Barcelona GBE - Part One

GBE - Global Business Experience - One week spring break course at Darden

Sunday March 9th 2008: Arrive at Barcelona

We had caught a connecting flight from Atlanta on route to Barcelona and arrived late morning on Sunday. For me the trip was as much about exploring Barcelona, Spanish and Catalan culture as the course on ‘Strategy as design’ which seemed equally interesting. In fact lot of what we were planning to do as part of the course i.e. see Barcelona’s architecture, culture, observe and understand paintings of Picasso and Dali was very much what I wanted to do. After getting to our hotel, we caught up on sleep and got lunch at a nearby place. Later one of the groups headed down to the ‘La Rambalas’ area to explore, while I joined the group that was more keen to explore things nearby. At first glimpse Barcelona appeared a dynamic, vibrant city with amazing history and culture and I was very enthused to explore more in the coming days.

Monday March 10th 2008: Pavellon Guell, Colonial Guell, Park Guell, La Rambalas

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we headed down to IESE School. Both our hotel and the school were in the Pedrables (meaning white stone) area which is predominantly a residential area. It was interesting to note even the residential houses had distinct identity and architecture. We spent some time at the class discussing Gaudi, design, and our expectations for the course. We had lunch at IESE cafeteria which I must remark is exceptionally in its offering of gourmet food.

After lunch it was time to head to Colonial Guell. We did however make a quick stop at Pavellon Guell, one of the early creations of Gaudi and noted some distinct elements such as use or arches, complexity of design and use of ceramic tiles in decoration. Colonial Guell was about an hour away from Barcelona. It was created in mid 19th century to escape Barcelona’s appalling labor conditions and environment. Residential buildings in the colony were built by Gaudi’s assistants in his style. The only Gaudi building was the incomplete church. The base of the church was pretty typical Gaudi with undulations, textured exterior, no straight lines and ceramic decorations. Lots of my friends remarked that it seemed too dark for a church but it still looked very intriguing. The interior of the church was darker still, but we were surprised by attention to detail of both aesthetics and functionality. Even the chairs, skylights, seating and lighting were all well thought about for both aspects.

Park Guell was build on the idea of creating large extravagant park with residential quarters but the idea never came to fruition in the way Gaudi imagined. Once we got there it was evident why that was the case. The front of entrance had two small houses which looked like picked out of a fairly tale, fully decorated with ceramic and painted in vibrant colors. There were steps leading up to the market place which was a structure supported numerous pillars. On the steps were some exotic engravings and the roof of the markets had similar ceramic patterns. The park though beautiful in appearance may have appeared to extreme at the time, especially for people to like in it and hence did not succeed.

Later that day we explored ‘La Rambalas’ on our own. The area is a pedestrian area surrounded by shops and vendors on either side. Street performers are an interesting attraction here. This is definitely a ‘touristy’ place but very enjoyable and a must visit area. Also there are numerous other small streets that emanate from here that are very interesting to explore. There are many cafes, restaurants and bars around for quick bite, ‘tapas’ or drink but it’s better to go into one of the inner streets to get more of the local feel and flavor.

Tuesday March 11th 2008: Sagrada Familia, Casa battlo, Barri gottic area

After discussing our insights and observations from the previous day we were keen to see gaudi’s master piece ‘Sagraga Familia’

My first reaction after stopping right in front of Sagraga familia was that of awe. The structure was immense the engravings so complex. I was just amazed at the complexity while other raised questions on its aesthetic appeal. It does invoke different reactions from different people but commonality is that those reactions are extreme. Interesting aspect of Sagrada familia is its still in construction and it was designed way beyond what was possible in his time. It speaks to Gaudi’s visionary approach while the design is further validation of his engineering prowess. The church is controversial in many ways as the original designs were destroyed and other architects chose to deliberately deviate while constructing other facads (walls). The interior was also very well thought of with pillars shaped as trees and branches, ceiling depicting leaves and skylight give an impression of a waterfall. Inspiration Gaudi draws from nature is very evident. I could talk about Sagrada Familia endlessly but I will suggest that you pull out certain articles or wikipedia as they would more accurately represent all facts about its history.

Casa Battlo, one of the Gaudi’s masterpiece is a house he redesigned for the Battlo family. It is considered very modernistic design and is one project he actually did complete. The front wall of the house is striking and distinct with balconies resembling eyes of a serpent and there is an oceanic feel to the decoration. In fact the whole house and its interiors are built on this theme. The interiors were very aesthetically appealing and looked very spacious. What was remarkable was focus on both aesthetic and design at the same time. For example in designing the ventilation between rooms Gaudi even decorated the ports to fit to the theme. The arches both supported the structure while also creating more space. The terrace chimneys were decorated to look more like from a fantasy story and the front roof was made to appear as if it were the back of the dragon. It is a recurring theme in Barcelona to pay respect to Patron St. George’s slaying of the dragon.

Later that evening we went down to the port to see the sunset and later walked around the ‘Barri gottic’ area. Exploring the narrow streets and shops in this area are an experience in its own. Every few blocks you would encounter a plaza and maybe couple of cafes, bars and restaurants. I also walked by the Government legislative building, Barcelona cathedral, remains of the Roman wall. Walking around this area and exploring new things is an adventure in itself.

To be continued....