Come on, girls

Rosalyn and Kelly take advantage of the playground equipment at a new housing development in Amsterdam. Rejoice.

Laugh, but don't laugh too hard. It took me twice as long as it took Rosalyn.

The Old Country

Having been born in South Jersey and raised in the Philadelphia area, I've known a thing or two about Italian culture. Talking with one's hands, last names ending in a vowel, eating pasta, having wine with meals, meeting with family, etc etc etc etc. So I sort of knew what to expect with the culture of the place. But what I didn't expect was how incredibly nice all of the people were. At first I thought it was going to be somewhat similar to my native City of Brotherly Shove, and as I got off at Roma Termini station and shady people were trying to offer me a room, I thought it might be rough. But not before long I realized that the people, especially in Tuscany, were incredibly nice, very helpful in terms of giving directions, and I was shocked to discover that they all at least spoke some English. Whether it was picking out the right bike to take along the river or picking out the right wine to bring back home, the Italians made me feel at home during my stay in their country.

And in terms of the quality of the architecture, I was expecting to see a sort of museum of architecture in the city centers, basically just roman architecture that we have already seen in the Barri Gotic and such. While it is true that there is very little brand spanking new ground-breaking architecture in Italy, the old architecture is diverse and always contains a lesson to be learned. Whether it's the spaces within Bruneleschi's cathedrals, the monumental nature of Roman buildings/streets/plazas, or the integration of the landscape in the urbanity of Siena, there is some kind of genius thinking that went into the historic elements that you don't always see in Spain. Another interesting note...each region and subregion has its own character based on its history. We were only in Rome for 24 hours, but it was long enough to see how the it had an ancient Roman monumental character as opposed to Florence's Rennaisance-style decour, and Florence's southern Tuscan counterpart, Siena, had more of a hill town medieval setup. Each of these places reflected the character of their peak periods in history. One thing they all had in common though; there is an abundance of places where you can get a beautiful view over the cities.

pilgrimage to Goedereede

Going to Holland, I had to make one stop. Goedereede is where my mother´s grandmother is from. I will have been the first one back since she emigrated to the United States. Fortunately Goedereede wasn´t too fair from Rotterdam, on my travel itinerary. So today, I got up early on my first day in Rotterdam and made my way to the tourist center. The woman was very nice and gave me printed instructions on how to reach my destination, however was confused on exactly why I was going. I got the strange transportation stamp strip common to the Netherlands, enough to get me there and back. i headed off on the metro to the bus termial. All confusing enough, I finally found the right bus. The sheet of instructions, much like map quest, instructed me to take bus 101 until richting hellevoetsluis, then take bus 104 until richting renesse. Easy enough I thought. But there is always a but. There was no Hellevoetsluis stop, and I ended up taking bus 101 to the last stop, in the end having to get off and backtrack. Not only that, but once I got onto 104, there was also no Renesse stop. So in the end I had turned a 1.2 hour journey into a 3 hour journey. I finally got to Goedereede, and it was thankfully beautiful. The town couldn´t have been a mile wide, and was centered around a small canal. There was a beautiful church from the 1400s which played musical bells pretty much the entire time I visitied. The end of town was marked by an old windmill and from there started fields of green and sheep. Very quant and small and cold. There were only 2 cafes, one hotel-resturant, one bakery, and some assorted (yet closed) antique and art stores. After awkwardly taking some photos and videos, I got a cup of coffee and decided to head back to Rotterdam. The only thing I failed to note was that the Saturday (Zumerdaag, i believe) bus left an hour later than I had thought. But other than that, it only took me 2 hours on the return. Improvement at least. Even though I messed up my transportation sheets, and had no cash left to my name, I managed to get back to the hostel. It was neat to see where I came from in a sense. People thought I was dutch and the Santa Clause wears a pope hoot.

Wonderful Copenhagen

ok so i have found an extra couple of minutes to come back and edit this fast post from Copenhagen. My experiences in Copenhagen were "wonderful" and i can agree with what seems to be the slogan of the town. It was not as big as i had imagined but there was still so much to see and do that i think i still missed out on a great deal of what Copenhagen had to offer. As I mentioned, the 8 hours of sunlight means my days started early and ended early too. After 5 o'clock everyday the stars were out and the city starts to shutdown. A lot of the city becomes desolate from the hours of 5-7 or 8. Then the partying starts up again, and despite the cold weather and baring the snow i managed to go out every night. One of the highlights was catching a jazz show at the Copenhagen jazz house, which is apparently a famous spot for jazz in Europe. the jazz was really awesome and I later learned, from a nice danish man, that the guy had played with Miles Davis earlier in his life.

As for the architecture of Copenhagen. Much of the new building is going on along the waterfront, which the city addresses nicely (opposed to Valencia). One of the buildings is the city's new opera house that is right on the water and almost has the Bilbaoesque feel to it, although on a much smaller scale of course. Arriving on a weekend I was unable to explore the inside like i would have liked to, but the outside and the look through the glass were enough to show the grandeur of it. I also got to the Zaha museum extension, outside of the city. The collection of the museum is very small and if it weren't for the temporary Piet Mondrian exhibit, the art would not have been worth paying for. The extension, contrary to the art inside was very interesting. the folds of the building exterior mimic the surrounding landscape while creating a unique art viewing experience inside as well. the experiences you get as you turn each corner were one of a kind and i loved the way she created these through the forms of the concrete floors and ceilings.

But by far the most interesting part of Copenhagen was the area of Christiania. This is the area of Copenhagen, that in the 1960's was taken over by hippies!! I know its hard to imagine hippies taking over anything, but that is exactly what they did. They boarded off the area and created an area where, and i am quoting one of them "everyone owns everything, and you can build whatever wherever." They built an entire community within the city with their bare hands. It is interesting to see now because the land is prime land right on the waterfront, and you see normal business men and women riding their bikes to work through what is not the best run neighborhood. The city is trying to normalize the community but they are protesting it and fighting very hard for their independence. I was unable to take photos in this unique area except for the entrance sign that on one side said "Christiania" and the other side, as you leave the area, "you are now entering the EU" which i found comical. Bevar Chritiania!!!

But as for final notes on Copenhagen: It is expensive but worth it, Denmark is incredible and I cant wait to go back one day.

Ireland and such

So I can´t put any photos up yet, because I don´t have my computer. So far I have been to Dublin and Cork, Ireland, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Netherlands. This is my last night in Rotterdam before leave for Amsterdam again, then back to Barcelona. Dublin was amazing! The people in Ireland are the nicest people you will ever meet. The second you pull out a map, someone is there to tell you where to go. Everyone is so polite and eager to help you out. A few of us stayed at Isaac´s Hostel right by the bus station. I advise you, if you decide to stay in Dublin, go to Isaac´s. They have the nicest reception. You will meet people from all over, its is the most cozy atmosphere. people are always going out and inviting you to join, but if you are tired after a long day of traveling, there is a TV room in the basement with a bunch of incredibly comfortable couches.
I would have to say my favorite part of Dublin was Trinity College. It is probably one of the coolest universities I have seen, outside of Clemson of course :) There was all the old architecture complimented by beautiful grass fields. The student are so nice and fun there. I definitely want to look into a grad program there.
So thats a tid bit of stuff so far. I´m saving all the good stuff for later so I can post pictures and videos along with it.

"burrrr"in in berlin

or at least thats what im calling it. its crazy cold, but i guess its not snowing steadily so im not allowed to complain. there will be minimal punctuation in this entry, because german keyboards just arent worth the time. it took me 20 mins to get those quotations right. so while in berlin, ive had my first mies, libeskind, and gropius experiences. i am going to have to come back in with my photos later.

the jewish museum by libeskind is amazing. it was so good, it made me angry. i think we all get a little tired of symbolism in architecture, but this symbolism was so appropriate you couldnt argue with it. one example is a small room 3 or 4 stories high only lit by daylight via a very small window at the top. it is meant to bring feelings of despair and isolation. and that it did. i would say it was probably the most moving space ive ever been in. and his zig zaggy windows are sweet, too.

mies, oh mies. the neue nationalgalerie was cool. just the mies we all know, less is more. i must admit, the space is elegant, and makes it all about the exhibition space on the first level. a little bit of the platter syndrome, though, i must say. i was really excited to see some dada work in the galleries below.

as a rule of our travels, there must be one museum that is not completely open. the bauhaus archives was the one to strike with disappointment this time. of course, it opens NEXT week. i was, however able to see a lot of domestic products and toys produced by the school. there were multiple drawings, and advertisements for certain businesses they had created, as well. there were even two exercises where students had to fold and cut paper, without removing the excess. sound familiar?

Parting is such Sweet Sorrow

The jury is still out on whether or not Romeo and Juliet were real figures (here you can see what is supposedly their family homes, including the famous balcony, along with Juliet's tomb), but regardless, Verona exceeded all of my expectations. The city itself is stunningly beautiful: wide streets, bright colors, and that landscape of rolling hills and cypress trees that seems so quintessentially Italian.

There's a great deal of variety to see here. Verona is home to the third largest Roman arena in the world. While smaller than the Colosseum, it is better preserved, and is still used for operas and musicals today.

Across the river we came across the Giardini Giusti, a suprisingly non-publicized renaissance garden. The lower level of the garden is a roughly 50 m x 50 m traditional space (hedge mazes, statues, etc). However, at the end of this area, the garden becomes uncharacteristically imaginitive as it climbs up a cliffside in a series of terraces and footpaths. Inspired by mythology, carved into the cliffside are grottos, pseudo ancient ruins, a tower that takes one to the upper garden, and, at the very top, a large and rather imposing beast head that, at one point, used to spout tongues of flame for the benefit of the guests.

If you find yourself in Lombardy, don't overlook Verona.

I wish I could upload my own pictures, but that's not an option at this point... so enjoy one from the internet. Hopefully I won't get sued.

Jewish memorial in Berlin

Berlin was a city steeped in history. The Jewish Memorial near Potsdamer Platz is at once both mass sculpture, and architecture of experience –- a three-dimensional thought process, maybe? Although the blocks of the memorial are on a perfect grid, there is still the sense of being lost, and moments of surprise. The ground rises up sharply; a corner reveals another person; people call out the names of the friends they’ve lost in all the turns. Something in the spatial sequence and the cool, impassive stone asks for remembrance. Without words, signs, directions, or marks, the memorial pulls people inward and asks for respect. Should buildings have a purpose like this? Should they influence emotion as well as experience?

a little misshap in Berlin and the strike in Paris

In Berlin, Matt and I went to the wrong bus station to catch our bus to Paris, with only 10 minutes to spare. We were then informed that we’d been given the wrong address and that our bus station was across the city. The taxi that we’d just used was gone. Some calls were made, German bouncing around the room, and then one of the guys in the office told us to follow him. We followed him out quickly, and instead of a taxi, he hustled us into his car…his personal car, a zippy little blue thing. Once on the interstate, I realized how ridiculous this was – an average Berliner had just piled two American kids into his car and driven them to catch a bus to Paris. When we got there he motioned us toward the bus in the middle of our overflowing thanks, gave the bus driver a familiar pat on the back, and was gone.

And now, in Paris, the friendly hostel cat is sitting on my feet after meowing to be let in. Paris…it is all it’s cracked up to be, if not a little (read: a LOT) on the expensive side. My favorite parts so far have been Montmarte, with all its hilltop glory, and the little island in the middle of the city that hosts Notre Dame. The French here are also nicer than I expected – my lack of French is more an amusement to them than an annoyance, and they patiently battle it out in English until communication is achieved. Right now the transport strikes make it a little difficult to get around the city, since walking is the only option. Also, at six o'clock the traffic is incredible! The cars and motorbikes are backed up, with the police directing traffic, and people riding their bikes are actually a third lane of traffic all their own, moving by one after the other like cars.

verdict: the dutch are funny when falling

title says it all. whilst in amsterdam, near our hotel, we stumbled upon a series of unfortunate ice skaters showing off their "skills". judge accordingly.

two cities down, one to go, and madison and rosalyn are still alive

so tonight wraps up our (rosalyn, madison and i) last night in prague. we were previously in amsterdam for 4 days and here for 3. the weather has been a bit much. (off and on rain all day every day in amsterdam, sleet if we were really lucky, as well as off and on snow in prague.) amsterdam was very charming. it felt like a little christmas village. we saw the anne frank house, van gogh museum, the new housing projects, coffeeshops, and the hard rock cafe. i am not even ashamed. the free refills and chicken fingers were amazing. we were also lucky enough to find an american grocery store and we got a surprise for thanksgiving. when we landed in prague it was snowing harder than any of us had ever seen. our hostel is amazing. we have a balcony that overlooks the river. unfortunately it is too cold to take full advantage. yesterday we walked about an hour in the snow just to see the vila mueller. prague castle was a bust. the wax baby jesus church gave all of us a good laugh. the baby jesus was a gift to prague from spain. he has about 70 different outfits, including his petticoat underwear, that are changed pretty regularly. it was creepy. the statue wasn't as funny as we had hoped. it looked like every other religious statue, just a bit shorter. today rosalyn and i had quite an experience at the prague train station. i think i can safely say that it is probably the most disgusting, unorganized, horrible station in the world. when we approached the abandoned looking station, the only apparent entrance appeared to be crossing a 6 lane highway. upon closer inspection (and after passing the abadoned kiosks that have apparently become a homeless refuge) we realized we had to descend through a rather sketchy, decrepit tunnel. entering the station didn't appear any more hopeful. the station must be where all the homeless people as well as all the pigeons in prague escape the harsh weather. bottom line, i don't think either of us have felt more uncomfortable anywhere in europe as we did in this 'station'. the whole purpose of this visit was not in vain(ish) we traveled about an hour outside of prague to kutna hora to visit an ossuary decorated with bones from over 40,000 people. it was creepy, yet somewhat beautiful. the currency in prague has taken a bit of getting used to. for the first and probably only time in my life, i have had a 1000 bill in my hand. while it seems nice, it really is only about 40 euros. food seems to come out a lot cheaper using the crowns, but it is rather funny when dinner costs over 900. tomorrow morning we are taking a train to budapest. luckily we are departing from a different train station and hoping for the best.

Happy Birthday to myself from Stockholm!

Edit: blogger has cropped my images- to view them full size, click on them.

Stockholm was wonderful! Here are some of the things I did:



-Eat Tacos
-Eat Hamburgers
-Eat Hot Dogs
-Get Fun-ky with some Happy Jazz blues rock music!



Stockholm is the exact opposite of Barcelona. Unlike Barcelona, the city smells like fresh pine and cinnamon buns (Kanelbulle, invented here by the way.) Everything closes by 6 PM. The food at any budget is terrific (even getting Köttbular from 7-Eleven!). Breakfast rivals America's. The people don't hate you for speaking English, and perhaps even more surprising, most of their television is the exact same as ours. In fact, the first question when I checked in was "Do you know when the writer's strike will be over?" (They love Conan O'Brien)

Needless to say, some of their culture has reflected this- restaurants such as the one above were formed solely out of the numerous references to "tacos" in America, and the curiosity as to what they were like.

The city is extremely classical in its appearance, but modernism is celebrated with a subdued, functional approach. Much of the city is enclosed through several projects over the years (starting with the town square above and tying in to the Kulturehuset (right) and the new GALLERIAN. It's all done seamlessly and, more importantly, successfully. In fact, everything in Stockholm is done well- from the flow of the city to to the resolution of critical intersections. It's possible to navigate a good portion of Stockholm's downtown without ever being directly exposed to the elements.



While here I visited the Museet Modern and its architecture museum next door, Asplund's Library and Woodland cemetery (below) , the Vasa Museum, the Kaknas Tower, and the Royal Palace.





Asplund's work was also impressive. Particularly of interest was the competition being held to built a new addition to the stockholm city library, with proposals ranging from clever to cliché to just plain stupid.



And, an obligatory long-exposure shot. It's 2:50 PM in that picture.

The Dam

After spending four days in Amsterdam, I am determined to live there for some unspecified period in my life. The people were fantstic, the coffeeshops genius. I loved the use of bicycles over cars, and how all of the main streets had a view of the canal attached. Architecturally, I loved how quirky the old city is. I don't care that most of the buildings are lopsided, I thought it just gave them character.

By far my favorite area of the city, however, were the newer housing projects out on the Eastern Islands, in Borneo and Java. I think it's great that the city allowed such crazy designs to be implemented, and that the homeowners were given a high degree of culture in the design of their residences.

Dublin, IRELAND

So far the study travel has been great. Virginia, Will, Hunter and I have been traveling together and it has been a great experience. Dublin was our first stop and my favorite so far. It was really fun in Dublin cause we ran into Dannielle, Hali and Dave. We all stayed in the same hostel and traveled through the city together. Everyone there spoke English (with an Irish accent of course). It was quite a change to hear English for once...seeing as we haven't heard it that regular in about three months. Similar to what Whit explained, it also got dark there really soon. So our site seeing started very early and we raced daylight the entire day. The first day in Dublin, Virginia and I took a tour bus. It was probably the best decision we could have made. Not only did we learn our way through the city but we also learned a lot of history about certain buildings. We needed to take that bus with the guided tour seeing as we didn't have our Professor Hecker tour guide with us. While I was in Dublin, I visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the oldest cathedral in Dublin, the Dublin Castle and much more. The Dublin Castle was my favorite. I got tons of pictures that I will post as soon as I get back home to Barcelona. We have just completed our three days in Brussels, which was amazing as well. We are now about to catch our train to Amsterdam, so sadly I have to wrap this blog up. As soon as I get computer access, I will continue to inform you of my travels. I hope everyone else is having a safe and fun journey.

An Endless City

Prague is now officially the most unique place I have ever been in. No, unique is such a dead word to describe Prague. It's like taking some kind of fairy-tale castle town, elevating it in vertical scale, make it really cold, and make the streets really wide and filling it with lots of beer. In the center of town where there there are lots of people (really the only touristy part of Prague), they are surprisingly quiet compared to the entire city of Barcelona. It's like the giant surrounding buildings (there are many, new and old) and the cobblestone streets have some kind of effect on the people and their attitudes









And you truly haven't experienced the city of Prague until you have gotten LOST. Prague's streets are winding and endless. It doesn't matter which road you walk down, you will eventually end up in one of the creepiest places you have ever been in....creepy but in a way really cool. Very little have I ever thought about the people that live in this part of the world and now I am peeking into their daily lives, wondering what their upbringing was like under communism/soviet influence, wondering how they deal with this freezing weather (I'm surprised I've gotten used to it so quickly!). Of course we have only been here two days and there is still so much more to see, but that's Prague in a nutshell.

La Mezquita de Corboda

During our day trip to Cordoba, we visited La Mezquita. La Mesquita was an amazing mosque that remains, in large part, intact. There is also a cathedral inside the mosque. In this building, there are rows and rows of arcades. This gives the condition of a spatial field. The feeling that there is no beginning and no end. It gives a concept of space with patterns. Space is infinite and endless. We also learned that all the columns in the mosque were old Roman columns that the Muslims took during this time. That is why every columns is noticeable different. Drawing and sketching this area was difficult at times. It was hard to show the infinite amount of columns in an accurate way. Professor Skinner and Professor Hecker explained to us this type of grid system. A grid system that we can use when we sketch. So we learned how to sketch with a grid to better align the columns up, along with the other components of the picture. It is very difficult but something I would like to improve on.

Slacklines in the Park

On one beautiful Saturday a group of us, including Professor Hecker and Professor Skinner, decided to go to the park. We spent dawn listening to one another play instruments. As we were playing these instruments and enjoying our day in the park, these people come by and set up these ropes that reach from one tree to another. They looked like ratchet straps. After they secured five or six in between trees very tightly, people began to get up on these straps and walk across them. They would jump from one to another and it was awesome to watch. All of us really wanted to try it, so Professor Skinner and I finally got up the courage to ask them if we could try. They were really nice and they were more than happy to show us how to do it. It was a lot harder than it looked. Having my background in gymnastics and walking on the balance beam, I thought it would be a little easier, but it wasn't. It was really fun to try though. By the end of the night, everyone was up on the straps trying to make it from one side to another. Through the night we were getting braver and braver on them and trying different things. We had a laughs, some falls, and some bumps and bruises. But we also had an unforgettable evening.

yes, this is what we do in studio

along the lines of madison's spice girl's video post...sometimes we get bored in studio. sometimes we don't like using photoshop for solely architectural purposes. i guess you could say this brings out the 'spice' in each of us.
madison- posh
me-sporty
rosalyn- scary
casey- baby
dylan- ginger
(oh and happy birthday casey)

Calatrava

powerful in its simplicity
a successful silhouette against the city of Sevilla

The South of Spain: Buildings, Bells, Blooms, and Bunnies

Highlights
of Valencia...
watching Virginia run for her life in oncoming traffic
surgically removing a rock from Temples boot and failing
hitting some balls in the tennis display (amusing myself in the science museum)
climbing a million stairs, catching my breath for ten minutes, playing Quasi with the bells
alba the green bunny in the IVAM
drinks with Maddy watching the men go crazy for rugby
oh and you're supposed to ask "donde esta el servicio?" (not bano)
of Granada...
a big breakfast with Maddy and Temples
more food with Temples
more food with Temples
watching the Holy Mother paraded down the street
of Cordoba...
sketching in dark corners
more food with Temples
of Sevilla...
flamenco show
tapas and puj fest with sophia and fam
Expo '92 gone wrong
more food with Temples
the Alcazar gardens, lemon trees, oleander blooms, morning glories
more food with Temples
Friends dubbed in Spanish
and the architecture of course.

Calatrava Land Sketches

I didn't do Calatrava Land as one of my case studies but I felt that the sketches I did for the building was among the favorites I have done. The intention was to represent scale, structure skin and how they have an affect on occupation movement through the spaces.

Barcelona

Okay so the title sounds kind of ho-hum but that's what I'm writing about. Barcelona is great. I get unhappy when people we know say barcelona is dirty and there's too much dog poo on the streets, saying that madrid is way better, etc. There's a simple solution to that which I discovered this weekend: get out of El Raval and the Ciutat Vella during the day! My aunt and uncle are in Barcelona this week and they are staying at a hotel right off of Passieg de Colom, near the Barceloneta metro stop. With all of the studio work due this week, I have been working from 9AM to around 1 every morning, then going to meet them and have lunch/explore the city, then get back to work from 6 until like 3AM when my 6 hours of sleep commences. It's been like that for 5 days. I t may sound bad but walking around the nice parts of Barcelona during the day at a relaxed pace for the first time since august and september really helps my sanity. It gets my mind thinking of other things and lets me reflect on the city....like, did you know that along the port lots of people from around europe are gearing up to have a boat racing competition here on the 11th? We were walking along and looking at all of the sail boats they are racing....they are huge. I even mentioned how dirty many people think barcelona is and they said they thought it was really clean (they havent been through much of ciutat vella..)

So I guess my point is to walk around the city more, and you won't go insane!

plight of a container?

Our studio project has once again come back to the question of whether or not to use the container. For the longest time we have been pushing it off and trying to think outside the box. But maybe the answer was inside the box all this time? All the time wasted on thinking up alternative modular units was wasted because we wouldn't give in and accept the container as it was. After Mondays review of the project's skin and Tuesdays studio review, it was concluded that the container would be the only structural element used for the housing in our project. After contemplating this afterwards, I think our whole group finally realize how much we had over thought the housing units. The container became a simple solution to all our problems as well as the questions concerning the skin of our building. We could still keep our idea of unitized skin, but have a more tangible way to describe their cohesion to the unit.

andora aka passport renewal?

Along with the stress of studio and planning study travel itineraries, there was the lurking threat of being deported. A couple of us ( nine) planned a spontaneous of sorts trip to the country of Andora to see if we could some how all get our passports re-stamped. The 3 hour bus ride was completely worth the money, and Will finally got us to the trail that Matt and Frank had taken a couple weeks before. We had missed a couple buses en route so we didn't get to the base of the trail until 4pm. This meant it was very near dusk even before we hit the trail. It got pretty dark after an hour of uphill hiking, and after many dark, treacherous, rocky, unstable slopes, a couple people in our group were ready to sleep in the horse stables. We kept at it and eventually saw a small light in the distance showing our destination. A French couple had already set up a nice little fire and dinner in the cabin when all 9 of us stumbled in. They were very pleasant and we all felt a little guilty for interrupting their romantic getaway. After cooking makeshift dinners and marveling at the stars, everyone got to share one the metal slabs called beds. The worst sleep ever resulted in me getting up at 6am to watch the sunrise at 8am from a ridge with a beautiful view. Later that day, Whit, Maria, Will, and I decide to explore the mountains by making our own path over one of the surrounding ridges. I should have known to stay behind considering my fear of heights, but I didn't. Only after getting halfway up and looking down, I was convinced one of us was sure to fall to our deaths. After much coaxing from the others, I made it to the top, and it was well worth it. We didn't die so that was awesome. An excellent weekend excursion to clear ones mind. However, we did discover on this trip that there was no possible way to renew a tourist visa for the remainder of our stay.

City of Farts and Sciences

With this sketch study, I started to look at the layout of the Calatrava's City of Arts and Sciences and how his structures related to each other as well as to their own structural systems. What I noticed primarily was his use of buildings as objects versus buildings as systems that could be repeated infinitely. Both L'Hemisferic and the Reina Sofia Center were just objects placed on a landscape, impossible to look at in small sections or pattern. The science center, on the other hand, was a repetition of angled members with a membranous shell on the outside.

Planning for the Independent Study Travels

Planning for Amsterdam, Brussels, and Dublin has been SO exciting!!! I can't wait to leave and see all of the sites. The main things we are going to see are castles, architecture along the River Liffey and the Guiness Brewery in Dublin, chocolate museums, amazing food, and
Grand Place Square in Brussels, and WAY too much amazing architecture to name in Amsterdam (including Java Island!!)

Alamillo Bridge

The only thing I found particulary beautiful about the Alamillo Bridge was that it called attention to the changing color of the sky. I wanted to show how the architecture would have been different had it been located in the middle of a typical city skyline.

Andorra

Andorra is beautiful. We've seen pictures and blogs about this very subject, so I'm going to rehash it now. What you might not know about this peaceful mountain-country-thing is that it is also home to some of the most horrible and grotesque creatures you've ever laid eyes on:
Oops, wrong button. Try again:


This beast of an animal harassed us on our trip back down the mountain, stomping mercilessly and neighing in a threatening manner. This was not My Little Pony. This was My Little Pony's much older drunk uncle with three teeth, a limp, and a penchant for breaking bottles in bar fights. This was the Headless Horseman's steed on a bad day. We were scared.

In short: I hate horses.

Yes, this is what we watch in studio

Why do I like the Spice Girls? Maybe it's a throwback to my adolescent years. Maybe it's the clear delegation of personality traits--"scary", "baby", "posh", etc. and the corresponding outfit choices. Maybe it's just the overuse of Spandex. Who knows.

Well, the girls are back in their video for the awful, awful song Headlines (Friendship Never Ends). No, I don't know why there is a second title in parentheses. Especially when the five ladies (or, really, four; God knows Posh has stretched her face and tanned her skin into tranny alien oblivion) never actually say those three words, though I guess it might be implied by their group ideology or possibly a reference to the lyrics of Wannabe.

Things to watch out for:

• The fact that Baby is only visible behind a piano because she just had (ironically) a baby
• Posh's lesbionic stroking of Ginger's hair (especially the second time, she gets rough)
• Sporty's Exorcist-esque head twist about 3/4 of the way through
• Scary rolling around on a rug
• How Posh never gets a solo and even sometimes can't lip synch
• Tranny Alien Posh is S&M corset
• Posh stroking her own hair/face as a substitute for actual body movement or dancing

Go. Watch. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcAlA4iY_kY

Hola Andorra

Last weekend (not to be confused with this weekend) Me, Melissa, Hunter, Sarah, and Matt went to Andorra (for some of us, it was our second time.) Upon our return, we were greeted with snowfall.

And due to our luck, we arrived with only a few minutes of daylight left. We worked our asses to get to the L'Estany Refuge before dark.






By now most of you all have been to Andorra. It's also an excellent skiing destination that's a little cheaper than the Alps if you can't make it.

Lloyd's of London and the Gherkin (yes, Barcelona's is bigger)

Flying to London was great. I finally was officially and legally in Europe. (When I first came over, no one stamped by passport, so you could say I was more legal than other people, or at least less likely to get caught :/)

Anyway, I got to see a lot of legendary things in England (Tower of London, the London Eye, Hyde Park, Harrod's, the National Portrait Gallery, the Princess Diana Monument, the London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace.) However, I still have no idea what exactly the Royal Family does or even pretends to do besides look pretty and pretty rich. Also, I saw Lloyd's of London and the Gherkin. It was amazing.

Halloween in Barcelona

Seeing as Halloween is one of my favorite holidays during the year, I was kinda upset when I found out that we would be in Spain and they really don't celebrate Halloween here. We found out that they do celebrate Halloween here, just not to the extent that we do in the United States. So all of us decided to dress up and go out for Halloween. The hardest part was that we had to dress up with the clothes we had, rather than go out and buy a costume. I was very impressed what everyone came up with for their costumes. We had a couple cats, a flight attendant from the 60's, a jungle women, a nerd, an Avril Lavigne, a Lydia from beetle juice, a punk rocker, a Nanny, a Beatle, and much more. It was a very creative night and I was very proud of ourselves. I will never forget my one Halloween celebration that took place in Barcelona, Spain.

Prague

There's a lot of reasons I could give as to why I think Prague is a must-see city while in Europe... but for this entry I just want to state that unlike most of Barcelona, Prague is fantastically beautiful at night. Prazky Hrad and St. Vitus cathedral are well enough lit to be seen for miles down the river, and from the Charles Bridge you can get some pretty dramatic views in every direction.




Head away from the river into the Stare Metska area and you can get a look at another part of the old town, a large plaza filled with outdoor restaurants and two famous churches. Its all very fairy tale "esque", and one of the girls in our group couldn't stop herself from singing "Cinderella" songs whenever we ended up at the plaza again.

Here's to hoping you get to see it for yourself!

Cervezas Especiales

Some of us had thought we would have to wait until going to Belgium or Germany to try any beers that were better than Estrella (which isn't saying a whole lot...) but we were pleasantly surprised in Granada by two brands both bottled in that region. Alhambra 1925 (left) and Alhambra Especial (right). Neither was expensive, and both had a great taste. So, if you go to a restaurant with a slightly bigger drink menu than usual, be sure to give one a try!
As a bonus, the 1925 has an beautiful and distinct looking bottle. I'll leave the logistics of fitting one in your suitcase to take back home up to you.

Calatrava Worship

Knowing that there are hundreds of thousands of Calatrava admirers in the world, it feels a little strange for me to say that the more of his work I see, the less impressed I am. Individually, most of his structures are quite powerful, but I feel like I haven't seen a design portfolio this bereft of versatility since learning about Gaudi. Gaudi, however, started working a century ago and was far ahead of his time. I must ask, what's Calatrava's excuse? The fact that any of his famous works are instantly recognized as a "Calatrava" should be considered a weakness. After the Reina Sophia and the Madrid airport, it's clear he isn't the only person who can pull off these sorts of alien, organic structures. And as for the "all-white" structures, I'm sure that he espouses some sort of purity of form as his reasoning, but to me it just reeks of pretentiousness. There are plenty of celebrity architects who use their influence to push the envelope of architecture, I wish Calatrava would join them from time to time.

Torre Agbar

After arriving at the Torre Agbar, I noticed that photographing it was not as easy as one would think. I was frustrated and thought that my camera was having trouble focusing, until we were told that the patterned effect on the tower is designed to create this sort of effect. Towards the bottom of the tower, the palette tends towards reds and oranges, while the top contains greys and very pale blues. The effect is very subtle, and is most easily seen if you view pictures from different times of day or conditions. The second picture was taken about an hour after the first, and as you can see, the effect is much more pronounced. The same effect occurs towards the sides because of light hitting the louvers. It just goes to show the level of depth that the louvered skin gives to the design of the Torre Agbar. It has the differentiated color effect, the vanishing effect, and saves energy to boot.

experience by deconstruction

this graphic conveys the feelings i felt while walking through the mezquita of cordoba. i felt lost in the variation of patterns. i was lost in the collision of christian vs. islamic ornament. the collaging of sketches in the foreground shows this collision. it is not always easy to decipher these various details. sometimes the styles blend, and sometimes they clash. the yellow and black stripes in the background are an attempt to deconstruct the canonical value of columns by drawing only their profiles parallel to each other. the columns, while sharing some common features, were all unique. their combined profiles produced a series of odd, unfamiliar volumes, thus removing the symbolism of the column.

i wonder if gehry knows...

anyone recognize the "ice palace" in this video?
sheer genius.

sketchy

while sketching the alhambra, i couldn't help but try to analyze the complex geometric forms of the patterns found in virtually every room of the complex. when i set out to do that, i found it extremely difficult. i tried to analyze the shapes and patterns (both 2D and 3D) found on the walls and ceilings. many were based off of lines that coincide to produce an array of different shapes. i found these most interesting, something so complex coming from a simple line.