Una noche en la ciudad muerta: A night in the dead city

Tom was thirsty as we searched desperately for a cafe, bar, restaurant...something? ANYTHING! We are hungry, poor college kids in Cordoba on a Monday night--and NOTHING is open in Cordoba on Monday night...at least not where we live in the old city.

We FINALLY found the only food place open in this spanish city...A Chinese restaurant-imagine that. Afterwards, we took our time walking back, and were sidetracked by the only bright light we saw on the walk, which happened to belong to this plaza and old church.

This plaza is to the left of the church from the previous picture. Ben and Felipe are admiring the construction...or are they plotting to break in? We'll never know! The plaza was pretty cool especially at night with the shadows of the arcade from the street lights.

One of the few buildings with any light was La Mezquita, itself! This picture was taken after the group split up before the bridge over the Guadalquivir River. Bob, Felipe, Ben, Billy, Rob, Vic, Sean, and I headed to "the other side" to see what we could find. Cordoba must have SOMETHING to do at this time on a Monday night!

Indeed it does...MORE PLAYGROUNDS! We really are drawn to them in some mysterious way! Billy commandeers the ship through sand dunes and Rob maintains that HE is "King of the World."

We found a big block, which pretty much had no purpose until we came along and made it a pedestal for this fabulous photo. Then we left the playground and made way for the wet, unlit path along the Guadalquivir.

While we really wanted to cross the bridge that was under construction, we managed to keep ourselves under control and NOT to fight the guard. As we continued on our way, I did a double take..."Guys?! What the hell is a BLOBJECT?" Clearly, no one knew...we still haven't figured it out..."Give me your best 'I'm a Blobject' impression!"

Disclaimer: No trees were hurt in the taking of this photo. As we were walking through a grassy area (in which we found yet ANOTHER fantastic Spanish playground), Bob came across this GINORMOUS palm branch, and Ben found...no surprise: an orange. After Bob chased Victoria and Ben with it for a bit, we decided the moment should be caught on camera, and this is the result.

Well...since Cordoba, like most cities, used to be fortified with walls, there are a few towers remaining. We climbed the super-steep stairs of a different one, and were going to be illegal and go inside the locked gates, but we are pretty much big wusses and we scared ourselves from talking about the possiblities of killers and such before running away to this tower, the next one along the river. This is basically a re-enactment of all of those high school movies when they show people running out of school on the last day before summer...I dont know why, but I guess jumping off a tower is kind of the same as jumping off the front steps at school!? Sean, Ben, Vic, and Rob were awesome at it, too-don't you think?!

I know, I know-this looks totally fake and I probably found it online, right? Wrong. This is one of the molinos left over along the river after being captured on film with an extended exposure time since it was so dark and there weren't any lights to capture this ruin otherwise. It was about 10 or 15 feet from the sidewalk where we stood, and the vegetation was probably about 10 feet down...we were trying to do the math to see if the boys could jump to it to explore, but we factored in the possibility that they would fall through the roof, slip on the jump, or miss completely and that = not worth trying...but it was exciting to consider! I have to include the fact that this was an innovative machine as well as a building which used its natural resources to its advantage...maybe the current world should take a hint.

La Mezquita: The Great Mosque of Cordoba

CORDOBA

Home of La Mezquita...a huge mosque dating to the 900s, it was added to multiple times by different rulers. When the Christians regained control of the area in the 1200s, it was named a Cathedral, and a section at the center of the mosque was constructed into a Christian church. I think that most of us, as architecture students, were astounded that people would attempt to desecrate such a great religious structure with little or no regard for the spaces it is surrounded by. There are no transitions of note between the two types of architecture and the church creates a block in the center of the open forest of columns supporting 2-tiered arches. It was sad and amazing all at once.

The entry to the Mosque starts before the Mosque itself, in a plaza full of orange trees with a complex irrigation system throughout.

The first step inside brings immediate awe at the full height screen bringing light into the entry-way.

From the screen, you can sit on the bench and strain your eyes into the dimly-lit expanses of the mosque all the way to the mihrab wall. Your view is bordered by the columns and double arches on either side.

A look in either direction will awe you as you stare into the grid of columns that covers the plan of the mosque and lifts the ceilings beyond view.

All the way at the back is where the actual heart of the Mosque sits: the Mihrab. This niche is etched with scripture and ornately decorated in the utmost detail. While not well-lit, this is the destination point of Muslims because it is the part of the Mosque closest to Mecca, the direction in which they pray 5 times daily.

I refrained from taking many pictures of the Christian part of the mosque/cathedral, which I now realize robs any viewers from drawing their own conclusions about the cathedral inside. This, however, was one of the poorer attempts at integrating the two types of architecture.

On a much brighter note, the detailing was inspiring. I wonder how long it must have taken to design such details and if the architects did both the general AND detail design...I don't know if that type of detail is even done anywhere these days. This also has a Christian cross thrown in there under the left arch.

Las calles de Toledo: The streets of Toledo

TOLEDO

So, we stayed up all night, but we got an hour-long nap on the train to Toledo, where we discovered a city void of the "modern city" feel...which was fantastic. It was quiet, and generally looked uninhabited. A great place to visit, but I think to live there would be frustrating with mostly tourists like ourselves wandering through the narrowest of streets, voices echoing through the town.

We walked from the train station to the city, with constantly changing views from the exterior as we went uphill to the main entry gate.
Sure, it looks welcoming and modern now, but it used to be a towering fortress around the city of Toledo, accessible on horseback---not car. In fact, most streets are too tiny for any normal-sized car, smart cars and motos were the only ones that would fit!

No, it's not just a perspective...This walkway went from a normal street size to a walkway about 3 feet wide in the course of approximately 20 feet, and continues around the corner!
Our first stop was the Mosque of Bib Mardum where I gave a short presentation on Islamic architecture and the Mosque, itself.

Spain was conquered by the Muslims in 711 AD. Unlike in many situations, however, the Muslims did not simply wipe out the existing culture, nor did the Christians when they regained control centuries later. Instead, there was an integration of the many different styles and cultural elements that lead to a unique architecture as can still be seen today.

Part of the reason for this mixing is the fact that the conquerors, as a group of traveling warriors, consisted of few women, so when they settled in Spain, it was necessary for them to marry Spanish women. This led to cultural mixing as well as a sense of security and peace.

Islamic architecture is known for its detail and structure. NO animals or icons are used because of the religious beliefs about false deities. The decorations are instead mostly plantlike or from the holy books. Elements of Islamic Arch. include, but aren't limited to the horseshoe arch, screens, corbelling, double-tiered arches, and glass tesserae (tiles). An example of the combination of such elements is the Great Mosque of Cordoba, which we will be visiting this week.

The Mosque of Bib Mardum, itself, was completed in its original cube form in 999 AD as a musalla (private devotional space) and was likely connected to a palace. It was originally open on all sides except for the quibla wall (facing Mecca). Since its original completion and the regain of control by Christians in about 1400, the Mosque was converted into a church/chapel called Cristo de la Luz (Christ of Light). Walls were put up to enclose the mosque and an apse and transitional space were attached to one side. In the photo above you can see where the old mosque (right) is connected to the new chapel (left). The Chapel/Mosque is currently being restored.

Past the gardens we encountered behind the Mosque we found an amazing lookout over part of the city. You can see group pictures on some of the other students' sites. I loved that the colors were all different but still read as a collective whole.

After the mosque, we went to a church service in Spanish to get out of the cold, since we were scheduled to be in Toledo all day. Afterwards we walked a bit through their winding streets then split up for lunch before Ben went home sick.

From there, Victoria, Mon, Rob and I continued exploring the city. We found the Alcazar (Castle) of Toledo, beside which there was a lookout point over the river and the major roads, as well as the rocky hills and grassy knolls surrounding the city. It was GORGEOUS! Mon and I decided the only thing it was missing to match our idea of the Irish countryside was a few white sheep on the hillside! After Alcazar's lookout we wandered back toward the main plaza of the city, which was dead all day, and found a cafe to get a snack before heading to meet the group near la Catedral.

We were clearly excited to reunite with our group!

(Tom, Bob, Mon, Bri, Victoria, Rob)

La Catedral de Santa Maria de Toledo was beautiful! Tom, who had visited in a previous trip, was shocked and disappointed with the renovations on the interior-namely the painting of the interior walls to reduce the dark quality that the old stone gave. To me, though, not having an idea of the previous state, I was content to stare at the fantastic art and detailing such as could be found in this side burial room.

The main altar was even more over-the-top ornate with gold-colored EVERYTHING!

The most incredible part for me, though, was this area behind the main altar space. A hole in the ceiling, with a painted interior and sculptures surrounding it. The back wall of the altar acted as the human connection to this heavenly space directly overhead. Pictures or words just couldn't do it justice--you'll have to visit for yourself.

On the way back, we looked for the escalators designed by Cecilia's old firm. They were cool and innovative, but the best part about them was how much fun we had with our group. We took tons of pictures, but mine got lost somewhere in the transfer from one technological device to another...and you know the story...

Tom and I got churros to share on the train. We grabbed a quick dinner and then Victoria and I passed out, despite my previous thought of going out with Monica! Bob woke us up to tell us that we wern't going out. Sleep is good-thanks Bob!

La noche nos llamo: The night called us

Started out the day fantastically...especially compared to the freezing cold and wind yesterday...(we even saw a few snowflakes)! We had breakfast at a place called Nebraska...imagine that! Then we walked over to Palacio Real where we admired the gardens, their symmetry, and the sun...I tried to get a tan to no avail.

From there we walked around to the front of the palace, which stands opposite the Opera House (which seems too plain to be separated into 2 horizontal portions as large as they are). We listened to a man singing and playing guitar...Mon and I wondered why all men don't sit and sing to us like that?! haha.

On the other side we could see the patio/plaza behind the palace, and the cathedral/church built in about 5 different architectural styles due to the expanse of time it took to complete it. I played soccer with a litte kid who had been playing by himself, then we headed on to see the main market still in use today.

The streets of the old city were not nearly as narrow as those in Barca, but it was interesting how the houses hugged the curves. I don't know if it's visible from the photo, but the lower 1/3 of the buildings are angled out, probably to fortify the structure. This picture in particular was taken right at the bottom of the staircase up to Plaza Mayor.

The plaza is huge compared to the enclosed plazas we've seen in Barca. There were lots of people milling about, taking pictures, eating lunch, walking around, looking at shops...it was really pleasant. The buildings themselves were all uniform in their inclusion of balconies, with equal floor heights and the pattern smacks you in the face...no need to go searching for it!

**Check out the video and see for yourself!**

This was the location of our first sketching assignment. I chose to do a facade and section study to capture the proportions through an elevation and the geometry of the section that can't be captured just by the facade because of the slanted roof as well as the arcade that screens a walkway beneath the buildings.

After the Plaza we headed to el Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. There we saw multiple mediums of art; video, sculpture, canvas, text, etc. Picasso's Guernica is there too. To be honest, I was not as impressed by it in person as I thought I would be. I was much more affected by the manner in which he refused to keep the painting in Spain until the end of Franco's rule. We also saw a collection of work by Bauhaus member Josef Albert and his wife on patterns and tiling. My favorite of those works was Abstracto.

The addition to the museum, pictured above, was done by Jean Nouvel. While it doesn't fit the building, as Nouvel is known to build object architecture that stands on its own, I did appreciate the way that the new and old building don't actually touch to be sealed together. I also liked how the street sidewalk continued underneath the roof that covered a plaza between the old and new parts shown here. The use of glass also helped to create an interesting feel. One of my pictures of this is shown on the main blog page under "Madrid."

I'm not sure if the furniture inside the addition was designed by Nouvel as well, but I really liked some of it, especially pieces like this that doubled in use: one end is a table and the other is a bench!

After Reina Sofia, we headed to one of the heavenly places in Madrid...also known as a Chocolateria, where they serve coffee mugs full of chocolate with baked churros to dip...yeah--that was good! We did dessert first, then hit up a local restaurant where Felipe used his people skills to get us the Menu deal, and I had the best steak ever! We sat in a room full of soccer fans, so clearly we were half-talking, half-futbol-watching!

Upon returning to the hotel, most people were really tired, but a few of us were wide awake and ready for another night of dancing at an Unce-unce club! Billy, Ben, Felipe, Sean, and I headed out to Joy Esclava, where we ran into..."issues" and ended up heading a few doors down to Palacio Girivina(?) which was basically a beautiful old mansion converted into a 2-story posh club with a bunch of bars, 3 dance floors, and a few lounge rooms full of comfy furniture. I did not take advantage of any of that furniture, however, and instead opted to dance the whole time! The music was the best when one of the employees came out and played a bongo-like drum to the current techno, house, or pop music-SWEET! We preferred him much more than the weird dancers that they had on stage...STrAnGE!!

anywho..."we stayed out until 5:30, came to the hotel, showered, then went out looking for a quick breakfast at 7:15, met everyone in the lobby at 8, and were officially inducted into the Madrid nightlife scene with an all-nighter."

Las Vacaciones de las vacaciones: The vacation from the vacation

MADRID...the capital of Spain.

"Imagine Barcelona...on drugs"

I stayed up talking to Bob and Ben until 3 this morning...had to be up at 4:30 to do the wakeup calls so everyone made it to Placa Catalunya for the Aerobus this am. It was gorgeous, having been just washed by the awesome bcNETA (basically the city janitors--keeping the streets swept and hosed, keeping the many recycling/trash bins in order--basically making Barca a beautiful and clean city), and reflecting the lights around the plaza, without a person in sight...this probably doesn't happen but for about an hour each day between the partiers returning home and the workers waking up!

Christi wasn't feeling well, so the modes of transportation were not exactly the best thing for her, but we made it to the Munich airport without problems. The airport was crazy! The colors, the materials...I felt like I stepped into some crazy Mission to Mars movie where everything was super high-tech. It wasn't, mind you, but the shapes suggested that the entire airport was a giant machine; just ushering people in and out as it pleased...See Ben's site for some pictures of the interior, mine didn't come out well, so I'll leave your curious minds to search some of my colleagues' awesome pages for more visually pleasing info!

We made it to the hotel, after about 3 metro switches, a super-sick Christi, and an attempted pick-pocketing (shakes fist at crazy woman picking me out!), and took a little while to get settled, then hit the town, sans Christi, to get our scheduled events out of the way!

We were hungry, so after walking around in the freezing cold and ridiculous wind-tunnel that was Madrid, we split up and my group found a small cafe. After lunch, we headed to El Prado art museum. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed--I guess that just leaves you a good reason to visit!

I was amazed when I saw Goya's "El 3 de Mayo en Madrid: Los fusilamientos en la montana del Principe Pio." It commemorates the shooting of innocent people on the mountain during the civil war, I believe? I had seen it multiple times in books for Spanish classes, but it was pretty cool to see it in person!

I also really liked some of the paintings by Claudio de Lorena, Peter Paul Rubens, J. Bautista Martinez del Mazo, and one in particular by Francisco de Zurbaran. His was called, "Christo crucificado con donante." While it did not immediately catch my eye upon walking through the room, despite its size (taking up almost 1/3 of the wall), what was most impressive was what happened after having left the room. Upon turning back to the previous, I was baffled at the "sculpture" in the room before...I didn't know how I could have missed it and on returning, I found that what I had thought to be sculpture, was actually the ability of the artist to create a realistic 3 dimensional image using the 2 dimensions offered by paint by using light and shadow

After El Prado, we headed toward el Parque del Buen Retiro to walk around for a while since we had a few hours before dinner. Victoria and I played in the tree,

Tom sketched, we all ambled through the frozen gardens taking photos and imagining the springtime state of this huge park, and then...

we found a playground, of course! This one was yet another incredible adventure accompanied by tons of laughs, and even more dizziness. Keep a look out for the "videos" links on my main page, where you can join in on some of the fun!

On the walk back to the hotel we saw why we, as architecture majors, should be in Madrid...the detail of the buildings, the way entire plaza facades curved to match the circular fountain or gate at the center...we notice those things!

This is an example of one of the interesting architectural finds on our walk...a church tucked in between and underneath what looks like an apartment building...but look closer... the apartments are not just stuck on top, they create an arch above the church to maintain a separation and continue the visual curve from below caused by the cylindrical church facade--cool, huh?!

Well--dinnertime came and Christi still wasn't feeling well, so we kept our reservation and headed over to the restaurant called La Bola, where we ate "Ropa vieja" as our main course...literally translated it means "old clothes!" It was very good, though, and I would probably compare it to pulled pork in texture...but anywho...it was tasty but it got expensive as every small thing had a charge. We had a good time, though, and the night was just beginning.

After dinner we grabbed some breakfast foods, went back to the hotel, then went to a local bar. From there we headed toward a bar Felipe knew of called Joy Esclava. We were intercepted by a guy enticing us with passes to a clbu nearby, so we made a pitstop there, then headed on to Joy, where we realized what a small world it is when we found out one of the guys we met there was friends with Erin Dunn, from CUA...CRAZY!

Dancing until 3 am can really catch up to you, so bed is in order upon arriving in the room. Thank goodness we don't meet until 12 tomorrow!

Semana loca: Crazy Week!

It has been nutty this week. We were up late last night working on the model after the visit to be prepared so that Billy and Felipe can go cut out the topo from wood at the university.

I met Christi at 8:30 am at the metro to get more blood tests done again at L'Hospital Bellvitge. We got to walk around in the "doctor-area" for lack of a better phrase...hospitals are crazy! I am impressed by anyone who designs them...kudos! We grabbed breakfast in the cafeteria. I really enjoy talking to Teresa! She is so loving and friendly and-You just can't help but love her! She is my mom in Spain-telling my how to take care of myself and making sure I'm not sick, setting up my appointments...of course, no one can replace my own "Mumu!" :) Love you!

It was presentation day, as well as apartment-payment day since we won't be back in time to pay at the beginning of the month, so I got home, took a 20 minute nap, then Ben and I went to pay for Aldana at Barcelona-Home. From there, we checked the times for the printer so we could all get our boards printed for Christi (jury was moved to the Monday we get back since Eric Jenkins will be in town). Then, we worked frantically to make sure the boards were what we wanted them to be.

TYPICAL GRAFITTI-the rest of the wall was clearly painted over, but the doors were left with the brilliance of color and self-expression, no matter how delinquent...cool

When Mon got back, we grabbed lunch at La Parra (a diner-like restaurant that has become a favorite recently.

LA PARRA

After meeting for studio to hand in our boards, we split into groups/shifts to work on the model since we only had enough supplies for half of us to be working on it at a time. I was in the 2nd shift, so I went shopping with Victoria, Mon, and Gisela. There are "REBAIXES/REBAJAS" (SALES) signs EVERYWHERE! After the 3-King's Day, the sales in Barca begin, and apparently they last until April or May!! I got a pair of Jeans for 3 Euro! It's pretty ridiculous, I wish Jess were here, she would love it--I need some of her fashion-sense to help me out with the Barca layering skills...haha!

I finished a block when I got back to studio, ate a sandwich then headed back to the apartment where I dawdled for hours...I need to be up in about an hour....apparently the anxiety of packing and travelling and the fun that comes with having apartment-mates like Bob and Ben is enough to keep me awake until 3 am!

Enferma...otra vez: Sick...again

I woke up sick this morning but pulled myself together to go to sketching class. It was the COLDEST day we've had so far in Barcelona...and the longest outdoor-time, too! Figures...

We walked through Gracia, saw one of the oldest remaining farmhouses tucked into the dense city that grew up all around it...then saw one of the first Gaudi buildings for a tile-maker of the city, then Plazas, as per usual. One of them was plaza de Rebellion where people used to gather to protest and such, and Placa Rius i Taulet, which I ended up sketching. It has a bell tower and acted as a town meeting space. Monica and I were so cold--the pavement and marble were sucking out all of our heat--so we just hit up a cafe and sketched from there while we drank some Cafe con Leche.

We all got back together and visited a really cool library with a glass platform on one of the upper levels, and a curved facade that bubbled out over the sidewalk. From there we continued our walk to a row of buildings made in the modernista era with awesome facade-work very much like stucco, but patterned across the entire building. I can't explain and sadly I was so cold that I didn't remove the camera from my pocket for fear that I might freeze in the process. Perhaps I can steal pictures from other people later on when I create a slideshow or something...otherwise you'll just have to come visit and see for yourselves!

After all of our work on the model, it was scrapped today and we are now re-working the topo to be representative instead of literal. We didn't finish the topo I proposed, and after all of the hell we went through it's sad to see it go to waste, but I think that this will be better for the group's sanity and efficiency-wise it makes sense. So...Here is a pic of the old topo...I'll be sure to update when the new one is completed tomorrow or something. We got an extension for the model until after we return from the field trip, but the sooner it is out of the way, the better. I guess it's a good thing I enjoy model-making!

After studio, it was firm-visit-time, except today we went to the gym (across from the hostel Bob and I stayed at on C/St. Pau) that was designed by a friend of Eugenia in the University that won a competition. Part of the building was originally a factory and had to be re-finished and incorporated into the new part of the building, which made it really interesting. There were major efforts made to maintain many aspects of the industrial feeling of the spaces.

BECAUSE WHO DOESN'T CARRY THEIR MATTRESS HOME FROM THE STORE?

A NICE WINDOW DETAIL IN THE EXTERIOR OF THE OLD FACTORY

BEN, JOEL, TOM, EUGENIA, BOB-discussion at the rear of the bldg.

MONICA SHOWING OFF OUR POOL-SIDE SHOES (worn to keep the areas hygenic)

THE SPA-ZONE: SNOW! This is the first snow I've seen in nearly a year, if not more...it is the 2nd step in the process...the 1st is the sauna. The snow is meant to be smoothed over the hot skin to tighten, tone, and heal. I especially like the effects of the color!

THE SPA ZONE: Step 3, a lower body jet-stream massage treatment! Push a button and the water jets out to massage your legs--apparently this encourages blood flow!

THE OLD FACTORY: re-finished interior with treadmills, free weights, and other equip