The Forum

Earlier in the semester, we took a trip to the Barcelona Forum, 1992 project by Herzog and de Meuron for the 1992 Olympics. We found a small skatepark installed amongst the many recreational facilities on the grounds. 

On a warm tuesday after Spanish class, we went back and messed around for a while and walked across a pedestrian bridge installation and saw the site from a few different persepectives including the large industrial occupation in Barcelona's Ciutat Vila Olympicia.

Bilbao + San Sebastian

Its been a week since Bilbao and I have taken a week in Barcelona to compare and contrast my travels from spring break to Paris, our field trips to Andalusia, and most recent personal trip to San Sebastian. Bilbao was beautiful;tons of skateboarding gems, mostly stair sets and marble benches near the Foster metro entrances. It was extremely reminiscent of Paris in that I found the same spots around Parisian metro areas, but more importantly in terms of its river sculpting the industrial riverfront. I spend 6 hours at the Guggenheim on Thursday afternoon sketching and laying down on the floor trying to understand its geometry. On Friday we took a trip to Rioja to do wine tasting and to sketch wineries done by Zaha Hadid, Gehry, and Calatrava. Again, I found myself infatuated with Gehry's hotel/winery complex and did a few sketches between wine sips. Returned to Bilbao around 530 and tried out the nightlife and culture which can relate to Barcelona's in terms of bars and tapas (pinchos)

On Saturday, a friend and I parted from the Barcelona bound ground and took a bus trip to San Sebastian for under 50 euros round trip. Once again, a city on the river offered much in terms of analysis of urban development as San Sebastian's new city now encompasses most of its fabric. This new city however frowns on skateboarders and the majority of them that I saw were being chased or yelled at by shop owners or angry drivers who had to wait an extra second at the crosswalk. We took a tour of the Moneo building around 5 after sketching its exterior during siesta hours and then set out to explore the culture and nightlife.

In terms of Andalusia comparisons, northern Spain offers a much different cultural experience and intensity level. The Andalusians are relaxed and laid back; Sevilla was one of the most relaxing experiences I have had, getting lost in the old beautiful city fabric. Bilbao, Paris, and San Sebastian connect with Barcelona on an architectural level with their segregation of industrial areas and new city grids, along with their strong and seemingly rebellious cultures. 

Paris

Just got in from Paris. Major highlights of mine included the Pompidou Centre, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Jean Nouvell's new skyscraper project, Jean Nouvell's Seine park, and the urban fabric in general as related to Paris' metro system. The metro was fascinating to me and takes on the same image as Manhattan's old approach of suspending the rails above the streets, which I think lets the metro better interact with the fabric of the city below. I could have dealt without the way I was treated though, my attempts to communicate were done with respect but the people I interacted with spoke English and refused to speak it with me. 

Skateboarding in Paris is tough; I wasn't aware of all of the main areas for doing so and got a lot of bad looks from pedestrians as I was moving from one place to the next. Of all of the architecture I came into contact with, I found Paris' usage of the short stone public benches to be the main subject for skateboard-able architecture. I am in the process of dissecting the 500 photos I took and will post them for whoever follows this very soon.