Barcelona - Friday

Our last morning took place on the beach and from there Luce and I headed into the old part of the city where we happened upon a Cycle tour. We went on a Trixi tour around the Gothic Port. We saw the Cathedral, Placa del Rei, Santa Mdel Pi, Port Vell and Barceloneta. The tour was really good as we explored areas that we had just walked by before, and it was really interesting seeing areas that you wouldn't normally see as a tourist. The tour had a personal touch as the best cake shop and brilliant bars were pointed out. What was a real shame was that we didn't go on the bike tour at the beginning of the week.
www.trixi.com

Bacelona - Thursday

We started by visiting Parc Geuill created by Gaudi. I've only ever been to the seating area that overlooks Barcelona, but this time I was able to explore. We walked along a path that took us past proposed building, over terraces, under archways to the highest point in the park marked by a giant cross. Gaudi's creations took a long time to make, but the detailing is amazing, which is more that I can say about Parc de Nou Barris....




Parc de Nou Barris was very neglected and I thought quite confusing. The park seemed to lead you to dead ends and steep drops, and it felt like you were being forced to places which were meant to be exciting but failed, leaving you disappointed and possibly trapped with the sloping ground all around you. The park didn't let you wonder freely unless you liked adventure and had the right footwear. I was just disappointed. Iit seems like Barcelona had really great parks 5yrs ago but now they've just been left and there was no real attraction for me to go back.

La Barceloneta Sections: We chose three sections along the waterfront on possibly the worst day in the whole week, it was really cold and windy. Anyway, our first section went through Rebbecca Horn's sculpture, (1:200). The second highlighted the change in levels, (1:100).

Barcelona - wednesday

Wednesday was Gaudi day. We started by walking down the Passeig de Gracia to La Pedrera. We went round the exhibition of Gaudi's work which explained the theory behind his work and objects that influenced him i.e. chains and natural object. Took a tour around one of his apartment and then headed to the terrace with Gaudi's warriors. Gaudi used the undulating balustrades to connect to the facade of the building, he liked creating 'a harmonic solution between the rhythms of the facade and the finishings of the roof.'




Next was the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is amazing in both design and architecture. The detail and thought that goes into Gaudi's designs is unbelievable. We entered via the Fachada de la Pasion or passion facade that represents the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Inside the church there's pillar and giant abstract stars (on the ceiling) but whats really interesting is that you can see how they are making the church now, by viewing the stone masons and architects at work. Then we went up the towers to take a closer look at the detailing and checkout the views.







From there we headed to the Arc de Triomf and then Parc de la Ciutadella and had a wander around looking at the fountain and boating lake.

Barcelona - Tuesday

We started the day by visiting parc Diagonal Mar by EMBT and Edaw with the twisting turning steel drawing you to the central lake. Due to the Olympic games in 1992 there was large investment and development to reconnect Barcelona to the coast, and parc Diagonal Mar was created on one of the last brown field sites in 1996. The park is at the centre of a 212 acre development. Parc Diagonal Mar is split in two by Taulat Street and because it is at the centre of the development that has offices, residential housing and a convention centre, it has to be enjoyable for all ages . There are three playgrounds one for the under 6's, another called the magic mountain and the basketball courts, and the rest of the park is covered by a lake, winding steel, grass levels and seating.


International Forums of cultures 2004 took place in Barcelona and that meant that Barcelona had an excuse to regenerate part of the city creating the Forum. The forum included the Forum Building, Photovoltaic sculpture and South-East Coastal Parc.

I've seen South-East Coastal parc by Teresa Gali in magazines and it looked really interesting with the dividing paths creating barriers out of hard materials. The parc Quote 'explores strategies that produce complex landscapes through artificially generated topographies via mediated integration of rigorously modelled spaces'. In reality though the park was disappointing due to the amount of disrepair, and the derelict nature means that the activities that are meant to be encouraged, like skate boarding and running, just can't happen because the slabs creating the paths were cracked and uneven and weeds were growing through the gaps. The planting had been neglected and was running riot. The good area of the site was the connection to the sea by creating areas of quiet water and access to the water. One area that did alarm me was the use of polished marble as people exited the water on the pontoons.



The Pavello by Mies Van Der Rohe was exceptional and something I've seen in books but have always wanted to see in really life.

Barcelona - Monday

When we arrived we went exploring mostly for food, but exploring all the same, and came across a famous market for a bite to eat. From there we headed down to Port Vell through Barri Gotic and went to the beach to have some fun and walk along the waterfront. Whilst walking along the waterfront we saw how the city and the sea where connected by extending the natural materials used on to create the waterfront to the city edge and beach - by placing playgrounds, seating and bars on the beach and interesting architecture i.e. the copper fish sculpture by Frank Gehry 'Pez y Esfera' on the the city edge.