. The first skin that surrounds the concrete core and structure is a layer of polished aluminum in blues, greens, and grays in 25 different colors. The second skin, which “adds an iridescent sparkle to the building”, is made up of 59,619 sheets of clear glass in louvered panels attached through the first skin. These 4,400 exterior windows tilt in various directions to block out any direct sunlight. At night, 4,500 yellow, blue, pink, and red lights illuminate the exterior.
This is not a tower. It is not a skyscraper in the American sense of the expression: it is a unique growth in the middle of this rather calm city. But it is not the slender, nervous verticality of the spires and bell towers that often punctuate horizontal cities. Instead, it is a fluid mass that has perforated the ground - a geyser under a permanent calculated pressure.
The surface of this construction evokes the water: smooth and continuous, but also vibrating and transparent because it manifests itself in coloured depths - uncertain, luminous and nuanced. This architecture comes from the earth but does not have the weight of stone. It could even be the faraway echo of old formal Catalan obsessions, carried by a mysterious wind from the coast of Montserrat.
The uncertainties of matter and light make the campanile of Agbar vibrate in the skyline of Barcelona: a faraway mirage day and night; a precise marker to the entry of the new diagonale that starts at Plaça de las Glorias. This singular object becomes a new symbol for an international city.
(Jean Nouvel quoted in ArcSpace.com)
As an architect, I cannot talk about this building without referring to 30 St. Mary Axe, better known as “The Gherkin”, built originally as the Swiss Re Building, completed in 2003 in London, England. The architects were Norman Foster and Associates. The similarities between the two buildings have been well-documented and discussed in the popular press and architectural journals. The consensus is that the Nouvel building is better. “A blaze of color, Torre Agbar is Foster’s tower on holiday.” (Jonathan Glancey, The Guardian, March 28, 2005) They are both interesting.
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| (Photo by others.) The Gherkin. |
St. Mary Axe is 180 meters tall, so about 20% taller than Agbar and its profile is certainly a bit slimmer and pointed at the top. St. Mary Axe is more about the structural grid and is very elegant. Agbar is more about the skin and perhaps, just a bit gimmicky. They are so close in overall impact as to be too close. Of course, your “typical” skyscraper is just a rectangular box sitting on its end. Why can there not be a new ovoid model skyscraper? Are we to expect more of these dildos, sorry, gherkins popping up around the world? I doubt it. Somehow the shape is just too much of a signature.
What interests me is how these two similar anomalies got built so close together in time. Did Nouvel knew about the Foster building and visa versa. The two are among the top best-known architects in the world and their work is closely followed by an army of followers. Who scrawled the first image of a giant, I am sorry, but dildo, on a sketch pad first and said, “We have a new skyscraper!”
In architecture, as in the art world, similarities between designs often appear in any one period as buildings begin to be known. Skyscrapers often take years to gestate, first on the drawing boards and then in actual construction. The dates of these two structures are so close, however, that is difficult to fathom two such closely related buildings not being the result of some interchange between the architects. Fodder for architectural historians.
In architecture, as in the art world, similarities between designs often appear in any one period as buildings begin to be known. Skyscrapers often take years to gestate, first on the drawing boards and then in actual construction. The dates of these two structures are so close, however, that is difficult to fathom two such closely related buildings not being the result of some interchange between the architects. Fodder for architectural historians.
And for those architects among you, here are some of the inspired floor plans and a section of the Towr.
Museu del Disseny de Barcelona – “DHUB”
(Design Museum of Barcelona)
This is a new center for Barcelona's Institute of Culture that “works to promote better understanding and good use of the design world through this museum and laboratory”. The Disseny Hub, as it is popularly known, draws together over 70,000 items from four previously independent museums: the Decorative Arts Museum; Ceramics Museum; the Textile and Clothing Museum; and the Graphic Arts Cabinet. It also includes a research arm.
Designed by DBM ARQUITECTES of Barcleona (Martorell, Bohigas, Mackay, Capdevila, Gual) and their coordinating architect, Josep Cardús, the building was only recently completed in 2013. The DHUB is located on a sloping site and is very close to the elevated roundabout of a busy motorway. The site is part of a future park which meant that only a small building footprint would be allowed at ground level with the rest of the building underground. These site restrictions apparently also helped foster the overall approach of utilizing cantilevered floors above ground to create more floor space.
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| (Photo by Inigo Bujedo Aguirre) |
Although the professional photograph above shows the building (and the Towr Agbar) in all its design glory, my more pedestrian experience - in both senses of the word - was much less exciting.
The building does not “sing” until you walk inside. Then, in a bravado feat of exuberance two different sets of escalators, one essentially going up to the galleries, and the other going down to the three underground public levels containing a library, café, bookstore, etc., soar through their respective vividly painted yellow volumes creating wonderful, interactive art energy of both form and movement.
The exhibits are equally as dynamic, not necessarily because of the curatorship or the galleries themselves which seemed to be rather mundane, but more because of the variety and depth of the collection. (One photograph showing a floor prior to the installation of the exhibits gives the impression of much more under-utilized potential.) There is something here for everyone, ranging from ceramics to jewelry to clothing to manufactured objects. All of it the very best in Spanish and, in many cases, worldwide design.
Mercat dels Encants
The new Market Encants Barcelona is located in the old Bosquet dels Encants (Charms of the Bosquet) that dates from the 14th century. Also known as the Fira de Bellcaire (Fair Beaucaire), the market was designed by "b720" architecture studio, one of the largest architectural offices based in Barcelona. (b720 is supposedly named after the "international code assigned to architecture”. I spent my maximum 10 minutes on Google trying to find a reference to such a code and could not. Anyone have any help here?)
(Postscript: One reader has suggested that "720" is the Dewey decimal system number for books on architecture. Sounds reasonable. The "b", I suppose, could be for Barcelona.)
(Postscript: One reader has suggested that "720" is the Dewey decimal system number for books on architecture. Sounds reasonable. The "b", I suppose, could be for Barcelona.)
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| (Photo by others.) |
Architect Fermin Vazquez, director of the studio and “author” of the project, describes the role of the roof as the,
"…linking element between the building and the city. While urban environment, surrounding buildings, parks or traffic are reflected and become part of the market, its bustling and chaotic activity is visible from outside. It is a mutual inclusion and visualized belonging, which has important urban role to dignify and identify flea market activity and to give character and identity to the building, a part from functional purpose of the roof as an element which protects the market from sun and rain.” (The) Architect describes highlighting the roof as a usual mechanism of representation of large facilities like markets or train station and as something which gives the appropriate urban scale to these buildings. Still, iconographic character does not present value by itself. It is a mechanism of integration of the activity and its urban context."
(Milos Stipcic, e-architect.co.uk)
It’s just a fun roof covering a flea market, guys…deal with it.
Teatre Nacional de Catalunya – “TNC”
(Catalan National Theater)
Designed by the internationally-known, Catalan “post-modern” architect, Ricardo Bofill, the center was completed in 1996. The metal shed roof covers three theater spaces in a straightforward utilitarian structure, while the columns “dress” the glass box of the outer building in the guise of a Greek temple. In the words of a tourist organization, the building is an “architectural mixture of classics with a tint of modern thought.” (www.espanarusa.com) I do not think I could have said it better myself.
L'Auditori de Barcelona
(L’Auditori)
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| (Photo by others.) Note: National Theater at left. |
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| (Photo by others.) |
Centro Comercial Les Glories de Barcelona
(Glories Shopping Mall)
A non-descript, partially enclosed and partially open-air shopping center. This is my best attempt at making a small portion of it come alive.
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BOOK NOTE
Robert Hughes, the long-time, Australian-born art critic for TIME Magazine and prolific author who died in 2012, wrote two books about the adopted city he loved. The first is called simply Barcelona. This roundly acclaimed comprehensive volume was published in 1992, just long enough after Spain’s long isolation under the rule of Generalissimo Francisco Franco y Bahamonde to report on a country and city in the throes of a major transformation. The second book, Barcelona: the Great Enchantress, was published twelve years later as part of a series of relatively slim volumes offered by National Geographic Directions written by famous literary figures about “favorite places they visit often”.
The intervening eventful years saw the complete transformation of Barcelona from a forgotten city rich in untapped history and birthplace of its own major art movement to an unsurpassed international destination. This was partly the result of the rebuilding of the city for the1992 Summer Olympics, but also the consequence of internal social, cultural and political forces that Hughes attributes largely to the rebirth of Catalan nationalism. I have read portions of the first boo and all of the second.
Hughes’ description of the Modernista architects and buildings, particularly in Enchantress, are unsurpassed “cross-over” writing, readily intelligible to the lay reader, but also serious architectural criticism. The value of his work is demonstrated by the fact that reading about Barcelona from various sources, Hughes is often quoted and when not quoted, his thoughts can be seen lurking in the writings of others. The books are highly recommended for anyone interested in learning more, much, much more about this fascinating city.
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THE BARCELO RAVAL HOTEL
You might have noticed that during the weeks of my travels I have rarely mentioned the various hotels in which I have stayed. A few were somewhat memorable, usually for the view from their heights, most were comfortable and uniquely forgettable. The Barcelo Ravel is in a class of its own.
At 11 above-ground stories, the hotel already towers over the Raval barrio and certainly over the Ramblas Raval, the rectangular public square it faces. Its elliptical shape further distinguishes it from its neighbors. The fact that it is sheathed in a chain link mesh from the first floor to the roof and that it is meant to be lit with purple lights in the evening from base to top is just excess notoriety.
Designed by CMV Architects of Palma de Mallorca and completed in 2008, the hotel became an instant landmark for both the barrio and the city. Its height means that the requisite rooftop deck and bar have an unsurpassed 360-degree view of the city.
The interiors from the lobby to the upper floors to the rooms are all about design, fashion, and obviously, sex. The fact that the pie-shaped rooms are so far stripped down to the barest essentials and, as a result, are absolutely useless for any sort of extended stay comfort, or that the stupendous views out of the upper floor windows are blocked by what, from the inside, looks like a prison screen, or that the floor to ceiling windows are locked closed and can only be opened by a hotel staff member with a specific wrench (I do not understand this one – there is nowhere to jump since the chain link is only about a foot away) – all of this is secondary.
The fact the curtains are controlled electronically (“Please do not pull”); the bed is trimmed with halogen strip lighting; one wall is covered with flocked wallpaper; all of the hardware is German-imported high-end residential-quality (two of which were non-functional in the first of my two rooms); all of this contributes to the aura of a “special” place to rest or better yet, party. My two-hour, next-door neighbors obviously were having lots of fun – there is no sound-proofing anywhere… But, oh, the design!
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Just to give you some idea about the “feel” of the rest of the Raval, here are a few typical images.
THE (OTHER) MARKETS
Barcelona is obviously having a market renaissance. Including the Mercat dels Encants (see above), BarcelonaTouisme.com lists 40 major markets in the city. Many of the old markets are being renovated into destination events, market-like on the surface, but obviously having little to do with the everyday shopping and everyday people these places were meant to serve. I visited two others which still offer food stuffs; toured the El Born, an example of an adaptive re-use of a market; and walked around a third, the massive Mercat Sant Antoni, better known as La Boqueria, currently closed for major renovations.
Mercat Santa Caterina
This is another market renovation that is all about the roof, this time a wavy one. Dating from 1848, the market was most recently renovated in 205 by architects Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue of EMBT. It is located in the district of Ribera in Ciutat Vella (the Old City). One website claims that, “It’s an authentic neighborhood market where locals go to buy provisions from their favorite trusted vendors.” That might be, but the dramatic architecture has also attracted a host of tourists and obviously students of architecture like myself, clicking away with their/our cameras.
Mercat de Sants
The work, which began in 2009 and finished in 2014, was the responsibility of the architectural studio Pb2 Projecte, led by the architect Josep Llobet i Bach. The renovations respected the Modernista features on the facade so that the building still retains its original spirit as one of the most representative of the Modernista markets. It has been completely updated inside.
"The municipal architect, Pere Falqués, responsible for a great many Modernista works and buildings, constructed the Mercat de Sants on land previously known as the Hort Nou, the new market garden. This new covered market opened in 1913, serving an increasingly more populous Sants neighbourhood, and it soon became the commercial and social hub of the area. The building, in three sections and with exposed brickwork, is an almost perfect example of Barcelona market architecture at the beginning of the 20th century."
(Inspira.barcelona.cat/en/)
El Born Centre Cultura
"El Born CC"
(El Born Cultural Center)
The cast iron and glass cathedral of El Born Markat that first opened in the neighborhood of La Ribera in 1876 is today both an archeological museum that covers recently unearthed remnants of Barcelona of the 1700s, and a multipurpose public space that offers “a varied program for all audiences…in literature, language, conferences, music, games, puppets and gastronomy”. The market served as the central fruit and vegetable wholesale market for the city for 50 years from 1921-1971.
Closed for 42 years, the structure re-opened as the El Born CC in 2013. When I visited, the exhibits included “Until We Prevail! The Siege of 1714” in the War of Spanish Succession which pitted Spanish and French armies against Catalonia, the defeat of which resulted in the end of Catalonia as an independent country. So, I learned a little history too. The new center has caused a gentrification of the surrounding neighborhood, bringing with it the growing displacement of the resident population.
Closed for 42 years, the structure re-opened as the El Born CC in 2013. When I visited, the exhibits included “Until We Prevail! The Siege of 1714” in the War of Spanish Succession which pitted Spanish and French armies against Catalonia, the defeat of which resulted in the end of Catalonia as an independent country. So, I learned a little history too. The new center has caused a gentrification of the surrounding neighborhood, bringing with it the growing displacement of the resident population.
THE (OTHER) MUSEUMS
Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona “MACBA”
(The Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona)
Completed in 1995 by starchitect Richard Meier in Barcelona…and in Los Angeles, and in Atlanta, and in Germany, and…. Need I say more?
“Medieval streets inspired the MACBA’s linear organization.” (Richard Meier)
Yes, we can all see that, right? Right?
.....there was a more traditionally interesting exhibit, "The Passion According to Carol Rama, " (1936-2006).
Convent de la Mare de Déu dels Àngels
(Convent dels Angels)
Much more interesting and right across the Placa dels Angels public square from MACBA is this small subsidiary museum located in the chapel and refectory of the former Augustinian convent, designed by master builder Bartolomeu Roig in the middle of the 16th century. The Late Gothic and Renaissance structure was converted in 2006 by Architects Lluis Cloet and Ignacio Paricio into a general cultural center with an exhibition hall (El Fòrum dels Àngels), a bookstore, a 150-seat auditorium, and a restaurant and bar.
The grace and simplicity of the setting contrasts sharply with the messiness and density of the current exhibition, Nonument,
“…a project in which MACBA has invited twenty-eight artists …to reflect on how, from the practice of art, it may be possible nowadays to enter in to the problematic links between event, commemoration, aesthetics and city. The result is a series of new proposals – especially conceived for this exhibition – showing how the tradition of monument can be reinterpreted through the artistic languages…At the same time, Nonument can also be seen as an open laboratory on the imminent proliferation of symbols colonising real and virtual spaces in our environment, a discursive platform from which to investigate how artist can join these pressing debates.”
(Joseph Bohigas and Bartomeu Mari, Exhibition Curators)
In the Refectory:
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| The flooring under the exhibit tables has been removed, supposedly exposing the structure and utilities beneath, although there seemed to be an awful lot of mon-functional, extraneous materiel. |
In the Chapel:
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| Possibly part of the Sigalit Landau, Phoenician Sand Dance exhibit. Who knows, and does it really matter? |
Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona – “CCCB”
(Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona)
The CCCB occupies part of the old Casa de Caritat almshouse that was built in 1802 and was in service for this use until 1957. The remodeled premises, completed in 1995, are the work of the architects Helio Piñón and Albert Viaplana, The new project replaced the north wing, completing the original U-shaped layout with a 30-metre high prismatic volume, presenting a spectacular glazed façade that projects into the courtyard at the top. In the spring of 2011, the CCCB further expanded its premises with the incorporation of the former theater of the Casa de Caritat. The project, designed by Martinez Lapeña-Torres Arquitectos, forms a basement-level connection between the various parts of Center surrounding the Pati de les Dones courtyard, and addresses the old theatre, built in 1912 by the architect Josep Goday i Casals, and part of one of the 19th-century cloisters of the former Hospital de la Caritat.
"After almost 20 years of continued programming, the CCCB has consolidated its position as a respected point of reference; a focus of cultural and creative attraction for the city of Barcelona, for the whole of Catalonia and Spain, and internationally. The CCCB has proved its determination to be a place for production and creation as well as exhibition, bringing together a large number of committed cultural actors and users, all convinced that culture is a basic necessity.
Our publics, as varied as our range of activities, have seen that the CCCB offers a quality program, marked by complete creative freedom, devoid of dogmatisms, in touch with different sensibilities, bringing a touch of eclecticism and a style of its own that doesn’t aim to impose trends, with a will to generate debate and take a critical look at the present moment. It considers quality as non-negotiable and is faithful at all times to two defining characteristics: an urban vocation and cultural quality.
At the same time, the CCCB is a place for experimentation with artistic languages and codes; a meeting place for dialogue between academia and citizens; a platform for innovation on the part of groups and creators, and a laboratory open to the cultural change underway.
At the CCCB, there’s always something interesting going on. Come and find out for yourself!"
(From www.cccb.org)
Despite the art-talk, there was an interesting exhibit on view, “Arissa: The Shadow and the Photographer 1922-1936.” From the exhibition hand-out: “The exhibition recovers the figure of Antoni Arissa (Sant Andreau 1900 – Barcelona 1980), one of the most outstanding representatives of the photographic vanguards of our country, and one who experimented more directly with the principles of the new Vision – a movement promoted by Laszio Moholy-Nagy in Germany in the 1920s. This is the first anthological exhibition devoted to this author, whose work was practically unknown for decades.” I even thought the exhibition signage was just right.
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| One of the photographs that attracted my special attention. |
La Capella
(The Chapel)
La Capella is an art exhibition center that the Culture Institute of Barcelona has dedicated to new creative artistic trends and innovative contemporary art. La Capella is located in the former chapel of the (Antic) Hospital de Sant Pau i de la Santa Creu ([Old] Holy Cross Hospital) in the Raval barrio just a few minute walk from my hotel. For years, until the development of the Hospital de Sant Pau (see Modernisme above), this was the largest and busiest hospital - and hospice - in Barcelona. In itself, it is a significant example of Catalan Gothic architecture.
As a museum, its activities focus on exhibitions to give visibility to the most innovative of local artists. While at the museum, I was told that they essentially want artists to use the space to present ideas-in-progress for work that need a cash infusion to be completed. La Capella also offers visitors the use of "R.punt", a place to study and read up on journals about contemporary art.
The chapel has been stripped down to its barest essentials and for the grouping of art pieces I saw, the lighting was lowered in the nave to the barest minimum revealing only the swath of a large display wall piercing the room diagonally. The side niches were lit to standards necessary for the opening images of a proposed video piece or the storyboard of a proposed conceptual art installation.
The space was rather breath-taking in its drama and actually helped enhance the art or the would-be-art, which in most cases was an unfortunate requirement. I also for some reason became fixated on the view back out to the street and the contrast between the extraordinary everyday life (and street art) of the Raval barrio and the equally extraordinary life (and art?) of the gallery.
THE SEASIDE
Barcelona is first and foremost a Mediterranean community. The docks, shipyards, fisheries and associated commercial and industrial activity accompanying those facilities and which, for a significant period in history made Catalunya a major power, have for centuries relegated the seaside to utilitarian uses. The 19th and 20th century equivalent of the seaside esplanade was train tracks and warehouses. Today, of course, that has all changed. As Barcelona has transformed, so has its waterfront and beach.
There are now two significant architectural anchors to the restored Barcelona beach. At the southern end, located in Barceloneta, part of the expanded port area that has created a new entry to the Barcelona harbor is a “W” hotel, popularly known as the Hotel Vela (the sail) reflecting its pronounced shape. Designed by architect Ricardo Bofil (see Teatre Nacional de Catalunya above), there is not much to say about the place except that in the blinding sunlight bouncing off the Mediterranean, it creates a massive silhouette that is perhaps more dramatic than aesthetic.
O.K., so I did a little editing, but this is the essence of the entire design.
At the northern end is a large metal sculpture. It is a really large metal structure. Yes, I know, it is now a landmark, an iconic image for the city that was designed by Frank Gehry. Called the Peix d’Or (goldfish), the open-web structure is located near the edge of the Vila Olimpica del Poblenou, the 1992 Olympic Village that is now an apartment community surrounding sports facilities. The “goldfish” is actually a giant billboard for a local casino and a small shopping complex. However interesting the structure, the whole effort is a bit Coney Island, but as with New York’s famed amusement park, the sculpture certainly speaks loudly, if not perhaps so assuredly.
If you are looking for (more?) excitement, I actually like the neighboring building better:
In between, the sand beach is bordered by a well-used esplanade that is slowly attracting other commercial activity.
Midway between the two anchors, there is another new and much smaller landmark sculpture consisting of stacked metal boxes or blocks designed by artist Rebecca Horn.
In between, the sand beach is bordered by a well-used esplanade that is slowly attracting other commercial activity.
"These blocks, tower thing and leaning cubes on Barceloneta beach, which seem to have become a bit of a landmark, are actually an art work called L'Estel Ferit (the wounded star or the injured comet) and was commissioned for the 1992 Olympics.The Wounded Star pays homage to the Barceloneta borough, originally the sailors' quarters. This rusty titled tower conjures up images of an old lighthouse which is no longer in use or needed. The sculpture consists of four steel cubes stacked one above the other. The material used is iron, glass and light on a big concrete base. Inside the bottom cube are sea related things that are lit up at night."
(www.mimoa.eu: MIMOA – Mi Modern Architecture)
The day I was there the sculpture was being used, in contradiction to its whimsical origins, as a gathering point for some un-Disneyland-type characters.
The day I was there the sculpture was being used, in contradiction to its whimsical origins, as a gathering point for some un-Disneyland-type characters.
THE SAGRADA FAMILIA
Started in 1882 and obviously seen as the lifetime achievement of architect Antonio Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia, or to give it its full name, the Basilica i Templo de la Sagrada Familia (Basilica and Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family), is still under construction. The work passed the midway point in 2010 and it is reported that the goal is for it to be finished for the centenary of Gaudi’s death in 2026. On my last visit to Barcelona 25 years ago I explored every nook and cranny of the place, climbing to the upper battlements and gingerly crossing the open-webbed metal construction bridges high above the city to see all I could of the building. I returned to the site this time just to make sure things were going well. They seemed to be.
Robert Hughes (see above) relates that the Sagrada Familia was “intended to be what its name says: a “temple” where Catalans (and, Gaudi hoped, eventually the whole Catholic world) would converge to do penance for the sins of ‘modernity’, sins which have so horribly and mortally offended Christ, his Virgin Mother, and – presumably when he wasn’t busy carpentering – Christ’s stepfather, St. Joseph.” Interestingly, it was not church-sponsored.
A lay association called the Josephines initiated the project. The association, whose offshoots had sprung up like mushrooms in Europe - and particularly in Spain - worked to propagate the cult of obedience to the infallible pope, Pius IX. It was only recently consecrated a “minor basilica” by the Church. (Barcelona has a centuries-old Cathedral; you cannot have two cathedrals in one city.)
The fact that I no longer see the Sagrada Familia as the stopping point for an architectural tour of Barcelona attests to, I hope, my vastly extended range of interests and my increasingly lack of patience to stand in an interminable line of (other) tourists. Most importantly, it is a result of my realization that this city, all cities, have a fabric of buildings that make up its whole, a totality of architecture that - when executed correctly and cared for intelligently - helps create and enhance the magical, living presence that is the essence of any particular city.
Barcelona is one such place.
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Copyright © 2015-2023 Benjamin Clavan
