MNAC- Plaza Espana

Fundacio Joan Miro

The Fundacio' Joan Miro is a museum located on Mont Juic which houses a collection of work from the 20th century painter Joan Miro. The building was opened in 1971 and underwent renovations to expand in 1980.

MACBA

The building uses a combination of straight lines and curves to create a language within the building. THe building inagurated in 1995 by RIchard Meier, is a museum dedicated to works from the second half of the 20th century. There are few works in the permanent collection and once in a while interesting temporary exhibitions.
Information:
www.barcelona.com

Museums!!!

The four museums I chose to study were the CCCB building, The Joan Miro Art Museum, The MACBA, and the MNAC. . The C.C.C.B. was built by the architect Piñón y Viaplana on the site of the old Casa de la Caridad, a beautiful building, which retains a few original decorative elements. This is the main exhibition center in Barcelona, located in the heart of the Raval district.










Picture and information: http://www.homeandabroad.com/c/74/Site/103281_Centre_de_Cultura_Contempor_nia_de_Barcelona__CCCB__visit.html

The Places I've Run!!

The places which I have sucessfully run to have been mark, although I have not made it to the two hospitals they are my new goals for the upcoming week.

Morocco

In Morocco there were very limited places to run. To be completely honest there were tons of places to run, explore, and discover although out of fear of getting absolutely lost in a matter of 30 steps, I chose to not be so adventurous. Morocco as a whole seemed to be one huge labyrinth and one must spend years learning and becoming acquainted with the areas. I was not willing to venture out on the streets of Morocco with Mateusz or Lauren, so I simply chose to not run.

Instead of giving you the play-by play of the entire week, telling of every morsel or crumb of food that entered into my mouth, or every sight we saw, Id rather describe the feelings I had when walking around the city. The very first day when exploring the city by foot with the guidance of our fearless leaders Christi and Eric, we crossed a funeral walking down the street. A funeral consisted of 50 men walking down the street holding a body wrapped within a linen sheet chanting and singing. This was pretty overwhelming considering we were in the country for a mere two hours. The people of morocco were really helpful, kind, and generally very genuine. However there still were the hustlers, beggars, and decent salesmen. Our tour guides and drivers were the most genuine men who were interested in giving us the full experience of there home, and I could not have been more appreciative. Overall the trip consumed me with a sense of gratefulness and appreciation for what I had and the opportunities in my reach. This seems very cliché and sounds like a bunch of bologna but that’s the truth. Seeing the places these people lived, worked, and played left some in awe. To see ten children playing with a soccer ball so weathered it appeared as though it were a piece of inflated garbage was really amazing. To watch how happy and satisfied they were with that ball. Back home a child would have three or four soccer balls in their collections, and still desire more. The people there are part of a tight knit community and work together to make it work. I am very glad to have taken that trip to Africa it was an awesome trip and I really did learn a lot from it, whether it be architecture or not I learned a great deal from those five days.

Pen and Ink

Pen and Ink replication of an already existing drawing of a Paris bridge. http://www.tastudio.com/gallery_images/paris_bridge_architecture

Caltrava's Bridge... Possible or Impossible

Caltrava's Bridge- Barcelona

I have been researching locations to run for tomorrows run, my goal is to make it to the Clatrava Bridge. The address of this bridge is:

Bac de Roda Bridge
C/ Felip II and c/ Bac de Roda
La Sagrera
Barcelona
Spain

After taking the addresses into Google Earth the run is an estimated 8 miles. This seems to be a rather ambitious run although it should be possible. It is .87 miles further then the Torre Agbar. It seems to be all flat, although the run is through the dense tourist part of the town so it should be another frustrating run. This bridge seems to be a very interesting space to walk through. The bridge does not run over water, it is simply an overpass. It seems to be both a pedrestrian bridge and for cars. This bridge seems to be focused on being an inviting space for pedrestrians.





Caltravas Bridge- Seville


While in Seville we came across another Caltrava bridge, which was very simliar, a connection used for both pedestrians and cars. His bridges seem to be very welcoming for the travelers on foot. One night Christi, Lauren, and I ran to this bridge along the river edge, it was a very warm night and was a great run.

Barcelona Pavilion

This morning I ran, 6.4 miles (calculated on Google Earth). I sucessfully ran up Montjuic, and ended at the fortress on the top of the mountain. This was one of the most frustrating runs since I have been in Barcelona. This mountain was covered with tourist, I counted a total of 8 different languages while on my run to the top. I had to stop every ten feet to avoid visitors of this popular site. It was very frustrating, although once on top the view of the olympic stadium, the Telecommunication tower, and the Port were worth it. While on top I met another runner, an older man also a fellow American named Rich, from Deleware he was a mid 40 yr old man, and has been living in Barcelona. I ran with him down the mountain and had a great end of the run. I finished the day by the Barcelona Pavilion. After seeing this site I ran home showered and returned to sketch the area.


A reflection from the exterior of the Pavilion looking out onto the reflection pool.

Water Color

For the Morrocco trip we plan on exploring water color. These are my first attempts at the medium, this may become a very long trip!!! We had to explore for the top one simply using tonal variation of black, grey, and white. The bottom is an attempt at color. This were supposed to both be oranges although the colorful fruit looks more like a mango/pinapple.

Cafe Melon

The other morning I woke up and got ready for a run although unlike many others, I had no final destination. My goal was to run around my local neighborhood just to see if I could find any interesting buildings. Most buildings within my immediate neighborhood are very older, plain, five to six stories apartment buildings. During the run I found nothing which interested me or anything I considered worthy of sketching. This was until I began running home and within two blocks of my apartment. I came across this modern building, which I felt was really interesting. The building used extreme contrast in its facade, a steady blend from solid grey to all white. It used varying rectangles and changed the colors to create a slow bleed into lighter tones. I liked the building although I dont feel it was sucessful in continuing any axial lines on the facades of the existing buildings.

Inspiration

For the latest sketching assingment/ homework, we were to select an image and create a pen and ink replication of the color image we found. I chose a landscape image of a mountain, this corolates to my blog topic, studying the places which I run. After creating this drawing, I was inspired to conquer Montjuic, the larger mountain which my apartment sits close to the base of the mountain. On this mountain you can find Caltrava's Telecommunication Tower, The Barcelona Pavillion, and the Olympic Stadium from the Barcelona Olympic Games.

The Fish by Frank Gehry

For years, Frank Gehry has been concerned with fish imagery. Here, his fish fixation is manifested by a 35 metre x 54 metre fish made of steel lattice. The fish marks the start of the Olympic Port area and is placed at the base of two landmark towers. As an artwork its grabs the eye for its scale and as its copper colour shines in the bright sunlight. This is the normal turning point of our run it is approximately two miles from our house. It allows us to create a final point while letting us run alow the beach. The mediteranean is a pretty picturesque backdrop for a run.

information and picture provided by
(http://spain.archiseek.com/catalunya/barcelona/fish.html)

Topic of Study

For the next two months I will be documenting different locations and sights that I come across through my daily runs. I will be running with my roomate Mateusz D. with no particular destination, and end at a point of interest or significant landmark which holds some significant vaule to the city of Barcelona, or Morrocco while on our final field trip. This topic s hould promote a healtheir sketch book, while creating a healthier lifestyle for myself. Gotta see what happens!

10 guys going to a bath???

In Cordoba we went to the Arab baths, which was an interesting event. And yes this is not a real picture of our massages, but I thought it looked good. So the 18 of us all following Christi into the baths not knowing what to expect. At first I felt a little fruity walking into to these baths although I kinda got into it at the end. Going from a warm bath to a hot one, followed by a cold one it was pretty cool. Going from the hot bath to the cold bath felt like needles were shooting through your entire body it actually took your breath away . Then you could break up that pattern and through in a little stop to the sauna which felt like 500 degrees and looked with you were walking into a burning building. You were barely able to see one foot in front of you.
In the middle of this process we all got 15 minute massages, which again was interesting, after she rubbed my gleuteus grande maximus for a little it became a little more comfortable. The night was actually really relaxing.

SuperBowl XLII??? New England who?? 18-1? sooo we were in madrid for Super Bowl Sunday. We were freaking out that we would not be able to watch the game. Since Kevin is a patriots fan and Im a Giants fan this game was causing some drama. Although we found a place called Larry's Bar, we walked in an to our surprise were surrounded by 70 english speaking Americans!!! The game was amazing and yes Im praying in this picture, I was a bit apprehensive for most of the game although my boys pulled it out 17-14.

So the first night in Granada was a free night to roam, although we all went to watch the sunset while sketching the Alhambra. This was awesome, we sat for a little less then two hours and sketched while the sun quickly dropped. Now I know this sounds perfect but there were sketchy people there roaming, wild dogs running everywhere, and people playing the guitar asking for money. But other then that it was a good time. We all hacked away at our sketchbooks while Eric sat there for 15 minutes and came out with the Mona Lisa, but as he said that drawing has taken him 20 years. The next day we actually went into the Alhambra and sketched and walked around the palace.

jammin on the one jam jammin on the one.... This dude was legit playing the Violin we sat and sketched on the stairs of this church and listeined to his tunes...

Pollo Durum anyone???

This is pretty much the staple of our diets here in A Pollo or Ternera Durum, pretty much heaven for 3 Euros. Its like beef with lettuce, tomatoe, some funky little rabbit food crap, and like these three mystery sauces. All wrapped up in a pita, or a grilled wrap. I have probably consumed fourteen in the first week and a half. Travis and I made friends with the man from BANG__ ladesh, we are pretty chill now, he comes running out of his kabob stand to say hi to us in English, hes real cute. He told us about how much he knew about the states, which consisted of... ,"oh there are many BANG----ladeshi people in New York!"I had to agree with the man, he has great knowlege of the US. HIs name is Kumar. I have great respect for him and his friend Harold.

True Life: I Live in Aldana P...

Alright so now trying to play catch up... THe guys of Aldana P. are starting to be consumed in there on waste, dirt, filth, and overal garbage. The kitchen is filled with piles of garbage bags, rock had five day old baggettes, and tomatoes covered in mold. THe dishes sitting in the sink slightly resemble the leaning Tower of Pisa, with food caked permanently on them. Its hard to walk in the apartment without wearing shoes of some sort, without your feet becoming an instant dry mop. Life has been interesting in the apartment, slightly resembling the house in "Animal House" but in Spain. Our room has been very cozy.. Little Alwy and I were forced to cuddle the first three nights, now we do it by choice. My bed in the master bedroom is soooo comfortable, spacious, it almost feels like a tempur-pedic. I feel every spring piercing through my back as i lay gently on my floor. Oh yea I forgot to say I still dont have a bedframe, but ya knowl, "We are in Spain!!" so its all good...

SOOOO our first sucessful night out as a group at the Ovella Negra (The Black Sheep). It was a really cool bar that was pretty low key. Of course the 18 loud drunk Americans came through and owned that place. With 11Euro pitchers the night seem to fly by and the next morning was a little rough.