gironaJ

This extremely interesting and well put together exhibition at the CCCB in Barcelona (next to the MNAC) is a must to get the sense of the creativity which has made modern Catalonia famous.
It unites the main thinking and trends of architecture, music, image and literature since the end of the 19th century. We see for example some of the original sketches and scale models that Gaudi used to test his designs, right down to individual pieces and how they were created using all sorts of materials.
The creative genius of Salvador Dalí and the poet/surrealist Joan Brossa also feature as multifaceted and deeply interested in science and how they incorporated these theories into their work is captured on film and in their art.
Ideas for city planning are shown evolving over the last 100 years with influences from some of the main local architects as well as  Le Corbusier and others, and right up to date projects which are still evolving like the 22@ district and the Forum.
An altogether fascinating way to spend a few hours and come out with a greater sense of the ways in which Catalonia has evolved into what it is today.

         

Click here to download:

Catalan_visionaries-exhibition.zip (2377 KB)

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Barcelona is only an hours drive from Girona and a visit to the exciting urban renewal project that is 22@ is easy to get to from the motorway. The first thing you notice is the cucumber building next to the Glories roundabout and along the Diagonal road there are now dozens of really interesting looking modern office buildings and housing projects which are being built to house some of the best of Spains high tech industry.
The Barcelona city council decided in 2001 to revitalise an old industrial and poor housing area called Poblenou using new urban planning codes to encourage replacing old factories and housing with modern facilities and some public buildings including university research centres and an international conference centre. Established businesses as well as start-ups in growth sectors like media, medical technology, energy research and IT were to form the core of this new environment complemented by parks and with the beach only a short walk away this is a great location. The new station for the high speed train is also being built in this area linking Madrid and Paris in a journey which will only take a few hours from Barcelona when it is finished.
As  with many publicly funded initiatives over the last few years some building speculation by landowners in the area is evident from the empty holes with fences surrounding them but my surprise was that quite a lot has been built already and even more are about to be completed.  With the economy here suffering at least as much as elsewhere, and some would argue more, it will be interesting to see if these new offices are occupied, especially by the start-ups and small businesses that were envisaged at the outset.
Meanwhile, it is a great place to walk around to see how an old and run down part of town gets a second chance, and hopefully the mix of resident, visitor and worker will blend into a really interesting and dynamic part of Barcelona.

         

Click here to download:

Barcelona_22_high_tech_distric.zip (3355 KB)

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