Tres semanas de aqui! (Three weeks from here)

Today was the last day of materials class so Ivan decided to make us finish with a "bang".


We took a train to the outskirts of Girona which is a little over an hour outside of Barcelona. The area was home to the PGA Golf Catalunya course. The 36 hole golf course and resort was recently rated as the number one golf course in Spain, number three in continental Europe, and one of the top 100 courses in the world. The CEO of the company in charge of the resort came and greeted us...he definitely fits the CEO "image" I had envisioned. His company is in charge of multiple resorts all over Europe. 


The reason we visited the resort was to get a guided tour of the luxury homes that were being built and the existing main hotel by the architects who designed them. The "show house" looked like one of the houses that are always featured in Architectural Digest or the Forbes Architecture Review. It was extremely nice, the interior was astonishing, and the design was amazing. Equipped with two master bedrooms, two regular bedrooms, an infinity pool (with lap lane), and 4 bathrooms the asking price began at an easy 2 million. It was slightly overwhelming to tour the inside because everything was white and clean...I was afraid to walk! After we visited the "show house" we went to other houses and condos on the resort that were still under construction. We were given tours by the construction workers and the architects on the building techniques of each building. What a great end to materials class!


I attached the two sections from our project, which I finished tonight. Tomorrow I need to fine tune the plans and begin on the final renders...then I am done with studio! 


In exactly three weeks from today I will be back home....can't believe it. 

Can I go on a strike from studio?

Yesterday our final presentation went well during CEC....Kathrin seemed to be very pleased with the work Brian and I had prepared. We received mostly positive remarks and we now know what to add and remove from our final paper for the class. As promised Kathrin invited the class to her flat (apartment) to join her and her husband Thomas for what turned out to be a very relaxing and "classy" evening. Their flat is very nice, a large majority of the furniture was actually designed by Kathrin. The interior matched them perfectly...simple yet complex taste. They also seemed to have an endless supply of Cava....


Afterwards I came back and stayed up till 3am this morning doing more studio work...hence the lack of a blog post from yesterday.


Today Jordi still seemed pleased with all of our material for the project, he began "fine tuning" everything with us today; this basically means that Mallory and I are done with the bulk of the project. Now we can focus our time and energy to really embellish our project over the next few days. This is a first for me, I'm usually stressed up to the final due date; I don't want to get too excited however because as I said before things can still change. Tomorrow is our last day of Materials Class and our final paper for that class was due today....after tomorrow I only have one more field studies class and studio!


On a side note, today I witnessed the "stereotypical" concept of the European city here in Barcelona. There was a national labor strike today in Spain and Barcelona and Madrid were obviously two of the biggest cities to have "demonstrations". The city workers who usually clean the streets twice everyday were not working today so everywhere on the street was pretty filthy...Some parts of the city seemed deserted with everything "boarded up" and closed. There also seemed to be a larger frequency of sirens. I stayed in and did work after studio but I can still imagine some of the chaos that probably ensued today. 

Monotonous Days...

I should forewarn everyone that some of the blog posts over the next few days may be short and uneventful...haha. With final assignments due each day this week and next week some of my days have been very monotonous and full of work! Today I presented my final "impressions" for the field studies class. Next week is the last one....and tomorrow is the last class for CEC; our final presentation for that class is due tomorrow, and I am satisfied with the work Brian and I did...hopefully Kathrin will agree so we can get a good grade. Kathrin did make an interesting comment today during our presentations she said that the "grade is not everything, rather the experience is more important". Afterwards she told us a story from her years as a college student in Munich, Germany; she told us that she had failed an architecture theory class, on the same day that her professor told her she had failed the course he also asked her to be his grad assistant....


I agree with her, it is not always about the grade you receive but what you take away from the class...what you learn. Still I want a good grade on the project!! After our final presentations we are invited to Kathrin's house to enjoy Cava (champagne) and  light snacks with her husband Thomas. 


Wish us luck! 

All that work paid off....

Sorry for yesterday’s blog but there really was no point for me to do one; I can sum yesterday up in 7 words: I spent all day on studio work.

Jordi was very pleased with the work that Mallory and I had produced for today….I was extremely relieved, I don’t know if I could have managed another “re-construction” of our project after last Thursday’s events.

He liked the diagrams and said that he is enjoying watching our project get better each day; once again his critique did not go without negativity. But in the grand scheme of things his negative comment wasn’t that bad…he said that we just need to organize all of our diagrams and plans into the presentation boards. He also liked the rendered image I produced…he said I was a “render making machine”; however he does want a render from a different perspective. All in all Mallory and I are in good shape for the final next week, all we need to do is fine tune the diagrams and plans then organize them onto our presentation boards. I’m not sure if we need another model…but if so we should have time to produce one. Things are shaping up to be a stress free finals week in studio, keyword “shaping”, things could still change.

Brian and I still need to finish our paper for CEC, the presentation is this Wednesday and the paper is due next Wednesday…then I will be done with all of my work for the semester! Below I attached the results of my two all day “studio work fests”. 

 First try at the rendering for this project

 First floor plan

 Second floor plan

 Diagram showing the program of our intervention.

 Placement of the "facades"...

The new elevated "green network" or park system that we are creating.

Studio work....

Today was another boring one in terms of exciting events, this will probably be another short short post....


Went for a run this morning, and unfortunately was greeted with two naked old men once I arrived at the beach...put some clothes on!


After my run I spent the rest of the day working on studio work, I did take a small break for dinner. I accomplished a lot though, reworked all of the little details that Jordi wanted me to include in the designs, completed the schematic drawings for each of the facades (this will make more sense later haha). Now tomorrow all I have to do is re-do the plans and begin on the sections! This weekend is shaping up to be productive after all....

I am apparently "Chocolate mmmmm"

Today I went to the market for the first time since January! My roommate Lewis and I decided to go after some late morning errands. Our excursion to the market was manned by another “pleasant” (sarcasm) encounter with a “lady of the night” (even though it was 1 in the afternoon). This time I was referred to as, and I quote “chocolate mmmmmm” and Lewis was “blondie”. I tried to ignore her but the “lady” sensing my lack of attention proceeded to gain my attention the best way she knew how: after calling me “chocolate mmmmm” she latched onto my chest and rubbed it…needless to say I frantically shrugged her off and ran. I still have not figured out why I am such a “target”, Lewis was walking with me how come she didn’t accost him?! 

 I can’t believe that I have not been going to the market regularly but for whatever reason I just have not thought to do so. Initially I figured that I would frequent the market during my spare time. Another thing that I assumed I would be doing more of is eating paella! I have surprisingly only had the dish one time since I have been here and that was all the way back during my trip to Valencia (the birthplace of paella). Going through the market today was a nice change of pace; I didn’t buy anything but just browsing at all of the fresh food was enjoyable…almost everything looked appetizing. In the seafood section there was this one vendor who had huge piles of lobsters and crabs on ice. The lobsters were still “kicking”, literally, so I knew they were fresh and the smell of the crabs reminded me of home. I had no idea what type of crabs they were, they were not blue crabs…they were huge with a brown shell and black spots…maybe a bull crab???

After my little journey through the market I came back to the room annnnnnnnnnnnnnd….completed my paper for materials class! Woohoo! Now the only papers I have left are the joint paper for CEC (this one needs to be 15 pages but it has to include pictures and diagrams) and the paper on my independent travel/studies to Stuttgart (shout out to the Masters family). Everything is slowly coming to an end…our last materials class is this coming Thursday, our last CEC and field studies classes are this Tuesday and Wednesday; Kathrin is even inviting us to her “flat” (house/apartment) for champagne and a final celebration! I did not get any studio work accomplished…still perplexed/frustrated but I accomplished other work, tomorrow is devoted solely to studio work and no encounters with a prostitute!

On a side note the office ladies in RESA complemented me on my Spanish today...they said I was getting better with speaking it!

The devil's in the details...

Great-Goooogley-mooooogley studio is frustrating the architecture out of me!

I am exasperated with studio work right now…the thing that is bothering me the most is the poor communication between Jordi and me. I have determined that this “detail” concept is Jordi’s default criticism; he says it every single day without fail no matter what I am showing him…I bet if I prepared a blank sheet of paper he would say that it has too much detail, GAH! At this point in the semester detail is needed or else the final result will be incomplete….once again he has re=directed the concept of our project! I was completely discouraged from doing any studio related work today after class, so I took a breather. Tomorrow I will have to redo the plans, and sections, along with adding the new elements to the 3D model in skethcup. Even when I ask him bluntly what is good, bad, and too much or too little detail his responses are overtly cryptic and unclear. It almost seems like he wants to draw out this project until the end and then have Mallory and I scrambling at the last minute to finish everything…who would have thought being proactive would have such a negative result.

In place of doing studio work I decided to walk around the city to “remedy” my frustration this afternoon. I visited various stores and just browsed at different things, I discovered two things: European clothes are expensive and the sizes will hurt your feelings haaha. I was aware that European sizes were measured differently but I had no idea how great the disparity between the two systems was. I was in for an embarrassing surprise when I tried a pair of pants on in the dressing room haha.

Unfortunately I have more work to do tomorrow than I had planned….Hasta Luego! 

As I predicted...

Kathrin spent no time today "easing" us back into the flow of things, we began class as if we had never been gone. I was still exhausted from the trip so I was very tired this morning....hopefully tonight I can "catch up" on some rest. Just as I predicted everything would speed up after the Germany trip; next week the first of multiple assignments is due. The presentation/15 page paper for my CEC class is due a week from today! My partner, Brian, and  I  have some work to do this weekend. After class I did some more studio work, I was able to produce another diagram for Jordi to critique tomorrow....hopefully everything will go smoothly.


It rained again today (I think this is only the 3rd or 4th time since I have been over here). I cooked some calamari tonight for dinner and this time I got it right; there was no overwhelming "fishy" taste and it blended well with the pasta. I bought flour and "breaded" the calamari rings so I could fry them...I think this is why the "fishy" taste was not as strong. The final countdown is about to begin....

First and Lasts...One more month to go!

Sorry about the blog from yesterday...I had to wake up early this morning for the flight back to Barcelona. So this will be a "two parter". On another note today marked a month until my flight home...time is flying by!


MONDAY:
My free day in Berlin was very nice….

I woke up at 10 instead of 7, this was a nice break from waking up so early. A small group of us went to the Olympic stadium; the stadium has been vastly renovated since the 1936 Olympic Games. The stadium is not that big when compared to the monster stadiums of today, but the design of the building makes it seem much larger. The large “rally” ground that was used during Hitler’s reign is still in existence and it was very eerie to stand in it. The field has a large central tower which gave off a "George Orwell dis-utopia, Big Brother is watching you feel". Overall the facility is a very beautiful stadium and it is obvious that the coliseum in Rome played a huge influence on the design.

After we explored the stadium we surprisingly “happened” upon an apartment complex designed by famous modernist architect Le Corbusier; we wandered around the premises for a moment and then made our way to the Tiegarten Park. The park is very large and we did not have enough time to see the whole thing, but the parts we did see where magnificent. We needed our passports for the days only organized meeting at the parliament building. There is a large Cupula designed by Norman Foster that rests on top of the building. Citizens and visitors are allowed to go into the Cupula (almost like a large open glass atrium) and view the parliament below. The purpose behind the structure was to represent the idea that the people are always above the government and that the government should remain transparent; during important discussions, or meetings people are allowed to go into the Cupula and observe from above. The structure was very complex and ingenuitive...I thoroughly enjoyed it! We had dinner at a restaurant that used to be a ballroom house; the restaurant was very neat because  all of the tables surrounded a central dance floor where salsa, waltz, tango and other dances were taught and people were free to dance. What a great way to end my stay in Berlin!


TUESDAY:
The flight was early, but thankfully it was smooth and enjoyable; ever since my mid-air "fair mega drop" with Ryanair I have been a little nervous during flights whenever there is turbulence. It is weird, but it feels good to be able to converse with people again; in Berlin I knew little German so it was troublesome to order food and other small activities, but here in Barcelona I can somewhat speak to people again! 


After spending the afternoon unpacking and preparing for class tomorrow a group of us went to our first (and probably last) FC Barcelona futbol game! I knew the stadium was the 11th largest in the world but the size of it did not hit me until I was standing inside...it makes Death Valley seem so tiny! The game was incredible, the players are very talented and "we" won...5-2. The best way to describe it is like a Charleston Battery soccer game on steroids...I got to witness Barcelona futbol history tonight as well. Lionel Messi, a forward on the team broke the record for the most goals scored in a career for the organizations history. My seats where all the way at the top so the wind (and unfortunately a little bit of rain) wreaked havoc on my body but the view and the win was well worth it! 


Hasta Luego!

 The Cupula at night...

 This is the "transparency" idea...a huge window that looks into the parliament below.

 Cupula before sunset!

 Tigarten Park

 Le Corbusier's apartment complex

 The Olympic stadium!!!!

 The torch

 Coliseum motifs 

 Recognize this!!!!??? it's structural glazing the concept we are using in our bridge!

 You can see the tower of the rally field in the center...even here it looks creepy!!

 Had to strike a pose!

 This place is massive!

Flea market!

Today felt like it was much longer and drawn out than the past few days; walking all day long throughout Berlin and the other cities is finally catching up to me…I woke up sore this morning! Today was not as exciting as yesterday for obvious reasons but it was still pretty neat. We walked around some different parts of Berlin and visited two different flea markets; there were some interesting things, however most of the “trinkets” that I would have wanted to buy were too large to bring back with me. We also visited a very large church which was damaged during the war...luckily some restoration attempts have been made so the church can still be entered. We were allowed to go to the top of the dome and take in the "views" of the city.

Later on in the evening we visited a museum which contained many artifacts from Ancient Egypt. I got to see many sarcophaguses, Canopic jars, and steles from the time. Some of them I actually recognized from studying them in middle/high school. The best part of the museum was seeing the bust of Queen Nefertiti! Surprise, Surprise but the most famous and amazing artifacts can never be photographed so I unfortunately don’t have any pictures. Tomorrow we have a free day in Berlin, we don’t have to do anything until 5 in the evening; I am looking forward to sleeping in. 

 From the top of the dome

 really cool Porsche!