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When I arrived in Barcelona, I was pleasantly surprised by the bright sunlight and tidy streets. The Mediterranean wind caught the wind in Barceloneta, where a beautiful yacht stands. The paella I ate upon arrival was really delicious. It was nice to have many cute shops gathered in a narrow alley. The old building that was the background of Notre Dame was entangled with the modern, and the past and the present overlapped, which was amazing.
It was strange that several buildings were added to the medieval buildings, so that the past and the present were completely overlapped. There were many sensuous shops hidden all over the narrow alleys. Some open bars played traditional Catalan music, a bookstore selling unique graphic novels, and a graphic fashion store based on tattoos.
During the industrial revolution in the late 19th century, a wave of modernism arose in various countries. Art Nouveau in France, Liberty in Italy, and Modernismo in Spain. This movement was not simply to pursue something new, but to find an identity unique to Catalonia. During this period, great architects such as Gaudí and Domenech designed beautiful buildings with a motif from nature.
Gaudí designed Barcelona's most famous World Heritage Site, the Sagrada Familia. It's a majestic piece that shows what's possible when an artist dreams unimaginably big and has people who believe in and support them. Unfortunately, Gaudí died in an unfortunate car accident and was unable to complete the cathedral, but numerous architects are completing the cathedral after him. The cathedral itself came to represent the history and will of Barcelona.
Casa Batllo, another masterpiece of Gaudí, is one of the most free buildings. It is nicknamed the House of Bones or the House of Dragons, and it makes you feel like you are looking at an illustration of a children's book. It seems to express the sea with waves as a material. Tiles that change color depending on the light are beautiful.
Domenech created San Pau Hospital, known as the most beautiful hospital in the world. It is a comfortable space, more like a park than a hospital. It is divided into a main building and eight smaller wards around a garden called Paseo Central. The wards are connected via underground connecting passages, allowing for easy movement. There are various plants everywhere, and the design philosophy that beauty heals disease is well incorporated in the spacious and comfortable interior.
The Palau de la Musica Catalunya has exquisite and beautiful stained glass. Interiors filled with trancadis, one of the Catalan mosaic techniques, elaborately combine Arabic ornamentation with Art Nouveau curves. The unique shape of the ceiling chandelier, which cannot be found anywhere else, was inspired by dripping honey.
The Museum of Catalonia on the hill of Montjuic is like a majestic palace. It was established in 1934 by renovating a building used for the World's Fair. Picasso is said to have praised the Catalan Museum of Art as 'a place that gives valuable lessons to those who want to understand the origins of Western art'. In particular, it has a collection of Catalan art and Romanesque art.
A pavilion is a temporary building used temporarily by a participating country in an exhibition or exhibition hall. The Barcelona Pavilion is a building dedicated to Germany participating in the 1929 International Exposition. The purpose of showing off the potential of Weimar Germany was great to stand up again after defeat in World War I. It was demolished because it was a temporary building, but it was restored in the same spot as it was in 1986 with the passion and efforts of architects in Catalonia, and it has reached today. Not only the architecture, but also the Barcelona chair designed for the king remained a legend.
The Laval district is an immigrant district and people from over 70 different countries live there. Plaza Catalunya, Las Ramblas and Boqueria Market are famous. Among them, the area around MACBA, the modern art museum in Barcelona designed by the white architect Richard Meyer, is particularly cool. Boarders show off their skills on the smooth floor in front of the museum, and in one corner, b-boys raise their voices with a boom box to have a dance battle. If you go into the alley right next to it a little bit, you'll find great shops with their own dark colors.
I thought it was Gaudí's city, but it was more like a hidden gem. I couldn't experience clubs or bars because I couldn't drink, but the difference between the well-organized new town and the messy old town under the sunny weather was attractive.
Gaudí and Domenech, Art Nouveau and Modern, contemporary art and skateboarding. Barcelona's history has been a tangled city, like a physical merging of disparate things, rather than pushing out or slowly assimilating what came before. It was a city I would like to visit again after studying more architects and graphic designers.
A landmark of Barcelona. You know what's possible when creative limitations are removed. There are many cathedrals of similar design in Europe, but it offers an experience that is hard to experience anywhere else. Poorly copying nature can be childish, but when geniuses and cities work together to push it to the limit, we can see how far it can go.
It is the representative work of Gaudí's teacher and great architect Domenech. You can experience plenty of mosaic art unique to Catalonia. There are also various performances ranging from traditional performances to classical music, so I recommend you to watch them.
A bookstore on the street near the Museum of Modern Art. This is a place that sells attractive graphic books full of strong visuals. We also sell a lot of independent publications that are not sold on the market. It is full of psychedelic and avant-garde works.
The king of tapas, operated since 1929. Delicious food, lively atmosphere, nice staff. It seems that great taste has not changed even after a long time. I recommend you to try the kava and anchovies. Especially anchovies!
A local restaurant we visited by chance. I was surprised that it tasted better than I expected. It was much better than the food I ate in Barceloneta. It's nice to eat here and see what the locals are buying at the market right across the street.
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Every Tuesday morning, a designer with 16 years of experience curated Collect design trends.
