Barcelona, Spain
SUBMITTED BY MNB DATE 01 - 15 - 2010

While experiencing the older European cities with long and exciting histories, one has to winder how do modern designs fit into the old fabric. The Spanish city of Barcelona, even though it is much younger than other Spanish cities that we visited, is a modern city and the old and the new exist side by side within the Catalan culture. Barcelona is not afraid to put a contemporary building in a historic center, which makes the streetscape much more exciting and stimulating. The image on the bottom shows the contemporary building downtown Barcelona. At the first glance it seems as another modern structure with an egoistical and self centered design. The ribbon skin of the building can be suggestive that it is a part of the world culture and can belong anywhere in the world. The building might seem a bit out of place; however, once the person visits the building, the it starts to make sense and he/she cannot image this structure anywhere else in the world. The ribbon building is not even a block away from the Casa Milla (top image). The two are in a clear view of each other. Designing something so close to a world known landmark requires that the architect will pay extra attention to the surroundings. Comparing the two buildings the ribbon skin starts to evoke the wavy geomorphic character of Casa Milla. The other characteristics that connect the two buildings is the color and the contrast of the materials. The modern structure is a great exaple of how Barcelona's new designs have the character of world architecture, but are deeply rooted into the surroundings. Another example of mixing of the world and the local cultures is character of the Rambla Avenue. This avenue is in the dense part of the city and provides an open space between the two directions of traffic. When it was created it would have been the play area for the residents, a sort of public park. Right now it is mostly populated by tourists, but the local functions are mixed with tourist attractions. Tourist industries are a part of the world culture, even though they provide services that resembe some native aspect of the area. However, all the tourists from acreoss the world want the post cards of Gaudi's work and the Barcelona FC t-shirts, making the industry a bit detached from its locality. What bring locality back in the Rabla Avenue are the grocery shops and other services that would be mostly used by the residents of the surrounding areas. This avenue mixes what is needed for the world tourist industries with the needs of the local population, making the space so much more special and less artificial, like other tourist areas can be. This mix of a local character with new need and fashions is no stranger to the history of Barcelona. Antonio Gaudi was the Catalan architect that took the regional character and put it into the world favored early modern style. The result was the extremely imaginative structures that are a part of local culture with all the references to regional pottery, geography and politics. At the same time Gaudi's creations are a part of the world culture today because they are studied and referenced in new designs by designers everywhere. This tradition of mixing the new and the old has created the Barcelona of today, preserving the character of the past. The influences of the world culture are seen everywhere in Barcelona: in the design of the buildings and parks, in clothes, in world chain restaurants and the souvenirs that you can buy. However, all those things are fitted into the local context, making Barcelona one of a kind, opposed to the American sprawl cities that look the same because they adopt the world culture without considering the local trends.