Traditionalist and Experimental, and Transparency and Translucency

Barcelona has always kept up with the times, during the early 21’s century; the city was adapted to a modern age city by taking the irregular laid out roads, and forming them in to a grid plan. This allowed for a better system and for growth. This period also came with new designs in architecture with modernism. Today the city is taking what use to be the district where the factory’s used to be and developing it in to a new technology corridor, which will allow for growth. With that new age for the city also comes new architecture.

Today, two movements define this new architecture of the age, one lead by more traditionalists that use transparency (ex. Dominque Perrault), and the other more experimental, using translucency (ex. Cloud 9). Form defines Dominque Perrault tower (Me Barcelona Hotel) and midrise office (Office Hines D123). The architect’s concept is clearly to make a box and cut it in to two parts then move one half over. This building called more traditionalists in design is for a few reasons: the form is a box, the concept is clearly understood, and the use of martials (a glass curtain wall). The building is very uniform which makes it transparent in the sense that the idea is clearly show from when the building was a concept to being built, because the architect is clearly telling the view what the building is. The other movement uses translucency, they use the light and apply it to a purpose. Cloud 9’s Media-TIC building is funky, and out they’re in design.  To the viewer, the building looks to be a giant green UFO that landed there because it’s façade is custom, meaning that each piece was designed. This is needed because each of those parts are used to collect the light and reflect it, using giant air bladders, that act as insolation from the suns light. However, the architect was cleaver to conceal these air bladders by hiding their use through painting the whole building green and leaving the air bladders transparent. Cloud 9 uses transparently to hide the translucency, which makes the building not transparent to the viewer, but for uses it for the application.  

Detail of Air Blader of Cloud 9's Media-TIC

On left the Office Hines D123, and in the center the Me Barcelona Hotel, byDominque Perrault

  

San Antoni Library

While in the field it is important to document places and spaces, this doesn’t only lie on the camera but also on a more personal take on a places, which involves sketching. While taking a photo the image is captured but nothing is learned. This is because the idea is to look at later, for example while reading and dog-earing a page in a book. The advantage of a quick sketch is that the studying can be done at the site, and allows one to focused their attention to a specific area. One is able to learn more because while the photo may have an idea behind it only takes a second to do, while the sketch can developed. Many things can be studied because it causes a person to slow down.

            For sketch of the San Antoni Library, I was studying the materiality of the building, for example how the black metal, mix with its glass planes and is used to tie the modern to the old. This is because these two metals have great reflective properties, and the building starts to lose its own identity by reflecting the buildings around it.  In the sketch this might not be represented in the best of ways, but for the experiences of going thought it has taught me of new ways to design. If I just took a photo this idea might never have been seen. 

Form to Surface

The idea of a central garden or park for a city is not in any way new, but the qualities of this garden have developed new concepts from a form base to surface base design. In, Barcelona the Ciutadella Parka and Botanical Garden are the perfect demonstration of this because they share a duality with each other. Both were built on old military forts, and where also built for large expos. Plus the designs for these two parks use the different concepts. The Ciutadella park takes on form, where the Botanical garden takes on a surface. These two differences create different walking experiences.   

During time that the Ciutadella Park was built, the form of the garden was very import to the design. The park was base off of the French gardens, their designs come off more commanding, with use strong geometric shapes, and the agriculture on the same form, being perfectly trimmed. The new thought behind gardens today is shown in the Botanical Garden, of “landscape urbanism.” The use of territories defines the layout of the garden, and the plants are the focus behind the design. The plants are allowed to grow naturally, unlike in the Ciutadella park where the plants are forced to conform to the design. Ciutadella Park is organized a long a flat plan, which is broken up by the paths, compared to the Botanical Gardens which works on many different surfaces (organized the different territories); here the paths mark where the surfaces break. The play in surfaces creates a more dynamic feel while walking, where as the flat and form base design of the Ciutadella creates a more commanding feeling while walking.

Barcelona vs. Granada (Southern Spain)

            Our tour of Southern Spain took us thought many smaller cities such as Granada. These smaller cities have tiny streets that are not organized, and have not grown since the end of the 19^th century. This seems very different when compared with a city like Barcelona, which is larger and has wider streets that are laid out in a grid plan. It is clear to see why Barcelona was able to enter the 20^th century with its modern plan whereas Granada remains mostly historical since it has only an ancient city plan.

            The organized growth of Barcelona was because of Ildefons Cerda’s plan for the Eixample. This organization for the city allowed for infrastructure to be laid out, public transportation to be put in as well as other necessities that would be needed for a city in the 20^th century, which would be able to support a large population that would be working in factories, plants and shops. Granada’s city plan on the other hand, does not quite allow for such infrastructure. The streets grow in random directions because they were expanded when needed, this leads them to rarely be oriented in a straight line. This makes it very hard to build the infrastructure that would be needed for the city to grow, since they would have to tear down so much of the old city to build a new city.

            These two different city plans have thus given two different results. The organized city plan of Barcelona allows the city to develop past its ancient city plan into a modern layout whereas Granada’s ancient plan has kept the city on a much smaller scale.

Barcelona City 

Granada City