Where I live

For the semester I got an apartment in the El Born area of Barcelona with 5 other guys from my school. It's a part of the old city which basically means narrow pedestrian streets and crooked, old, wonderful architecture.
If you're curious about what my neighborhood looks like...

This is the view from our tiny balcony:



And this is a huge monument just one block away:


I walk through this everyday to catch the metro.

Even though the narrow streets are sketchy at night, I really enjoy living in Born.

Forum

Yesterday my history class visited the Forum of Barcelona which is a large urban project constructed in 2004. The blue building is a centerpiece of a huge complex of parks and pavilions on the beach.
These days the building holds an interesting exhibit on Barcelona's continued urban development projects. It's a very interesting city to study in terms of urban development because the planners repeatedly use global events held in Barcelona as means to regenerate or transform specific areas of the city.

Today we visited the architecture firm who did the master planning of the whole Forum complex. It was interesting to see their other projects and learn about architecture in Spain.

It's a little late but....

For anyone interested in my inauguration day experience, here it is:

La Padrera

Today Joe, Andrew, and I visited Casa Mila/La Padrera.
The architecture of Gaudi is unique and incomparable. Specifically, the rooftop is beyond words.
Gaudi is definitely one of my favorite architects. If you don't know much about him, you should definitely google him; he had a fascinating career.

MACBA

Recently the group visited the newest modern art museum of Barcelona (just two blocks from studio) during our sketching class. This building is a great example of a new development which is positively integrated into the urban fabric. The building frames a few lively public spaces on each side that are popular with residents.

First project finished

I just wanted to Congratulate everyone on the great work we did on our first studio project.
Each person put in the time to make the final piece beautiful.

Theme for the Semester

Today we were told we should have a theme for our blogs.
The thing that immediately came to my mind is architectural eclecticism. In other words, I want to try to document as many styles of architecture as I can.
The diversity in Barcelona was one of the biggest reasons I chose to come here. Barcelona has, as my professor Christie Cole said, "many faces."
You can see Gothic, Roman, Art Nouveau, and Modern all in one day.
More pictures of my experiences to come.

Sangrada Familia

Last week I had the chance to visit the temple by Gaudi in the leixample district. It's stunning and definitely worth a trip to Spain to see.