Speaking German in España

21 January 2010 marks the day we had our first Spanish exams, the end of our visual culture class, and the day I caught up in writing my posts. The day was perfect, blue skies, sun shine, warm temperature, and excitement.

We began the day with a visit to the Palo Alto complex in the PobleNou neighborhood of Barcelona. This paradise of garden surrounded warehouses is now filled with a community of world renowned architects, artists, designers, and a nice little restaurant.

We began with a tour of Estudio Mariscal (Javier Mariscal) who does everything, from architecture of a building to the logos and furniture of the inside. Our tour then turned to the very nice sculptor Medina Campeni who gave us an overview of his work over the years and what he has on his plate right now.

Jordi Bernado, photographer, was the next planned studio we visited. A smaller area but none the less very cool. His studio included a library of books, a bunch of Macs, and some very good photos. One of his assistants gave us the rundown of the famous photographer and left us with some postcards of his better pics.

Next was an impromptu visit to interior and furniture designer Fernando Salas. His studio may have been the coolest studio I have ever been in / seen. While I completely understand why a designer would choose such a space, the one room studio could only be tagged as perfect. Fernando showed us some of his chairs, introduced us to his dog (famous because a publication), and the upstairs area where he kept us entertained.

Fernando left us to our last visit, to painter Victor Perez Porro who showed us his corner of Palo Alto. We learned about his work and little facts including his fascination with the michelin man.

While our tour may have been over, we continued to the local resturant which is in the center of the complex. It was a perfect representation of our whole experience in and of Barcelona. We sat at a big community table with many of the people mentioned above, including Javier Mariscal. The lunch, the Menu de Dia, was excellent and was a fun meal.

After lunch, we set our sights on the famed Herzog & de Meuron Edifici Fourm building at the Diagonal Mar. We were not as impressed as we expected, for a few reasons. The place was very dead, few people around and the building was not occupied nor alive in any way.

We took pictures and enjoyed the area and came across a little park behind the forum but the power plant & Mediterranean Sea. This park was one of the coolest places and we played there for quite a while. We even met up with the rest of the group, by chance. The park provided entertainment for all of us and when we were done, we discovered a big slide and spider web thing. It was awesome!

» 215 of the 670 pictures taken of Palo Alto and the Edifici Forum