Bending the Ruler (Spain: Part 1)
My apologies! I am quite behind on blog posts, but that just means there is a lot coming in the next few days. Keep an eye out for Spain: Part 2, Southern France, and Turin, Italy.
On October 18, at 8:02 am local time, my plane landed in Madrid, Spain. It was the start of a 3.5 month round-the-world adventure.
Three weeks (two weeks with a tour group and one solo) in Spain flew by, but were filled with countless sights, memories, lessons, and new friends! As there is so much to share, I have decided to break it up into two posts. Here is the first.
DESIGN BITE
Trying out the ergonomic bench that circumnavigates Plaça de la Natura (Nature Square), Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain.
“There are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature. Therefore, buildings must have no straight lines.” -Antoni Gaudí
Throughout Park Güell, Gaudí brings this philosophy to life with structures that look more like sculpture than architecture. Flat and perpendicular surfaces are a rare find in the Park. Instead, thoroughly mosaicked surfaces bulge and dent and curve and twist.
Campus of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain. Structures pictured (left to right): L'Hemisfèric, Prince Felipe Museum of the Sciences, L'Àgora, El Pont de l'Assut de l'Or (bridge), L'Umbracle.
Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Bilbao, Spain. Pictured: main entrance.
After visiting Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell in Barcelona, Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, and Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in Bilbao, I couldn't help but feel like they held a connection or common influence. Sure enough, they did! Calatrava and Gehry both cite Gaudí as an influence to their work. All three architects employ curvaceous and unconventional shapes to give their work organic and playful whimsy. Of course, each architect implements curves according to his own style, giving his work distinguishable personality. By bending, quite literally, the rules of architecture, these men designed some of the most fascinating structures of modern times.
This emphasis on curves captured my attention. As a natural rule-follower and perfectionist, I must admit that I have always loved the straight line. But Gaudí, Calatrava, and Gehry inspire me to play with curves, to break some rules, to love imperfection.
THE GAUDÍ LEGACY
Torre Agbar (Agbar Tower), Barcelona, Spain.
I noticed a colorful and curious tower after leaving the Musée Disseny Barcelone (Design Museum of Barcelona). Knowing nothing about it, I snapped some pictures and let the experience slip from my mind.
In researching Gaudí's influence on Calatrava and Gehry, I learned that French architect, Jean Nouvel, also drew inspiration from Gaudí. Using this inspiration, Nouvel designed the Agbar Tower in Barcelona, the same tower that caught my attention many weeks earlier near the design museum. I wonder, where else are Gaudí influences hidden?
UPDATE (October 16 - October 23)
I visited so many cities in Spain, some only for a few hours, some for a few days. Here are highlights from the first half of my time in Spain:
MADRID
Looking out of the Royal Palace of Madrid at The Almudena Cathedral.
My favorite part of Madrid was the wallpaper in the Royal Palace. Yeah, the wallpaper. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed in the most of the rooms, so let me try to paint a picture. The wallpaper begins in the third room. Upon entering, you slip into a magenta pool. As you wade through the room, you see that the upholstery is made from the exact same luxe fabric as the wallpaper, as are the throw pillows. You see paintings in their thick, gold-leaf frames, intricately carved tables, and delicate pieces of china. Then you look up. A massive, glistening chandelier dangles from the ceiling, its chain concealed with that same magenta fabric that covers the walls and furniture. The room seeps with decadence. For a moment, you’re royalty. This goes on and on, room after room. The palace is certainly fit for a king...but the royal family doesn’t even live there (what a shame!).
After touring the Royal Palace, I ate lunch at Restaurante Sobrino de Botín. According to Guinness World Records, it is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world. It opened in 1725! Being a vegetarian was tough in Spain. Restaurants typically had one or two vegetarian options on their menus. My sole option at Restaurante Sobrino de Botín was scrambled eggs and asparagus, which sounds plain but was actually very tasty!
Also, they don’t lie about the pickpockets in Spain. Just one day into my trip, my phone was plucked right out of my purse! But, the experience taught me a good lesson in being aware of myself and my surroundings.
SEGOVIA
The Roman Aqueduct of Segovia is thought to have been built in the 1st Century AD, although parts were rebuilt in the 15th Century due to destruction by the Moors.
The aqueduct, castle and views are notable attractions but the coolest part about Segovia for me was the wide variety of doors! I spent my short time there wandering the streets and photographing them.
Some were very old...
Some served as merchandise displays...
Some were more modern...
Some were colorful...
I officially began my collection of doors from the cities I visit.
BILBAO
Puente de los Príncipes de España (aka La Salve Bridge) sits next to the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum and connects to the Museum's campus. The red arch, designed by Daniel Buren, is the result of a 2007 art competition to commemorate the Museum's 10-year anniversary.
Bilbao felt very modern compared to Madrid and Segovia. The city was in financial decline when the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum was built. Upon completion, the museum became a huge attraction point, boosting the economy and growth of the city. This is now known as the "Bilbao Effect" and other cities have tried to emulate it.
I really enjoyed the city. It felt new and modern, while maintaining Spanish and Basque traditions.
SAN SEBASTIAN
I hiked a mountain and found this awesome view...and Jesus!
PAMPLONA
Countdown to the next Running of the Bulls!
The home of the Running of the Bulls! It was the wrong time of year for the actual festival so I got to walk the route in peace and without a stampede of 600 kg (1300 lbs) animals on my heels.
Oh, and a special thanks to Lower Merion School District's language program, because I was able to scrape together enough Spanish to file a police report for my pick-pocketed phone without a translator!
ZARAGOZA
Looking down Calle de Alfonso I at the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar.
The Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar (what a mouthful!) is quite an amazing work of architecture inside and out. I loved the green, blue, yellow, and white roof tiles that adorned the church's domes. The inside boasts baroque-style decor, frescos painted by Francisco Goya, and two of three bombs that never exploded after being dropped on the church during the Spanish Civil War. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside.
BARCELONA
The Magic Fountain water/lights show held in front of the Palau Nacional.
¡Barça! I think almost anyone who visits falls in love with Barcelona. I definitely did. After spending two days here with my tour, I returned for a week after the tour!
La Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudí.
Construction on La Sagrada Familia, another Gaudí masterpiece, began in 1882 and is still incomplete! The projected date of completion is 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death. I love the idea that for now La Sagrada Familia is an ever changing structure. Until it is complete, it will be different with every visit. More on La Sagrada Familia in my second Spain post!
La Boquería (food market) was another highlight in Barcelona with its maze of vendor stalls. It truly overloads your senses, from the colors and textures of the foods to the clashing conversations to the new smells that come with each turn.
VALENCIA
L'Umbracle, City of Arts and Sciences.
The City of Arts and Sciences was remarkable because its appearance constantly changes as you walk through it. It is not just one building that you can look at from a few angles. Rather, it is an entire campus full of unusual buildings and sculptures that play with one another depending on your view point. Parallel rods set between curves appear across almost all of the structures and they layer upon each other, forming new patterns. As you move, the patterns shift.
Also in Valencia, I learned how to make paella, a traditional Spanish dish. Typically, it is filled with seafood, but we made a subtler version with chicken (a vegetarian one was also prepared). It is a pretty involved dish from chopping the vegetables to cooking the meat and adding the vegetables and the rice at the right time to balancing the spices (key ingredient: saffron!) and mastering the correct stirring technique. The final product was delicious!
