Architecture in Calafell and El Vendrell …… and Prep work for Morocco!

For Easter weekend I went with my family to a town on the beach about forty five minutes south of Barcelona and then they spent the last three days in Barcelona. It was really cool to see the smaller towns around Barcelona and how they compare architecturally and in regards to my topic. The towns are not very dense and not very large, so they naturally need less planned open spaces. So it was hard to observe urban space and green space since it was a more rural area and green space was everywhere. But, town planning wise, it was interesting to observe how they worked. There is the same idea in the town center areas of the lower level being commercial and restaurant, and the upper areas being housing. But this was a relatively small area, and outside of that the housing space goes all the way to the bottom level. The beach area, and the houses and shops that bumped up to it, reminded me a lot of the way our beach edges are designed. It was shops at the core area and townhouse and apartment style as you move away, and then there was a boardwalk space with movable vendors and then the beach. The height of buildings is kept pretty much at three to four floors, so it was not a town that has been built up.

Also, another thing that we saw that was really architecturally interesting was the Torres Winery that we visited. When you first drive up you see an older style brick looking building which contains the store and the beginning to the wine tour. On the tour they drove us through the vine fields to the actually winery area. It was completely different that what I had pictured, they took a completely modern direction with the architecture. They also explained how it is a very green complex, and that they use solar panels to power the building and a lot of green materials in the building. I thought this was really interesting as I pictured old wineries like this to still have these heavy brick buildings and not be very up-to-date with the movements that architecture is making. But I was very wrong in that.

For the two days before we leave for Morocco, we have done two full days of sketching class. So, I got to see other parts of the city and look at the architecture in Barcelona again. The first place we went on the first day was a place inside of the cemetery on Montjuic. It is a memorial space, but what really caught me in regards to my topic is having this open space in the city system that completely seems to be removed and cancel out the noise of the very close neighboring port. Walking up to the space you can hear the noise from the port, but as you cross the threshold and enter the area, surrounded by cliffs on three sides, you feel as it you have completely left the city. It is very soothing and contemplative and a very successful space within the city. I would not call it an “Urban Space”, but as a space within the urban space it was incredible to me how removed you can feel. The main part that really pertains to my topic that I want to discuss is our further study in Montjuic. I have been there before, but not looking in as much detail as we did for class. We went to the Botanical Gardens and I got to observe a large scale designed green space in the city. It feels completely removed, and noises are cancelled out. There are platform areas from which you can look out onto the city, but you feel like an outsider looking in, when actually Montjuic is within the city. It is a phenomenal place to get away and be removed without having to drive outside of the city limits. Montjuic is a successful creation of green space within the city, as well as having individual parts that further remove the person from feelings of urban to country. For the city, it creates a space that is an extreme relief from urban density.

It is Wednesday night now, and I am reading information for our trip to Morocco tomorrow. We will get to not only look at the city as a whole, but also get to look into how they internalize their architecture and base it around courtyards and inner gathering spaces. This is much in contrast to a lot of the architecture that I have seen and studied, so it will be really interesting to get to see and study this architectural type.