O
t
t
o
b
r
e
2 0 0 8
The beautiful (and polluted) River Arno
1) Si e finito il secondo mese qui a Firenze First off, apologies for the short delay. I just got back a few days ago from my break between the preparatory language program and the first official semester. I made my return to Barcelona for around a week with my roommate Ulysses, and we arrived back in Florence late Sunday night. The next morning we started off with ten hours of class and a rather painful architecture critique where all thirty-one students had to present a case-study of a famous building in Florence. Those five and some hours were definitely as painful as any critique I have ever endured, mostly because they followed nearly a week of excitement and constant walking. I guess finally it is time to get back into the rhythm of school...
2) Il campionato di Calcio Early in the month, our school soccer team competed in the final of a small American and International Universities tournament hosted by a local Irish bar. We didn’t have much trouble getting to the final, as our relatively large school (around one hundred students) was able to field a rather talented calcetto team. Our games became rather popular, and the whole school would turn out, of course with boxed wine and beers in hand, to cheer us on vigorously. The final, as we all expected, was a heated rematch with Gonzaga University, the team that barely beat us in the first game. We had improved a lot over the last few weeks, and thought we might be able to beat them this time around. It was a very close, extremely intense game, with our technical, skilled, and creative players attempting to get past their unskilled rugby team on steroids and cocaine. Alas, as is often the case, the team with more determination and a little bit of luck came out on top. We went down one to zero in the first half, but were able to come back to even early in the second half. However, they scored again soon after and then My second favorite statue in Florence resorted to defending the rest of the game, which was their strength. That, and a superb goalkeeper effectively denied us any hope of overtime. We were all fairly angry and disappointed after the game, knowing that we could of and should of won, but after all this was just a tiny tournament and not so important in the scheme of things. The other team did get a free beer at the after game party at the Lion’s Fountain Pub, but our most valuable player of the tournament, Juancho (Juan Carlos) Guerrero was awarded an all-expenses paid vacation to Prague, so justice was served. Overall, we had a great experience playing in this tournament, and in many ways it was like reliving those “glory days” of high school sports, with so much pressure and fan support! We all are looking forward to competing in the Spring tournament, where hopefully we can take home that free beer and the pride that comes with such an important achievement!
3) La Limonaia (Italian Challenge 2008) In the middle of our longer calcetto tournament, we also participated in a separate weekend schoolsponsored sports tournament outside Florence at a nice Italian sports club called the Limonaia. We arrived on a Sunday along with several other American Universities in Florence, as well Italian students , to the club, to compete in friendly, semi-competitive games of calcetto, doubles tennis, and volleyball. It was a beautiful day out, and perfect weather for dominating over-confident Italian soccer players. Our team easily advanced to the finals, effectively destroying some younger, cocky Italian players and humiliating a fellow American University (Richmond) from the East Coast. In the final, we played an intense match on a perfectly-maintained turf field against a well-organized Pepperdine University, who all had team jerseys and real calcetto shoes (we are the poor CSU system kids that look disheveled but make up for our lack of unity with surprising skill). Our two best players, however, decided to make a no-show for that final game, and so with basically our back-up team, despite a phenomenal effort, we could not score enough goals to make up for our great defense that day against a superior opponent. It was a lot of fun, nevertheless, and after the 3 - 2 defeat (so reminiscent of that Gonzaga loss soon to follow) we all got together for pizza and drinks at the club restaurant. It was a great opportunity for us to show the community that American students don’t just get drunk and yell in the streets at night, and that they also can give back in positive ways and integrate with their Italian hosts. View of Florence from San Miniato al Monte
4) La Classe di Cucinare Around this same time, in the middle of October, I participated in a full evening cooking class with a local Italian woman who enjoys sharing the secrets of typical Tuscan food. Our rather large group of ten students rode by bus to the outskirts of Florence to Rosella’s (our gracious host) small apartment to begin our exciting evening. We were able to choose most of the recipe prior to the class in order to learn what we as a group decided was most interesting to all of us. We chose to learn how to make Ribollita (a winter vegetable and bread stew that is better “reboiled” the day after) for the “primo piatto”, Ossi Bucchi (veal steak including the bone and marrow inside cooked in a typical reduced ragu sauce) for the “secondo piatto”, and of course for the finale, we learned to make Tiramisu for the “dolce”. It was a really exciting evening, enjoying the hospitality and knowledge of a real Italian lady, learning to make delicious food, practicing Italian and learning new food-related vocabulary, and of course eating until very full after all the food was prepared. This evening of cooking seemed to, in its aftermath,
spawn a real interest in several students, including me, to learn other typical Tuscan recipes and try to make them at home. In the following weeks, there were several large potlucks and smaller dinners with friends from the University were everyone would bring something they had attempted to cook. After several attempts, my Tiramisu is starting to live up to my expectations. I also have found quite a fondness for stews (or medium-thick soups) similar to Ribollita such as Pappa al Pomodoro (tomato and bread “picante” mush soup), Minestra alle patate (potato-base vegetable mush soup), and of course the ultra-healthy vegetable-medley minestrone. And of course, every good meal deserves a fine red wine such as a local Chianti, or my preferred “La Cacciatore” Barbera from Asti (in the Piedmont region).
5) Il Compleanno di Ulysses My roommate Ulysses turned twenty-one in the month of October as well, as so we held a semi-surprise small party / dinner at a friend’s house down the street. We wanted to make him a “typical” Mexican dinner, rather a difficult challenge of course when San Miniato al Monte living in an Italian city such as Florence. Some friends bought him an authentic Fiorentina soccer jersey, and everyone decided to prepare some sort of dish for the grand fiesta. I was in charge of making a giant dish of beef and chicken enchiladas in red sauce with cheese, and also helped in preparing the most successful Tiramisu to date (complete with twenty-one birthday candles). I also attempted to make a decent salsa to accompany imported tortilla chips and had some difficulty making authentic Margaritas (you can’t just buy the pre-made mixes here). We had about ten people at the fiesta, and all the food was delicious, without a doubt the best Mexican fiesta ever in Italy. There was also taco salads, a bean, corn, and tomato soup, and Corona beers with lime. I must say the Margaritas were the sole disappointment of the night, as they were incredibly strong and too syrupy. The recipe online called for three parts Anejo Tequila, one part Triple Sec, and one part fresh squeezed lime juice. Everything necessary was available (if not extremely expensive) except for enough limes to make fresh squeezed juice. Instead, I tried to substitute an appropriate looking lime syrup for the fresh juice (big mistake). They ended up being extremely strong, syrupy in a gross manner, and without ice (none of us had ice cubes at the last minute). Needless to say one glass of my Margarita and everyone was in a pretty good place. We also made a funny video (hopefully on youtube.com one day soon, where my friend Alli and I improvised a special Margarita dance to really “shake up” the drinks, which we had rebottled into used wine bottles without their labels (trust me it looked very classy)). Needless to say, I invented a few new moves for the dance floor that may or may not surface in the future. It was a lot of fun, and a good alternative to the typical twenty-first birthday party in America.
Ponte Vecchio and both sides of the Arno River
6) La Classe di Arte My all-too-popular art class wrapped up near the end of October, and we were assigned two separate, and time-consuming, final projects to be presented during finals week at an evening critique. The first project (and easier one for me) was to combine three separate elements found throughout Florence into one cohesive, believable (we tried) scene in any media (the elements were: Architecture, Sculpture, and a Nature Scene). I chose to incorporate one of my favorite sculptures in the city, a newer piece found just in front of the imposing Pitti Palace, of a man holding up an abstract representation of the weight of the world (my personal interpretation). For architecture, I chose an interesting small Lutheran church nestled almost hidden in the back of a park across the Arno. Finally, for a nature scene, I had wanted to somehow find a space alongside the river where a building could be well-integrated, in a sort of gesture towards the water-city of Venice (but here in Florence). When leaving the bike path along the river to go the bathroom near a homeless hideout, I found this nice, tree-shaded alcove right next to the river with a great view into the distance. I added the small crosses to the tip of the “world” as a symbolism towards a reinterpretation of the cross, a sort of “abstract Jesus” carrying the weight of the world. The majority of the scene was cross-hatched in graphite, a rather time-consuming technique, and ended up taking around eleven hours. In the end though, as a non-art student with an architectural background, I was pretty happy with the result. Final Project 1: Combined composition of three seperate elements in Florence: Architecture, Sculpture, and Nature Scene
The other final project was to study an artist or architect in the city of Florence, then create a piece of artwork in any media that reinterpreted in some way the style of that person. I originally was fascinated with my overall favorite statue in Florence, the Perseus holding the head of Medusa, by Benvenuto Chiellini (not sure of the spelling in this exact moment), a famous bronze-cast statue found in the public sculpture “Loggia” in the city center. It is a wonderfully-crafted, powerful, emotional statue that has been compared to Michelangelo’s David and other famous sculpture works. However, I was unable to
find out enough about his style to create a reinterpretation, although I did learn many interesting things about his personal life and the difficult casting of the statue through reading his famous autobiography (well, part of it that is!). He was a very interesting Renaissance figure, who often murdered his competition or enemies, slept around, and still found favor and power through the Papacy. The casting of the statue was said to be impossible at the time, and in fact during the heating of the bronze his workshop ran out of fuel to heat the rest of the metal, and so he took hundreds of objects from his own house and threw them into the furnace to keep the fire going! Anyway, as it was, I was running out of time with the end of the PLP drawing near, and had just happened to attend a Mass with some friends at San Miniato al Monte, my favorite church in Florence, and was really impressed and fascinated with the white and green geometric marble patterns on the interior walls and floor. This green and white marble patterning is found all over Florentine churches, however most examples are false facades added in the late 1900’s when Florence was briefly declared capital of Italy following its unification in the 1860’s. However, the marble of San Miniato was added during the Renaissance, and therefore qualified for the project guidelines (it had to be an architect or artist work from the Renaissance). I then basically held on to my fascination of the Perseus statue, and reinterpreted it using a medium-low contrast style that reinterpreted the clear separation and contrast created by white and green marble patterns. I created an underlay with light pencil, then carefully used an ink-wash technique to create the patches of gray contrast. Overall, I was very pleased with the result, but wish my ink wash would have been slightly darker. I took the original drawing and then used Photoshop tools to recreate several other versions that would also have been interesting to present at the critique (although much more difficult for me to create in reality!). Original Perseus Reinterpretation
Photoshop Versions
7) Il Tempo (Update): The weather: still very good into early November. The time change of course means darkness at five or earlier, and often it can become fairly chilly. Overall though, it is still very pleasant most days, with the exception of a few rainy ones. They say it has been an Indian Summer this year, and that any day the cold weather will come. More on that next month! (for now, the happiness continues). Typical Florentine Palazzo
Tower remaining from old city wall
8) Pre-semester Architecture Project A few weeks before the end of PLP, as we had been warned, we had a meeting with our future architecture professors to first off, get to know them, and secondly, to be introduced to our first project. In the typical over-whelming style of architecture classes, we were assigned a case-study project, even before the school year, to show what we could do and to learn a little bit more about a certain built architecture within or near the city. I was actually excited to get into the rhythm of things, although not as quite enthusiastic about the timing of the project, as we all had to do our consuming art finals and prepare for the oral and written language exams looming on the horizon. To make things more complicated, I had already planned to spend my entire vacation ON vacation in Barcelona, Spain (more on that later), so in reality had to both start and finish the project during finals week. I was assigned (by chance) one of the few modern buildings in Florence, a set of modern villas on a hill in the outskirts, done by the late, famous Florentine architect Leonardo Ricci in the 1950’s. He was a very successful Italian architect, who actually taught for some time in the United States on the East Coast, and has a number of projects both in Florence and throughout Italy. In his early 30’s, he apparently won the Italian lottery, and used to money to buy up nearly an entire hillside with amazing views down to Florence, which he speculatively developed as an architect into a whole community village, starting of course with his own studio-house. Due to time constraints, I only had two days to visit the site and complete the project, and with some difficulty, I was given permission to access at least the outside of his old studio in order to document / sketch the most important architectural elements. It is a fascinating early project, similar in style to Frank Lloyd Wright’s work, using a combination of local stone excavated from a cave behind the house, and reinforced concrete and glass. The studio really merges into the hillside, while cantilevering out into space with communal patios and terraces that frame stunning views of the valleys below. In order not to bore everyone, I will leave my description here and show some pictures, but must relate a funny story that took place on the way back home. It was a long, hour+ hike to reach the
Studio-Casa Leonardo Ricci
villas in the first place, which are all built along one winding road and accessed either from above or below. As there was literally no information either on the web or in the library about these villas, I had to be there to do all my research, plans, sections, etc. for the project. I got lost several times just getting there, and made sure to stay several hours to do a good job documenting everything, as a return would seem almost impossible. On the way back home, I thought it would be fun to try and visit another of the same architect’s projects, a giant, rather ugly, yet fascinating “palace of justice” that is being built (post-humously) in a huge park in the outskirts of Florence near the university and hospital zone. I had a crude map, and decided to walk along a typical sidewalk-free one-lane country road. Big mistake. I had no sooner started my adventure when several cars came flying down the road behind me, forcing me into the fence and sharp, prickly vines. However, I was very determined (stubborn) to reach my destination through this “shortcut” and kept on. This dangerous situation, however, became more than just an annoyance, and soon I found myself running with a heavy backpack and coat from safety spot to safety spot, trying to avoid the fast-driving cars coming from behind. In between this nooks and crannies there was really only enough space for the cars, and in the nooks and crannies I was often scratched apart by overgrown plants. This continued on for more than an hour of high-stress, as the road never ended or became safer, and I was too far to turn back into traffic. At one point, I had to scramble up a steep hill with sharp turns and then sprint a few hundred yards between tall walls (no nooks or crannies this time) to avoid being run down from behind, or I suppose honked and laughed at by confused locals. Luckily, I made it through and back into safety, and ironically enough, back to the same stupid road that had led me safely to the site in the first place. My short-cut ended up leading back to almost the beginning! Needless to say I learned my lesson about one way, sidewalk free roads in the outskirts of Florence, and won’t try those shenanigans ever again! However, it was really exciting to reach that mythical palace of justice two hours later covered in a cold sweat. That night, and all the next day, I worked feverishly to finish the project boards and prepare for my exciting return to Barcelona. View of Florence in distance
Pool and lower studio complex
More of the modern villas by Leonardo Ricci on Via Monterinaldi
Il Palazzo della Giustizia, a thirty-year old project of Leonardo Riicci now under construction, very interesting, especially in Florence, and enormous in scale!
Il Ritorno
a
Barcelona
Super-panorama from “las tres cruces� in Gaudi’s Parc Guell
After three and a half long years, I finally made my first return to Barcelona, my home during nine months after high school during an exchange year through Rotary International Foreign Exchange. We found a cheap flight through Ryanair.com from Pisa to Girona, the closest sizeable city to Barcelona in Catalonia. Between walking to the train station in Florence, taking a bus to Pisa, flying to Girona, and taking another bus into Barcelona, the overall travel time was only around six hours, even less time than it takes me to get from San Luis Obispo back to Leavenworth normally! It is amazing how easy travel is in Europe... maybe we should take some notes in the states. I was, of course, both very excited and apprehensive, as a return to Barcelona brings up many emotions, memories, and a state of being that has in some ways faded into the back of my mind after many years of architecture at Cal Poly. I went with my roommate Ulysses, and we stayed the first four nights in a cheap, but clean hostel located near the soccer stadium, and then the last three nights we stayed with my host family. Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona (my favorite soccer club)
Our first major disappointment actually came just a week before, when we discovered that the date of the FC Barcelona game we had purchased tickets for was changed to one day earlier, thus making it impossible for us to attend. We had bought the tickets around seven days in advance, and had to make a purchase in order to sit together. However, the date of the game was subject to change, although on the website they had the time already listed as sunday, at 8:45 pm. The next day, as a went to check the website for other reasons, I was mortified to realize the game had been changed to Saturday (a day before our flight). As it was, we had booked the hostel close to the stadium so that we would barely be able to arrive that Sunday night to see the game. We called to try and get a refund, but they said that the tickets were non-refundable. We tried to sell the tickets to fellow CSU students last minute, as almost the entire school decided to also go to Barcelona (what chaos on the flight!), but no one else arrived in time either. So as it is, we basically lost our money and no one sat in the seats we reserved, although apparently if we write a nasty letter we might get back our 40+ USD each. I was rather furious, but was able to see the game that I was supposed to be at that Saturday night before the flight, which they won after scoring five spectacular goals in the first forty minutes against a closelyranked competitor in the standings of La Liga Espanola. As hard as it was, I had to let this disappointment go, and not let it ruin the rest of my trip. Both Ulysses and I have decided that in the best case, FC Barcelona will end up playing either Inter Milan, Juventus, or Roma (not Fiorentina, however who wil
definitely not qualify for the next round of Champions League) and at a later point in the year we can travel to Rome, Milan, or Turin and see that game as an away fan!... it was be at least some consilation. The next major disappointment (sorry to be so negative, I will talk about the positives after!) in Barcelona was the weather, in which it rained five out of the seven days (unheard of in Barcelona), and we ended up wet and in museums for the majority of those days. I felt bad trying to explain to Ulysses how all of these mishaps weren’t normal, and that it was just the run of the luck. The third strike had to be the service at a Paella restaurant near the famous “La Rambla” pedestrian boulevard on the first night, where we encountered the worst service at a restaurant in our lives. Our waiter scowled at us right from the start even though Ulysses spoke perfect Spanish, made us wait to sit down, didn’t even ask us if we wanted a drink, was terribly slow to bring out the Paella (which was mediocre, at best, almost 90% rice), and then again took nearly twenty minutes to bring us our simple, vastly over-priced bill. Needless to say someone did not get a big tip. The worst $20 ever spent...
Modern Architecture is booming in Barcelona
But enough with the pessimism! We were determined to make the best out of our vacation against the odds, and sure enough things would improve during the week! Let me just start with an amazing revelation, that only comes to me now in the aftermath of living there... people in Barcelona DO have a lisp, and boy is it hilarious! I never noticed in all my time there, perhaps I just absorbed it on impact and never realized... but coming back now, I couldn’t help but notice... as did all my fellow students from California. We spent the first four days on a grand tour of Barcelona for the common tourist, beginning each day at a small coffee shop called “El Moli Vell” (the old mill in Catalan), where we would throw down, literally, a cup of coffee with milk and several chocolate croissants (it was heaven on earth, after all this time of missing those croissants). Let us be frank, cuisine in Spain is primative, compared with the granduer or the Italian Peninsula, but if they do one thing right, the Spaniards know how to make a good breakfast pastry (take notes, Italy). Then, we would grab some fruit and water from a supermarket nearby and head off for a full day of adventure. We went to the FC Barcelona stadium and museum, the Sagrada Familia (as unbelievable as ever, and somewhat more complete), and toured La Rambla and the Gothic Barrio the first day. I learned a lot more about my favorite club in the museum, although we hit overload after just an hour or two, and then spent the rest of the day trying to understand Gaudi’s genius and the immense, poetic beauty inside at the Sagrada Familia. Forum 2004: Now a harbor for mega-yachts!
Day two began the poor weather, and the rain just kept coming down. We made our way to the popular Picasso Museum, and spent the majority of the day there hoping for the rain to subside. By chance, we met several other students from CSU Firenze there, and decided to go get something eat... they had found a marvelous little eatery, a local hot spot, hidden in a random narrow street, where people pack themselves in like sardines to get dirt-cheap fried chorizo (delicious sausage) sandwiches, and even-cheaper bottles of house cava (white or rose Catalan semi-sweet champagne). We enjoyed this place so much that in the next few days we came back (Ulysses and I) three more times to try out other parts of the cheap menu and of course share an obligatory two and some dollar bottle of amazing rose cava! Later that same night we went to an English Pub with the other CSU students where we spent an enjoyable evening drinking Newcastle and getting to know some rather eccentric Australian and New Zealanders (who love to make fun of each other), learning their strange “international” version of drinking games involving a magical, invisible good luck fairy that you must always take out of your drink before you take a sip, and trying in vain to understand their popular game of cricket.
Ulysses and the Sagrada Familia
Day three we found a small respite from the poor weather in the morning, and took advantage of that to spend a few precious hours of sunlight at Parc Guell, admiring the naturalistic stone and tile architecture of Gaudi’s most famous park. As always, it was so enjoyable to see the spitting lizard, hear the beautiful acoustics of street musicians under the covered caves and column-lined hall, and get away from the majority of tourists in the city center. On the way back, we stopped by a mom-and-pop bar to get some “typical” Spanish lunch food (tapas-esque) then went to visit a new “architecturally-significant” library nearby. I was blown away by the overall improvements in Barcelona in the last few years, they are really trying to make it a world-class destination, with major metro improvements, the completion of the aboveground tram via system, major new architecture monuments, and cutting-edge art museums and fashion boutiques. We spent the evening in the gothic barrio getting to know the lesser streets and absorbing the energy and charm of the city at night, retiring tired as always to the hostel (sometimes we caught the last metro around midnight, other times we ended up walking back in the rain later). Day four continued with torrential rain, so we went to the MACBA, a beacon of white architectural geometries in the Raval, the dangerous, dirty barrio found on the opposite side of La Rambla. This was, amazingly enough, my first visit to this museum, and well worth it (we paid almost nothing, as we explained we were architecture students visiting more for that than the modern artwork). It is a very impressive, clean... well Richard Meier museum... yes, it is all white! The first floor found us staring at typical modern artwork that to the untrained eye
Sagrada Familia interior tower view
looked like, well for example, a large black canvas with different shades of black. We saw some media exhibits as well, the strangest being an almost hour-long video of a man in the dark burning off all his chest hair with a lighter... it was incredibly bizarre. However, the second floor was an immense, recent (2006+) photographic documentation of all the growth and change in Barcelona (architecturally and culturally, barrio by barrio). For me, it was a fascinating experience, to see all the changes that haven already taken place since I last left. Barcelona is a huge, culturally-diverse city, unlike any other I have ever been to. After floor two, I had no energy or thought left to finish the museum, but was content to let that be. The Sagrada Familia side windows evening saw us leave our hostel and travel to my host family’s apartment to have dinner with them. I was, of course, somewhat nervous to see them again, if more than anything because I was selfconscious of my steps backward in terms of speaking and understanding Castellano. But everything worked out... I met the middle son, Nacho, who was in Canada at the same time I was there in Barcelona, and in some ways felt sad because this guy would have probably been a much better fit for me as a fellow host brother - incredibly friendly, die-hard soccer player and fan... more my type of person than the rest of the brothers. The younger brother Sergio, now fifteen, was enormous... bigger now than me, and spoke good English (before when I taught him now and then, I thought he never would get anywhere with his lack of motivation!). I was both surprised and impressed by his maturity...at fifteen he looked nearly twenty (this is typical in Spain though). The oldest brother Gonzalo, speaking perfect English as always, is out of University, with a serious girlfriend of almost three years (much like me) and working ten+ hour days at a real job... My host mother Blanca seemed as kind and warm as always, and I was so glad to see her again. My host father Paco had not changed at all, which made me laugh, but this time he treated me with much more kindness and respect. We had a nice discussion about my time in Barcelona, and how at that time I was treated as one of their own (which was true) and that now I was more on the level of a friend. Our dinner was lively, entertaining, with so much to talk about and so little time. Although they had not changed much in terms of jobs, habits, or what we had for dinner, the family dynamic was very diverse, with three young, busy men in the house, and more-relaxed parents. There were several improvements in the house, new woodwork, another leather couch, a huge flat-screen digital television (that would have been nice!)... We had a great, comfortable room to stay in, keys to come back whenever, and a warm, clean shower at last! That night I finally got in contact with some old friends from school there, and we went out to a bar in the barrio of Gracia (where we always used to go) and enjoyed a quiet, smoke-filled night drinking local beer and catching up on life. As not everyone could come out that night, we decided to reconvene the next night in a larger group and have a typical Barcelona weekend experience. It was again strange to see how similar they looked, almost unchanged, and yet see the change in their lives... disconnection with old friends, real jobs (or school)... etc. Sagrada Familia interior
Gas Natural Building
Biomedical Research Center a la Renzo Piano (but not by him, of course)
Two older towers and the Frank Gehry copper “fish”
“La Playa” from an aerial perspective (look no rain today)
Day five was destined to be an new buildings architectural pilgrimage, and we set out as early as we could and traveled all the way to the edge of the city boundaries along the sea to visit the remains of Forum 2004 (which I saw early on in my exchange year), a vast reclamation of the sea to showcase world culture (in other words an excuse to build more in Barcelona). There are several important buildings, bridges, hotels, photovoltaic arrays, etc. that had to be revisited... but most surprising to me was the fact that the majority of the complex has been converted into a new harbor, with some of the largest yachts I have seen in my life! From the edge of Barcelona, we traveled back to the center alongside the beach, enjoying decent weather for the moment being and seeing the new high-rise apartment buildings both built and under construction. Of course, along the way, we stopped at our favorite chorizo bar, and then continued to the very far edge of the Barcelona beach to an odd, secluded sail-like glass skyscraper under construction (at the very tip of the beach facing the sea). We had to hop from huge concrete block to huge concrete block, and climb around homeless shelters here and there to get picturesque views of the building site. It reminds me of a stolen design of a very similar sail-boat shaped seven-star hotel in Dubai. Later, we took the aerial tram across and over the port (another first for me) to Monjuic, the large hill that contains the naval fort, 1992 Olympic Grounds, botanical gardens, palace / museum of Catalonia, and of course the magic fountain. However, it was getting dark by then and we didn’t have a lot of time, so we saw the sites in a hurry then headed back for another family dinner. Around midnight, we headed out again to the Placa Catalunya to meet with a larger group of my old school friends. First, we traveled deep into the dark alleys to find a very crowded, smoke-filled “locals” den where we were able to
relive the old glory days, drinking huge liter jugs of callimocho (wine and coke) and reliving old stories. Afterwards, we went to a typical discoteca with several large rooms, and danced away the rest of the night in order to catch the first morning metro back. It was a lot of fun, but of course we were tired. It never ceases to amaze me that people in Barcelona can go out two or three times each weekend until the morning light and still function (I guess they do take siesta sometimes). Sergio, Me, Blanca
As difficult as it was, we were somehow able to rouse ourselves on day six to make a trip up into the hills to visit a friend from my old soccer team who is now an architecture student in his third year at a private university. We were lucky to catch him, as we were lost and running late. However, once we met up, he showed us around the small architecture school, and let us look at his personal work, discuss his current project, and in general try to make a comparison with the architectural education system differences between Cal Poly
Old soccer team friends and us
and a random school in Spain. It was enlightening, and although they weren’t very advanced for third-year students, some of the work was not half-bad. Unfortunately, they are all packed (nearly sixty or so students) into one large room with just a few professors walking around. We are lucky at Cal Poly for all the personal attention we get. The major difference I saw between the Spanish students work and our own was the complete lack of creativity in their designs. I think that they are trained first and foremost to make a functional, square, efficient building...without any thought to interesting space, material diversity, etc... I felt somewhat bad for them, it must be painfully boring sometimes! After we left the school, we decided to try and walk to the top of the Collserola hills to visit a beautiful church and theme park with an almost 360 degree view of Barcelona and surrounding communities. We didn’t exactly get lost, but as it began to downpour anew, we found ourselves struggling up a muddy path in the middle of the woods, hoping to come out on top. Eventually we did, but it was a fun adventure that took quite some time. We visited the church, enjoying the intricate tile mosaics inside and stunning views from the balconies and terrace, then decided it would be more wise to take the funicular on the way down and pay a few dollars rather than slide around in the mud. Back at the host family’s house, my host father Paco wanted to take us on “the usual”... his full-commentary, often-hilarious and opinionated crazy-van tour of Barcelona. He took us to the exact same places he took my own family when they visited, but it was very enjoyable. We saw the richest neighborhood in Barcelona, a famous Monastery nearby where
Collserola Communications Tower with distant hills
Ulysses manning the guns at the Castell Monjuic
the monks never leave, then traveled up to a scenic viewpoint by the club I used to frequent to run, swim, and lift weights during my own time (where now, ironically almost the entire family has a membership). We had to make a ceremonious urination on the hillside in the dark, looking out to arguably the best panoramic (and unknown) viewpoint of Barcelona... once a rugged, torn-down neighborhood in the hills, it is now a hotspot for development of luxury homes with unparalleled views. The last stop of the tour was a return to Monjuic to watch the famous “magic fountain” show in the evening, as impressive as always. After the last supper there, we left to meet up with a different group of old friends, those from my old soccer team, to watch a FC Barcelona game in a local bar. We were waiting outside in the drizzle with a huge group of similar-aged fans, and up until a minute or two before the game, didn’t know if the door to the bar would open or not! When it did, we stormed in to grab seats and get a good view of the huge projection screen. It was probably the highlight of the trip (and made up for not seeing Barca in person) as the game was emotional, hilarious, and played in the wettest field I have ever seen in Malaga... Barcelona scored four spectacular goals, and it was a ninety-minute fiesta of chanting and screams inside the bar. Afterwards, our kind hosts decided to invite us to one of their houses for a midnight+ dinner, funny enough a “pasta alla carbonara” (as if we don’t get that enough in Italy) prepared by one of the old teammates who is now training to be a chef! It was delicious, and equally special to catch up with another group of friends. We stayed late into the night, and around two had a strange drum and didgeridoo music session (that must have annoyed the other tenants to death). In the end, we retreated back home exhausted from sleep deprivation and eager to find the bed. Day seven saw us wake up later, say some quick goodbyes, and head back to Girona to catch our flight. We had wanted to spend a half day in Girona proper, but the rain now was coming down worse than ever. So, we went directly to the airport early, and luckily met up with a huge group of CSU Firenze students also returning to Pisa, and shared our wonderful break stories. Overall, despite several shortcomings, it was a special vacation for me on many levels, and completes the promise I made to many people that one day I would return.
Collserola Communications Tower by Norman Foster, from Tibidabo Church
More Barcelona Photos
New exhibition complex and pedestrian bridge ; in distance, hotels from Forum 2004
The “copied� sailboat building (I think it is a hotel, also!)
New library and apartment near Parc Guell
Aerial panorama of port
Abstract shade structures at Forum
Gas Natural tower... craziest cantilever ever!
Torre Agbar, Jean Nouvel’s famous “phallic” color-changing, louvered monument
Parc Guell natural stone “portice”
Colorful Louver Building
Prototypical Arce P.V. / shade structure
October October,
unlike
September,
Renderings
was not completely filled with travel. In some of my free time here,
experiment with some rendering techniques that
I
cially now that i have my new and powerful laptop. In particular, past projects to see what they could have looked like had in Italy
I
I
wanted to
had been curious to try over the last few months, espe-
I
I
wanted to revisit and elaborate some
the rendering skills at the time. In addition, here
am often inspired by the architecture around me, even on a day to day basis, and as a result like
to sketch out and elaborate ideas into new imaginary creations, to play with light, shadow, reflection, and textures.
Hopefully
there will be more of these in the future, especially as
I
begin my semester projects!
Brick “Romanesque” Chiesa, Campanile, and Cloister structures
Conceptual church inspired by a sketch of a small Lutheran church in Florence
“Fallen Tower” rendering of part of a skyscraper “farm” done 3rd year
Elaboration of structural system for a Chumash Cultural Center from 3rd year
Interior of Chumash Cultural Center
“Setting the mood”
Intimate low-lit brick barrel vault leading to a cellar
Allora... Life here continues at high speed, with little or no signs of slowing down! The honeymoon is starting to come to a close, and reality is setting in with the change of seasons and the new semester. Please, if you can find the time, I really enjoying hearing just a small thing or two about what you have all been up to, it is essentially the only way I can stay informed. I am sure all of you are fixated to the news with all the changes soon to come with a new presidency, I know that at least Europe is as optimistic as anyone (that is a given, though!). Happily, the exchange rate here is as low as I would have ever dreamed... hey, keep doing whatever you are doing over there (sorry, I know how bad the economy is, and am sorry for those who have lost investments) Well, I miss you all, and as always especially my lovely girlfriend Brooke (who is starting to get excited for her imminent arrival to Florence!).
La Sagrada Familia by Gaudi
Church near Tibidabo Theme Park, at highest point above BCN
Next month will get busy again in terms of traveling and school work, as I have two full weekend school trips to Rome and cities along the Adriatic Coast (Ravenna, Rimini, etc.) and also plan to visit Venice by myself to see the Biennale Architecture Exhibit. In the meantime, I will be busy enough with my new semester classes, and especially my new architecture project, a very exciting corner lot design of an architecture studio / duplex building in a tight, elevated rectangular plot. I am also looking forward to maybe seeing an opera or two, finding something special to do for Thanksgiving, planning adventures for Christmas break, and maybe visiting some closer local towns like Pisa, Siena, or Lucca. My Italian is still improving, but of course the first few month’s excitement and optimism have worn off, and now I must consciously motivate myself and study to keep improving. I am trying to find some Italian contacts (maybe friends in time) through an online directory called Language Tandem, where you meet people to practice English / Italian. We shall see... in the meantime I will continue to cook and enjoy the Italian lifestyle as much as possible. By the way, if you haven’t noticed, this next letter almost falls into the mid-month category, and as is such, I will most likely post my next letter in late December and just consolidate the time, as most likely I will be more busy than ever! Sorry again for the delay... A la prossima! Sincerely Yours,
Christopher Wagner I forgot to mention, I actually finally went to my first Fiorentina game, against a bad Serie A team called Reggina. The tickets only cost 10 Euro, but the seats were so terrible that I would have rather not gone. Fiorentina won 3 - 0, and we had a huge group of student supporters, but I think we all learned that you get what you pay for with the stadium in Florence. Instead of paying 40 Euro for a good seat for the Champions League game against Bayern Munich, I watched it with a group of friends and local, sailer-esque swearing Italians in a bar... it was great game, with an amazing goal for Fiorentina, but they tragically lost in the last few minutes on an off-side goal by the poor-performing German team. Another heartbreak, but at least I still have FC Barcelona to look forward to!