Sunshine, blue skies, mulled wine and very very red hands!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Christmas
It is now only three days until we go home, and I literally cannot wait! I have now been here for just over eleven weeks and it is a very very long time. You don't realise it until I think back as to how long I have been here. It feels like ages ago since my mum and dad dropped me off, and it really was ages ago. However the time has flown by so quickly! It is very strange being here over christmas, and it is the first year that at this time I have ever felt less christmassy than ever before. The first time we bumped into anything remotely christmassy was yesterday, when we walked down a tiny little road on our way to ramblas, a christmas market, where we were able to have MULLED WINE! This is the first place we have found any. It didn't matter that it was only just past the morning, we were having some, and when I took my first sip, I knew that in three days time it was going to be the Christmas holiday, and it hit me that not long after that it would be christmas day. That first sip got me very very excited!
Sunshine, blue skies, mulled wine and very very red hands!
Sunshine, blue skies, mulled wine and very very red hands!
The end of Furniture
A whole week, on average about 4 hours sleep per night, but finally finished the Hybrid Furniture Project! The presentation of work is very different here - they want you to scan in all your drawings, that they have expected you to draw on A3 or A4 and put all of your work into an A3 dossier that is then handed to them.
This obviously is very strange for us, especially compared to last year when one of my drawings was five metres long - but everything here is so small. They cannot expect too much from you, as the time you actually have to complete the project along with the six other projects you have is not actually that much.
I have previously explained my whole project and concept, so I am not going to explain it again, just show you what I have done since then and what I have done to complete it. I was talking about positive and negative casts in order to create two spaces that because hybrid by joining them. It was this join that I wanted to concentrate on, as this is what I felt was the most important part of my design.
This image shows how I decided to use one sheet of material that would then split, one side one go one way and form a structure to provide for one function (eg.reading) and the other side would go the other way to provide for the other function (eg.working). It would be obvious where the sheet joined as the shapes would be party cut out, yet as they made their way to the top, completely cut out and joint together so they are still in the exact shape as the original sheet.
The whole of the idea can be seen in the plan that I have drawn and coloured to show how one side is the remaining sheet, and the other side is the cut out of the sheet. The cut out would be bent and structured into a place for someone to sit and read. The remaining sheet would be shaped and curved to form a seat and a desk.
The images below give an overview of my entire project and how I reached the completion point that I did. I feel that I should have had another week to really show the complexity of my idea. My idea wasn't really the importance of shape of the structure, but of how the structure was joined together in order to make it hybrid. I feel that I needed to have a very important drawing to show this join, and maybe done a model of the join rather than of the whole structure.
This obviously is very strange for us, especially compared to last year when one of my drawings was five metres long - but everything here is so small. They cannot expect too much from you, as the time you actually have to complete the project along with the six other projects you have is not actually that much.
I have previously explained my whole project and concept, so I am not going to explain it again, just show you what I have done since then and what I have done to complete it. I was talking about positive and negative casts in order to create two spaces that because hybrid by joining them. It was this join that I wanted to concentrate on, as this is what I felt was the most important part of my design.
This image shows how I decided to use one sheet of material that would then split, one side one go one way and form a structure to provide for one function (eg.reading) and the other side would go the other way to provide for the other function (eg.working). It would be obvious where the sheet joined as the shapes would be party cut out, yet as they made their way to the top, completely cut out and joint together so they are still in the exact shape as the original sheet.
The whole of the idea can be seen in the plan that I have drawn and coloured to show how one side is the remaining sheet, and the other side is the cut out of the sheet. The cut out would be bent and structured into a place for someone to sit and read. The remaining sheet would be shaped and curved to form a seat and a desk.
Friday, December 9, 2011
House
Our first project within our house project was to research a modernist house used as a home that was built by a famous architect around the 1920's. It was a group project that involved various presentations of our findings and a new proposal of how we could make the interior structure of the house a better place to be today. The house that we chose was the Villa Mairea by Alvar Aalto. During our research we had to find five points that were significant to the design of that house and represent each one of them with a diagram or a drawing. We found that Villa Mairea was designed for Aalto's friends and therefore he was given a clear slate and could design what ever he wanted to design - he could experiment. The Villa was also to be used as a guesthouse and therefore the L-shaped layout came into place. After looking into the free forms of the house and the different use of materials we decided that our proposal could involve sectioning off the master bedroom of the house and give the owners a place to retreat to without any of the guests. This sectioned off area would take all the free form curves used in any of the other parts of the house and bring them all together. As the rest of the L-shape is quite straight and blunt, the curved owners part would be noticeably different and noticeably theirs.
These are just our presentation boards to show the overview of the idea. They go alongside the powerpoint presentation that we had to present.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
A Quick Coffee!
Karen and Gosia are also both in Barcelona. Ever since I arrived, I messaged both of them and tried to find out whether they were both free for a drink. We have conversed quite a bit, but anytime we have tried to organise to meet, we have had too much work, or one of them has been ill, or we haven't been in Barcelona. Finally, in the last week of Gosia's time in Barcelona, we finally managed to meet them for a drink! It was really nice to see both of them and to catch up with people that were experiencing the same thing as you were. They had moved from the same university, to the same city, but to a different university. We managed to talk to them about how were missing home so much, however it is different for them as London isn't there home. They may have made it their home over the year, but their family does not live there. Coming to Barcelona for them has been a little bit like coming to London, and I think they have managed to make a home here too in a slightly different way to how we have made Barcelona our home.
We met in Juame 1, the centre of the gothic quarter, and went across the road for a quick coffee. The coffee turned into an hour long wait to even be served and another half an hour to get them, but it gave us time and a chance to catch up which was really nice. I gather that they also prefer Chelsea to their uni here, yet they prefer the city here to London. They have both agreed that they don't feel the work here is to the same standard as Chelsea, and that there are much more classes, and not much project time. It was really good to meet them, and to see how they were feeling and finding it. Gosia was in her last week, and she said to make sure that you make the most of the city. You can get so used to it, that you forget where you actually are, and how much you have infront of you. She said not to waste a single second of your time, and try to see everything you want to see. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you may never have the chance to come and live here again. I guess she's right. You do take the city a little bit for granted. You get used to it. You forget that you won't be here forever and I have now decided I really do have to make the most of my time here. I want to make sure I leave with the best experience I could have possibly had. I think I am almost there, there just might be a few more things that I have to do before I leave!!
I have pretty much got myself up to date with my blog. I tend to find that I fall behind and then have to blog about three weeks worth of what I have been up to. I know that I haven't been particularly brilliant with writing, but I have had an amazing time living it. There may be a few things I have missed out on here, but there has been nothing that I have missed out on in my experience, and I am going to make a promise to myself to not get so far behind on my blogging. Even though - Its a week of holiday, and we have a furniture project deadline as soon as we get back. I have the rest of the week and weekend of model making and technical drawing to look forward to. I am grateful that the university don't like us to draw on any bigger than A3, even though I hate it, my desk is barely bigger than A2, so I think I might struggle slightly to do them any bigger! A3 is a little bit of a down sizer from my five meter drawing last year!
Hasta Luego x
We met in Juame 1, the centre of the gothic quarter, and went across the road for a quick coffee. The coffee turned into an hour long wait to even be served and another half an hour to get them, but it gave us time and a chance to catch up which was really nice. I gather that they also prefer Chelsea to their uni here, yet they prefer the city here to London. They have both agreed that they don't feel the work here is to the same standard as Chelsea, and that there are much more classes, and not much project time. It was really good to meet them, and to see how they were feeling and finding it. Gosia was in her last week, and she said to make sure that you make the most of the city. You can get so used to it, that you forget where you actually are, and how much you have infront of you. She said not to waste a single second of your time, and try to see everything you want to see. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you may never have the chance to come and live here again. I guess she's right. You do take the city a little bit for granted. You get used to it. You forget that you won't be here forever and I have now decided I really do have to make the most of my time here. I want to make sure I leave with the best experience I could have possibly had. I think I am almost there, there just might be a few more things that I have to do before I leave!!
I have pretty much got myself up to date with my blog. I tend to find that I fall behind and then have to blog about three weeks worth of what I have been up to. I know that I haven't been particularly brilliant with writing, but I have had an amazing time living it. There may be a few things I have missed out on here, but there has been nothing that I have missed out on in my experience, and I am going to make a promise to myself to not get so far behind on my blogging. Even though - Its a week of holiday, and we have a furniture project deadline as soon as we get back. I have the rest of the week and weekend of model making and technical drawing to look forward to. I am grateful that the university don't like us to draw on any bigger than A3, even though I hate it, my desk is barely bigger than A2, so I think I might struggle slightly to do them any bigger! A3 is a little bit of a down sizer from my five meter drawing last year!
Hasta Luego x
The Jelly Tot Church
A friend of the family once called referred to the Sagrada Familia as the Jelly Tot Church, as she thinks the building is absolutely horrible - clearly does not experience culture, and clearly has never been inside! I blogged a few weeks ago now to say that before I left Barcelona, the one thing that I desperately wanted to do was to go and see the inside of the Sagrada Familia - and now I have! I am so glad that I did and I feel that my sight seeing of the city is finally complete! I realised that I didn't actually have that much time left here. It is only two weeks until I head back to the UK/France for christmas and then when I return, I am only here for just under a month. When I think about how I have now been here for eleven weeks, it seems like a long time, but when I think about how quickly it has gone, I can believe how soon this trip is going to be over. I thought it best to visit the Jelly Tot before I left for christmas as I know I have longer when I get back, but that time will be finishing up and seeing as many people as I can before I leave and I didn't want to miss out so just to be sure I decided now was the best time. Emily had already gone inside with her parents, but said she could visit an infinite amount of times and definitely recommended the audio guide. Lucy however hadn't been inside, so when she came it was great opportunity to visit. And the 14€ it cost to enter was definitely more than worth it.
We went on Monday, a day before a public holiday which is usually given as a holiday anyway as it is a linking day to the weekend, and so we thought it would be very busy. We booked tickets online and arrived at our allocated time just to be sure, to find that there was no queue whatsoever and we just were at the front. Atleast our tickets were bought and we could just enter. The audio guide explained each side of the cathedral. The side where you currently enter is the side of passion, where the pillars are structured to look like bones. It is a very big and impressive side, a lot different to the side that Gaudi saw completed before he died, however I think a lot nicer. The passion side is not a Gaudi OTT, and the stucture and design of the carvings was by someone else, followed closely by Gaudi's plans. It is a great entrance to go into. The detailing everywhere on the building and even on the doors symbolises something. There is always a reason to every last detail and listening to them telling you about it, there is no wonder it takes so long to complete the building of a cathedral this size. Ready for our visit we enter through the doors.
The sun was out and it was a great start to the day. We were all having fun in our headphones!
We entered the building and the view that we were approached with was just incredible. It was nothing like the works of Gaudi that I had seen before, but it was better. The inside was like a forest of trees, through the leaves at the top of those trees, light shines through. The tree trunks branch off into branches at the bulbs. The structure is just amazing. The pillars have to be there to hold up the roof, yet they have been designed in a way that look beautiful. When you stare up at the structure, you feel as if you are in an enchanted forest, where there are amazing colours of light falling on the leaves. You want to walk through the trees and through the forest and find out where it takes you. Where does it take you? Does it take you anywhere at all?
The interior of this space is just incredible. It is grand and it is impressive and it doesn't need to be over the top at the same time. We sat just staring and gazing at the ceiling, gazing at the light peering through the leaves and traveling down the branches to the floor. At the end of the audio, it says 'You come in search of something more and we like to think that you have found it once you have visited'. What did I find? I think that visiting the Sagrada Familia allowed me to think past the religion, and think past what everything was biblically meant for, but that it made me think structures can be beautiful, and there can be many meaning to why they are there. I think the amazing thing about the Jelly Tot, is that you create you own meaning for the branches and the trees and the leaves. Are they just there to hold the roof up? Are they there to inspire you and give you the feeling of tranquility? Are they there for a religious meaning? Or are they literally just there? What do you make of the interior? What do I make of the interior? Could you think about other buildings in this way, or is just because this particular building is so incredible that it takes you really feeling the structure. I will be forty years old when the Sagrada Familia is finally finished, and I would love to be able to revisit, and see how that can improve what is already and incredible structure, interior and building.
We went on Monday, a day before a public holiday which is usually given as a holiday anyway as it is a linking day to the weekend, and so we thought it would be very busy. We booked tickets online and arrived at our allocated time just to be sure, to find that there was no queue whatsoever and we just were at the front. Atleast our tickets were bought and we could just enter. The audio guide explained each side of the cathedral. The side where you currently enter is the side of passion, where the pillars are structured to look like bones. It is a very big and impressive side, a lot different to the side that Gaudi saw completed before he died, however I think a lot nicer. The passion side is not a Gaudi OTT, and the stucture and design of the carvings was by someone else, followed closely by Gaudi's plans. It is a great entrance to go into. The detailing everywhere on the building and even on the doors symbolises something. There is always a reason to every last detail and listening to them telling you about it, there is no wonder it takes so long to complete the building of a cathedral this size. Ready for our visit we enter through the doors.
The sun was out and it was a great start to the day. We were all having fun in our headphones!
We entered the building and the view that we were approached with was just incredible. It was nothing like the works of Gaudi that I had seen before, but it was better. The inside was like a forest of trees, through the leaves at the top of those trees, light shines through. The tree trunks branch off into branches at the bulbs. The structure is just amazing. The pillars have to be there to hold up the roof, yet they have been designed in a way that look beautiful. When you stare up at the structure, you feel as if you are in an enchanted forest, where there are amazing colours of light falling on the leaves. You want to walk through the trees and through the forest and find out where it takes you. Where does it take you? Does it take you anywhere at all?
The interior of this space is just incredible. It is grand and it is impressive and it doesn't need to be over the top at the same time. We sat just staring and gazing at the ceiling, gazing at the light peering through the leaves and traveling down the branches to the floor. At the end of the audio, it says 'You come in search of something more and we like to think that you have found it once you have visited'. What did I find? I think that visiting the Sagrada Familia allowed me to think past the religion, and think past what everything was biblically meant for, but that it made me think structures can be beautiful, and there can be many meaning to why they are there. I think the amazing thing about the Jelly Tot, is that you create you own meaning for the branches and the trees and the leaves. Are they just there to hold the roof up? Are they there to inspire you and give you the feeling of tranquility? Are they there for a religious meaning? Or are they literally just there? What do you make of the interior? What do I make of the interior? Could you think about other buildings in this way, or is just because this particular building is so incredible that it takes you really feeling the structure. I will be forty years old when the Sagrada Familia is finally finished, and I would love to be able to revisit, and see how that can improve what is already and incredible structure, interior and building.
Its finally christmas in Barcelona!!
I thought it was never going to come. Finally there is a little bit of Christmas in the air! Lights, ice rinks and the red cups back at Starbucks!!! Christmas trees, or christmas palms, and home in 2 weeks times!!! CANNOT WAIT!
Lucy and the lights!
Wandering the Beach
It is still quite warm here, even though at night we feel it becomes quite cold even though it only drops from 20 degrees to 12 degrees!! I guess we actually have started to acclimatise more than we thought we would. It's going to be a real shock when we get home! Because the sun was out and the air was still quite warm, we decided to head down to the beach and have a walk along it back towards the centre of the city. Look what we came across...
The arrival of Hucy Lowe
Otherwise known as Lucy Howe, Emmy's little, not so little sister. I knew Lucy before I came out to Barcelona, and have seen her at various points throughout last year and so when I heard she was coming out for the weekend, I was very excited to see her! It was nice to have a friend from home here with you, someone that brought you back to reality, but stopped you longing to go home so much for christmas because she brought just that little bit of home with her. And you have to love her - she brought sausages!! After my 10 week craving for the meal, I was finally able to have sausage and mash!! Lucy has also seen most of the city of Barcelona, and therefore we didn't go too strong on the tourist side. We wondered around the gothic quarter, in and out of the shops, down Ramblas and stopping for drinks and food along the way. It was really nice to show someone the city without them having to see it as a tourist. A little bit like what we got to do when we went to Rome. You see the back streets, the little shops that you wouldn't normally come across and I am glad that I was able to do that with Lucy.
However- Emily's sister arriving, and it becoming so close to christmas, meant that it was a good time for me to escape. This was the first time that I had spend alone since myself and Emily had been here, when Emily was otherwise occupied, and I'm not so sure that I liked it. I have gotten used to waking up and going for a cup of tea and breakfast with her, going to uni with her, coming home and cooking dinner together and sharing this fabulous experience with someone that I really would call a best friend. I have probably spent more solid time with Emily than with anyone else. I have lived and worked with her, something that not many people do, but I have had no problem being that close to her, and it is nice that I shall come away from Spain, having had the experience of another city, the experience of a lifetime, but found such a special friend from it to. BUT - christmas shopping was waiting! And I hope she doesn't read my blog, even though she probably won't but having Lucy here meant I could slip off and 'buy something for my sisters', when it actually gave me a little bit of time to buy something for her!
Evenings of an amazing Chinese with girly chats and cocktails, and a night in cooking together and playing uno - again! It was so nice to be back with English company that was familiar and it was getting me very very excited for going home for christmas!
However- Emily's sister arriving, and it becoming so close to christmas, meant that it was a good time for me to escape. This was the first time that I had spend alone since myself and Emily had been here, when Emily was otherwise occupied, and I'm not so sure that I liked it. I have gotten used to waking up and going for a cup of tea and breakfast with her, going to uni with her, coming home and cooking dinner together and sharing this fabulous experience with someone that I really would call a best friend. I have probably spent more solid time with Emily than with anyone else. I have lived and worked with her, something that not many people do, but I have had no problem being that close to her, and it is nice that I shall come away from Spain, having had the experience of another city, the experience of a lifetime, but found such a special friend from it to. BUT - christmas shopping was waiting! And I hope she doesn't read my blog, even though she probably won't but having Lucy here meant I could slip off and 'buy something for my sisters', when it actually gave me a little bit of time to buy something for her!
Evenings of an amazing Chinese with girly chats and cocktails, and a night in cooking together and playing uno - again! It was so nice to be back with English company that was familiar and it was getting me very very excited for going home for christmas!
Feeding the 5000
Even in London, where I am used to cooking for three or one, everything here becomes a little bit of a guessing game! If you want to make a Shepherds Pie, you have to try and make your gravy solely out of stock cubes and water and flour! They don't even have plain and self raising, just flour! Sometimes cooking can be slightly tedious, especially when you fancy an English meal , you just cannot find the right ingredients. They do not have the same basic things as we do. Their choice of vegetables would be different from ours, along with their choice of meats and its often very hard to actually think of what to cook! I have had cravings for sausage and mash here, but funnily enough, the don't do sausages, only chorizo and frankfurters! Anytime you do cook though, because you are just making up as you go along to try and make something taste just as good as it does at home with only one of the right ingredients, you end up making A LOT of food! Well Emily and I seem to anyway! Every meal, we over cater for something. Peas? Or Pasta? Pasta or Peas? - Yes these meals were just for the two of us!
Peas?
Pasta?
Pasta?
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Almost Five Minutes too late
I never thought I would be able to say that I had run half way through an airport with no shoes on, but when you only arrive at the airport five minutes after your gate has closed, when you have to take your shoes off for security you don't bother putting them back on. I didn't want to leave Rome after a fabulous weekend with two of my best friends but I most definitely did not want to have to pay a ridiculous amount to rebook a flight because I spent too much time admiring the view from the top of Basilica! One of the most embarrassing moments I have ever experienced, is when you run through a middle of a crowd of people, right up to the desk by the gate, with no shoes on, absolutely out of breath, pleading with the woman to tell you that the flight hasn't left yet, to find that the flight is delayed by half an hour, and the queue that you have just barged through looking like a total utter maniac are the rest of the passengers on your flight home - fabulous!!
When in Rome...
When in Rome, there was so much to do and so little time, it was hard to chose what we wanted to do. I have visited Rome many times before with my family, and therefore I have already seen most of the sights but the one things I hadn't been able to do was to go into St Peters Basilica - I had my shoulders covered but not my knees in the 40 degree heat of summer. So this time, when Rome was actually pretty cold ( a lot colder than Barcelona), but probably still not as cold as home, we managed to enter St Peters, after only a 30 minute queue. The inside of the building, despite me not being at all religious, was absolutely incredible. Even though it is not at all my taste, just the sheer size of the space is enough to make you gaze and the interior architecture of the building. Catholic churches are very well known for being very ornate, but St Peters Basilica is literally on a different level. Everywhere you look, you can see amazing works and hours of dedication in order to create the space that we were within. Even though there were hundreds of people in the same space as us, it felt empty. It almost felt quiet.
Even the outside of the building is still just as impressive, and one thing, that I have to compare to Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, as it really is the only comparison, but I think St Peters looks much more impressive because there is such a walk up towards it. You can see it from so far away, and even then it looks incredible but every step you take you get that little bit closer, and you can see that little bit more. By the time you reach it you have really had the chance to discover and read the whole building. At the Sagrada Familia, the whole area is built up. The furthest you can get away from the building is the other side of the road..and unless you lay down on the floor and took at photo at a 90 degree angle, you wouldn't be able to fit the whole building into one photograph. I actually think that the building of Sagrada Familia is without a doubt much more impressive than St Peters, yet because you don't get the run up to it, it doesn't feel that way. I don't think it matter how many times you visit Vatican City - you always have to have your photo taken outside!
That evening we went to meet Benny from uni - where I believe he is also finding the same thing, that the course isn't as good as Chelsea, but I guess also very different, where we went on to have a few cocktails, a proper Italian pizza and then the strangest and most random chocolate and liquor shot from a bookstore! Yes Bookshop by day, Shotshop by night! The shot glass was made from chocolate, and it was then filled with your choice of spirit, a few flavours and topped with whipped cream. You weren't meant to shot it like a normal shot, but put it into your mouth with the bottom of the 'glass' first and then eat the whole thing! Trying to eat solid chocolate and then swallow alcohol appears to be quite difficult, and after almost choking you finish it! It was probably one of the most amazing random places I have ever seen or come across, and also probably one of the nice shots I have ever had to. I have been to Rome more than a few times and I have never seen this place, and that is why this trip is so different to any of the others. You are spending it with someone that lives there, and even living in Barcelona, a foreign city, makes you want to experience other foreign cities in an entirely different way.
I found that the way of living in Spain is very different to Italy. In spain eating or having a coffee becomes a leisure moment in the day, or time for rest - similar to how it is at home. In Italy on the other hand, you don't even get a seat regardless of whether you are grabbing breakfast, stopping for a coffee or actually having lunch! Also because the city is so small, you tend to walk to the majority of places, occasionally taking the bus if you are going to somewhere slightly further out, where you also have to stand. So by the time it gets to 5pm, and you have been out all day walking the city and seeing the sites you become slightly tired and ready for a refresh. That is when the delicacy of Rome comes into place - the Gelato. Rome wouldn't be Rome without having a famous Gelato, yet I had that much choice I couldn't seem to chose, even though I was ready to collapse! In the end I settled on as many different chocolate flavours as I could cram into a medium sized cone as I needed the energy to keep me going for the evening. Thankfully Rome goes to sleep slightly earlier than Spain so the evening ahead wasn't going to be quite so long.
For the many places we visited in Rome - a picture can say a thousand words.....
I experienced my first ever Italian House Party that weekend, and I cannot say it was the best thing I have ever been to. You forget that in Italy they can still smoke inside, so the next morning I had lung cancer and was now a 20 pack a day smoker - but the company made up for the lack of fresh air within the house. The most annoying thing about it was knowing that I was going to have to pay €6.50 for a wash when I got back as the whole of my bag was going to have to be refreshed!
I find it amazing how quickly a weekend can go, and how you run out of time to do the so many things that you planned to do. How quickly this weekend went explains how quickly my whole time here has gone. When I think about being over in Spain for 11 weeks, I absolutely cannot believe it has been that long, but then when I think about it, it feels as if I have been here forever. 11 weeks is the longest amount of time that I have not visited home for, and been in the same place. Coming to Rome was the first trip out of the city that I have been staying in, and it made me appreciate what I have in Spain, and what I have made of it. Coming back to Barcelona felt like I was coming back to my home, and it was only when I thought about leaving Rome that I realised how much I had come to love the city that I was living in in Spain, and how much it now felt like it was mine and a place I had made my home.
You cannot leave a long weekend without a big bang. So with Benny, Emily and Benny's flatmate, we ventured back to Vatican City, in order to climb the 520 spiral steps up to half way point and then another couple of hundred up to the top of St Peters to view the Basilica from the inside and the view of the whole of Rome from the outside. As architecture, the walk up very much reminded me of Libeskind and his Jewish Museum. As you reached the top, you literally had to learn to the right as the wall leant to the right and there wasn't enough space to stand up straight. Right at the top, the spiral staircase was so narrow that you had a long straight piece of rope as a handrail, and even closer to the top, you had to climb the stairs one foot in front of the other. I wouldn't say I particularly enjoyed the experience of climbing, but the feeling that it gives you is definitely something that must have a meaning behind it by the architect. And the views both ends at the top definitely make up for it.
That evening we went to meet Benny from uni - where I believe he is also finding the same thing, that the course isn't as good as Chelsea, but I guess also very different, where we went on to have a few cocktails, a proper Italian pizza and then the strangest and most random chocolate and liquor shot from a bookstore! Yes Bookshop by day, Shotshop by night! The shot glass was made from chocolate, and it was then filled with your choice of spirit, a few flavours and topped with whipped cream. You weren't meant to shot it like a normal shot, but put it into your mouth with the bottom of the 'glass' first and then eat the whole thing! Trying to eat solid chocolate and then swallow alcohol appears to be quite difficult, and after almost choking you finish it! It was probably one of the most amazing random places I have ever seen or come across, and also probably one of the nice shots I have ever had to. I have been to Rome more than a few times and I have never seen this place, and that is why this trip is so different to any of the others. You are spending it with someone that lives there, and even living in Barcelona, a foreign city, makes you want to experience other foreign cities in an entirely different way.
I found that the way of living in Spain is very different to Italy. In spain eating or having a coffee becomes a leisure moment in the day, or time for rest - similar to how it is at home. In Italy on the other hand, you don't even get a seat regardless of whether you are grabbing breakfast, stopping for a coffee or actually having lunch! Also because the city is so small, you tend to walk to the majority of places, occasionally taking the bus if you are going to somewhere slightly further out, where you also have to stand. So by the time it gets to 5pm, and you have been out all day walking the city and seeing the sites you become slightly tired and ready for a refresh. That is when the delicacy of Rome comes into place - the Gelato. Rome wouldn't be Rome without having a famous Gelato, yet I had that much choice I couldn't seem to chose, even though I was ready to collapse! In the end I settled on as many different chocolate flavours as I could cram into a medium sized cone as I needed the energy to keep me going for the evening. Thankfully Rome goes to sleep slightly earlier than Spain so the evening ahead wasn't going to be quite so long.
For the many places we visited in Rome - a picture can say a thousand words.....
I find it amazing how quickly a weekend can go, and how you run out of time to do the so many things that you planned to do. How quickly this weekend went explains how quickly my whole time here has gone. When I think about being over in Spain for 11 weeks, I absolutely cannot believe it has been that long, but then when I think about it, it feels as if I have been here forever. 11 weeks is the longest amount of time that I have not visited home for, and been in the same place. Coming to Rome was the first trip out of the city that I have been staying in, and it made me appreciate what I have in Spain, and what I have made of it. Coming back to Barcelona felt like I was coming back to my home, and it was only when I thought about leaving Rome that I realised how much I had come to love the city that I was living in in Spain, and how much it now felt like it was mine and a place I had made my home.
You cannot leave a long weekend without a big bang. So with Benny, Emily and Benny's flatmate, we ventured back to Vatican City, in order to climb the 520 spiral steps up to half way point and then another couple of hundred up to the top of St Peters to view the Basilica from the inside and the view of the whole of Rome from the outside. As architecture, the walk up very much reminded me of Libeskind and his Jewish Museum. As you reached the top, you literally had to learn to the right as the wall leant to the right and there wasn't enough space to stand up straight. Right at the top, the spiral staircase was so narrow that you had a long straight piece of rope as a handrail, and even closer to the top, you had to climb the stairs one foot in front of the other. I wouldn't say I particularly enjoyed the experience of climbing, but the feeling that it gives you is definitely something that must have a meaning behind it by the architect. And the views both ends at the top definitely make up for it.
Jumping across the Med
Being over the sea and in the Mediterranean allows you to visit the other countries a lot more easily. Seeing as Mr Benedict Day is having just as an amazing experience over in Rome, we thought it would be a good opportunity to go and visit him, and why wouldn't you want to go and visit that beautiful city?! We managed to find Ryan Air flights for £40 return, and an extra £10 to use the toilet and land safely. However, still very very cheap!! As we were staying with Benny and didn't have to pay to stay anywhere, I thought that this was a very good price for a weekend with reunions with friends and an experience of a different foreign city. I have been to Rome many times, but even now I would still go back, and I would still see exactly the same things as I did before. It doesn't matter how many times you walk around the city of Rome, it is still just as beautiful as the last. I would advise anyone to take a trip, especially from Barcelona - you don't even need a passport to get there, so its not an essential. (I thought it was a different country, but apparently they don't understand customs in either of these countries!)
Honestly - it didn't matter that I had Emily's Boarding Pass, I never once had my ID checked!!!
Honestly - it didn't matter that I had Emily's Boarding Pass, I never once had my ID checked!!!
Hybrid Furniture
I then went onto looking at a collection of those same pieces, and how a collection might form a structure in a slightly different way. Would you necessarily know how each pieces were formed. Would you be able to see where you had to sit to do your work, or where your seat was for reading. We were supposed to be looking at actual measurements for comfort within the two actions, and where the lights were to be most appropriate for the actions, but I wasn't initially interested in this. I wanted to find out how you could form a structure with the same shape without necessarily knowing what it is - that proved to be very difficult! After many crits and many different ways of thinking, different session and chats with various different people, I decided to go along the lines of Rachel Whiteread, taking spaces and taking the negatives of those spaces. I some how wanted to use the positive and the negative to form my hybrid piece of furniture. Where abouts would the click? Where would they match so they could be used as one? I experiemented with positive and negative of different shapes and different objects in order to see what I could find.
Here I looked into books and a stack of different book shaped objects. Could you form and piece them together so the negative cast could be used for another function?
I also began to look into the positive and negative of the same shape.
After various looks into various different shapes, I realised that by taking a cast of a positive space would actually give you a similar looking space and that was not what I needed. I needed the space to look nothing like the first, I wanted there to be a definition between the two. One of my actions was working, so I had to have a desk. To take a negative from a desk just looks like you have a desk. This is when I decided to take a negative of the form, of what the structure was actually made of. It was still to be made out of lots of the same shape, and then I could take a cast out of that. They would still lock together at one particular point because they were a positive and negative so were going to connect and then would become hybrid.
The Photo above shows how the negative form can be taken and bend and moulded into a structure. The image below shows how the negative (black) space fits together with the positive (white space) which will in fact make my piece of furniture hybrid.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Midnight Twilight
I never thought that I would be able to say that I had seen an English film with Spanish subtitles. This one I just could not miss!! As an avid twilight fan, the day after it came out in Barcelona, myself, Emily and Mango were the first there. Even when we couldn't get into the 7.30pm viewing because it was too full, we sat and waited and waited until 10 o clock just to see the film!! Apparently it is quite common for American films to be shown in Spain in English with subtitles, as the dubbing they produce isn't very good. For us this is lucky, as my Spanish would be no where near good enough to watch Jacob confess his love to Bella, even when she wasn't interested as she was too in love with Edward! If anyone hasn't seen this film, I would really recommend that they do go and see it. And maybe, spend some quality time before with two really good friends and catch up on how your weeks have been. I think that was what made it such a good experience - even if it wasn't remotely Spanish!
I'm an Illustrator
The work load at this Uni has been pretty intense. Well, when I say intense, I mean there is A LOT of work to be completed. Everyday we have a 'class' and every evening our 'teacher' sets us 'homework' - and by homework, I mean exactly what they tell us to do. If it isn't done exactly how they want us to do it then we get a 'detention', well we don't, but we might as well. You don't really have any personal flare in your work here, as you are told exactly what you have to do and you have to do it. It keeps you working hard, and I guess it makes you really appreciate the free time when you get it, but there is so much to do all the time. Early starts, 8am on a Monday for three hours of autocad - is really good, yet you cannot stay awake for that long. It is in a room in the basement of the building with no windows and in the winter, no heating. Its hardly cold here at 17 degrees, however 17 degrees here is cold, and I have acclimatised to the temperature, so at 8am in the morning, when I am tired and cold, I don't function quite as well for three hours as I normally would. Its followed by another two hour class, one which I enjoy, and most of the time wakes me up. But you still end up with a lot of work, and not enough time. There are a lot more projects here and a lot more classes. They don't expect as much from you, but when you are used to the standards of Chelsea, you don't just want to do the minimum that you have to do for here, you want to do well. One thing that I really want to do well in, is my Communication class. When I first told Robin that I was coming to IED Barcelona, he said he knew a tutor here, and that the tutor would absolutely kick our asses - I think that this tutor might be that friend of Robins!! I have a lot of respect for him, as even though he gives us enough work to last us a lifetime every single week, he makes us learn a programme I desperately want to learn. By having to work quickly, you learn a lot faster, and in only 9 weeks, I feel comfortable using a programme I had never even opened before I came - Illustrator. Whilst this is something that we wouldn't necessarily be asked to use at Chelsea, it is one that I will definitely be able to use to my advantage. At first, we just did basic exercises in order to improve our skills, but then we actually retraced a plan off autocad and added textures into it. Something that you could do in 3D MAX but that looks more presentable for showing a client, such as on a presentation board. Using this programme will not only help me through interiors, but also through graphics and the work that I do for my dad. I feel lucky that I have been able to learn Illustrator so quickly - and for that I would like to thank Roman. From Logos to Frogs to Plans to pretty much anything!
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