Project I- Phase III

Part three, DONE!
Time to change phase and scale once more. By means of this third phase of our project, each group had to change the scale in which they were working at; from the design of an area (the whole urban context of the site) to that of a particular block within it. We all had to choose a block that would pertain to the ideas presented and dicussed on our main proposal. In our case, we chose block 2A and B, the one divided by Avinguda Diagonal.

Within the group, three new proposals would be developed in terms of the block's building massing, later on focusing on one building, it's physical form and possible impact on the adjacent areas.
For my approach, I focused my thoughts around the concept of filtration. How can this be applied to a building form? The basis for this idea is to find a way that by creating this form I would develop a space that would be related to the building behind it and the plaza as well as emphasize the most important element from the main proposal: pedestrian movement.
The shapes respond to the immediate surroundings, building height being the primary aspect, as well as react to the avenue's physical angle.


For the 'pin-up' we were to present our main concept aside from the new massing design; diagrams representing our overall ideas.



PS. This is progress work... not the final thing :)

Adding some 'seasoning' to the trip...

So far it has been two and a half months of arduous work and a couple of new experiences in this new city; nonetheless, before my usual homesickness episodes, I got a visitor from a little place 18 degrees south of the Ecuator. My best friend, Alexander, came to visit from home. Overall, it was a good weekend, I had a blast.

... the adorable old man dancing to the group's tunes, Plaça de la Catedral

CALÇOTS!!!
As one of our professors, Cecilia, suggested, we went to eat this 'typical' Barcelonian dish at a restaurant in the Gracia village. It is this kind of root vegetable that can only be found in the area during the month of March. They basically bake it and to eat it you have to 'pull the inside out', dip in in the sauce and eat. It was very messy, fun, but above all, delicious... I strongly recommend! As one of my Barcelona compadres, Benjamin Shealy, said, "calçots would be a good first date 'icebreaker'".


... our sign of approval

Barça VS Real Madrid @ Bar La Nubaa


... the other travel secret, the Argentinian bartender

VACACIONEEEES!!!!

After two weeks of hard work, we all deserved a break, SPRING BREAK! These ten days couldn't have come at a better time. Right after our jury most went to dinner with our professor... Monica and myself had some other plans in mind... LAUNDRY!!! That was the just the beginning of this wonderful adventure we were to continue later on in the week went she went over to Rome as well... from a VERY rude and arrogant 'polish' girl to a gelato-eating Mr. Bean 'look-alike'.

Friday kind of sucked. After almost missing my flight (THANK GOD I DIDN'T) and finalmente arriving in Rome, I realize that after THREE hours of waiting around the caroussel for my bag, it wasn't comming out. WHO SAID THAT LANGUAGE IS A BARRIER?? CLEEEARLY, for the guy at the Alitalia desk and me it wasn't... he was speaking to me in italian and I was talking back in spanish... we understood each other peeerfectly. Figured that my bag wasn't even on the plane to Italy, it was sitting somewhere in the Barcelona airport just chilling out (FRENCH BAGS!). Getting out of there and finally seeing who was impatiently waiting for moi made it all not matter that much anymore... BERRO... :)

Rome was amazing, Florence was beautiful, and Siena breathtaking!
I met some wonderful people (part of Marco's famiglia, Simoooooone, Fabrizio... and the guy with the 'artisty' wall postings), had the best meals (half cooked by nada mas y nada menos que DUFFY), incredible CAFFE, I GELATO. Whoever said that 'winging' things out didn't work is veeeeeery wrong in my opinion.... clearly it makes up for one of the best times in Italy.

Roma








... with my two Boos


Firenze






Siena

Project I- Phase II

Ok, so after two weeks of consistent discrepancies, we finally concluded the second phase of our semester project. This has honestly been one of the toughest assignments I've ever encountered and the time constraint did not help at all... in the end, our presentation was very successfull. WORTH IT!

Unlike our last assignment, in this phase, we were to submerge ourselves into the whole urban context of the city in order to develop a proposal for the massing of the blocks designated around the plaza. As part of the analysis, we had to take into consideration all of the elements present not only within the plaza itself but also those in the city scale: traffic patterns, pedestrian movement, building usage, green corridors... what we would normaly consider as 'site analysis'. By means of this, our mission statement, our concept came up to be that of a boundary.

"We are studying the idea of boundary in the sense that we are creating one as part of a whole urban fabric as well as defining what they are for all users of La Plaça de les Glories Catalanes. Whether implied or actual, solid or porous, how can this idea be utilized to guide the movement of the eye and the body through the space? How do we do so as to not make the visitor feel uncomfortable or forced? Boundaries help us understand not only the space it defines but also our own scale and position within."


The Site (everything within the red dotted line is what we are to change)

Group GMT

Boards

The Proposal

By means of our proposal we are creating a boundary in itself; we are not only utilizing the massing of the buildings as a transition point from one area to another (the old city and the new) but also from one type of user to another (motorized and people). The shapes demonstrate enphasis on significant views, motorways and the importance of linkage, to bring all differing communities together. The main goal is to create a space that unlike the existing, is one for ALL to use.