The City of Arts and Sciences

I have enlisted the quote "Hindsight is always better than foresight" as my defense, as to why it has taken me six months to update my blog. Defense and foresight aside, here I am. Right where I left off...

Ah, Valencia... I apologize mentally disreguarding you as a place of sunshine and oranges, only. In fact, I was suprised to find your oranges incredibly bellow par and your architecture surprisingly above.

The Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias' (City of Arts and Sciences, to you and me) name is a big call, and an enormous understatement. More fitting, I feel, would be the World of Arts and Sciences, because as soon as the antique, air conditioning-less bus we were traveling on took the crest of the hill, I felt as if I had left planet Earth.

I was faced with masses of curvilinear, white and blue structures. The first building I encountered holds such strength, set atop stairs, over looking the rest of the city. The following structures skeletal exteriors transition into the last dark blue building. Walking in the city is discovery... Feeling nothing short of Neil Armstrong, I was determined to find out then and there, who was responsible for this slice of heaven on Earth.

The answer: Santiago Calatrava, and Félix Candela, the project underwent the first stages of construction in July, 1996 and the finished "city" was inaugurated April 16, 1998 with the opening of L'Hemisfèric. The last great component of the City of the Arts and the Sciences, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, was presented in October 9, 2005, Valencian Community Day.

Whilst it did take me six months to post this, I did spark interest in Santiago Calatrava... who was commissioned to design on the former World Trade Centers location "Ground Zero" for his sensitive and spiritual design. As for hindsight, it has proven the ability of this phenominal example of space, architecture and design to resonate in me.. and hopefully you, too.

Fundacio Joan Miro

The Joan Miro Foundation really is an excellent gallery. It is home to many of Miros works including a 12 foot tapestry, sculptures, pencil drawings and experimental paintings such as "Burnt Canvas".

But the architectural admirer in me was much more focused on the exterior of the building, rather than what it held.

The foundation is located in Barcelona. Miro was associated with both Barcelona and Paris.

The building was designed by architect Josep Lluis Sert, a close friend of Miro. Towards the end of the 1960’s the pair began working on an idea for a Miro Museum on a site in the Parc de Montjuic

The Foundation was designed in accordance with the principles of Rationalist architecture, with different spaces set around a central patio in the traditional Mediterranean style and with Sert's characteristic skylights. Designed to house the Miró collection the building continues to be an emblematic example of contemporary architecture.

In 1988 it was enlarged so as to gain more exhibition space, provide room for new services and relocate the offices. The extension was designed by Jaume Freixa, a friend and pupil of Sert.

Personally, I found the building to be conceptual and euphoric. The mass of white, curving walls on the patio prove to be both aesthetically beautiful and practical as providing natural sources of light into the gallery, streaming from every nook and cranny.

Teatre Museau Dali

If Salvador Dali's art is any indication of what his self designed museum is going to be like then we can be sure of a few things: it is going to be big, it is going to be unconventional and not everybody is going to like it.

In between listening to whinging tourists (who did not want to be there but felt because they'd paid for the ticket in their tour, they should bother those who did want to be there) we saw dark, intoxicating rooms; velvet walls; white walls; black walls; glass walls and exposed brick. The building itself was perfect.

Salvador Dali worked on canvas, sculturally, from behind the lense, on products, jewellery, and installations.

Some of his art appears extremely coherent and then some, so surreal it is as if it is all composted by different people.

If, like myself, you find your arrival to the museum coinciding with the commencement of a tour, I suggest you take a look around Figueres, it is such a quaint town, and the food and wine are the most authentic I tasted in Espaina.

Sagrada Familia

The reputation of La Sagrada Familia definately proceeds itself. Approaching it from the newer end, without knowing, I was a little dissapointed but, as I rounded the corner and was faced with the gothic beauty whose construction was overseen by Gaudi himself, I was filled with everything I knew I would be.

As we entered the church we encountered workmen, welding and sanding. With no expectations of the churches interior I didn't mind the construction site. I rather felt it was fitting of Gaudis organic design, for the church to be ever growing and evolving.

Inside we found work men, stained glass, spiral staircases 50 metres high, a work space, a spot where the old and new sandstone met aswell as the most breath taking ceiling I've ever seen.

La Rambla

A morning stroll down Las Ramblas and an unlikely turn into a produce market lead to a delightful afternoon.

The mixed smell of fresh fruit and fish, the playful banter in Spanish and the serious negotiations, of price, amongst locals truly oozed Spanish culture!

Parc Guell

In typical Spanish fashion - the signage leading to Parc Guell was less than effective. Do not get me wrong, it provided much comical relief as we climbed the vertical slope in 30 degree heat, wearing backpacks containing melting jamon and cheese – intended for a picnic lunch.. which we ate anyway.

Upon arrival we attempted to take a photo of the infamous lizard at the entrance of Parc Guell, without tourists slouched all over it, and then proceeded to have a siesta under a tree before exploring.