Southern Spain Trip

I recently returned from vacation in southern Spain and want to share what I saw and felt.

First stop: Madrid

Madrid has a rich cultural heritage. I saw good examples of how they have transformed historical buildings into modern architecture. Here are three examples:

The Reina Sofía Museum was remodeled by Ian Richie Architects. The architects kept the original buildings and attached glass boxes for staircases and elevators in front of the buildings for circulation. 

Another example is Caixa Forum, which was designed by Herzog & de Meuron. They literally cut out the first floor and added a top floor on the existing building. The empty space wrapped with triangular metal surfaces draws people inside the building.

The third one is Singladura City Hall’s courtyard. The undulating glass roof connects two historical buildings and changed an exterior courtyard to interior space for the public. It was a good chance to see the architects' varied approaches to reforming historical buildings.

Second stop: Cordova

The Mezquita shows Spain’s rough history. The building was originally a mosque, but a Cathedral has since been built at the center of the mosque, when Christians recovered this area. Even though they are differing religions, the space itself is beautiful and admirable, so they kept the Muslim mosque and built the Renaissance Cathedral at the center of mosque. 

Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral. Because of its scale and extravagance, I’m questioning who this amazing architecture is for. Is it for God or human? I am lucky as a designer to have this opportunity to see great architecture that is a part of human history (not sure how this thought is supposed to fit in). 

 

Also, Seville has the largest contemporary wooden structure, Metropol Parasol, which was designed by Jürgen Mayer-Hermann. The space originally functioned as a parking garage, but after excavations revealed archeological findings, the city of Seville decided to make the site a museum and a community center. Walking on this structure feels like you are floating on a cloud with an unobstructed view of Seville.

 
 

Third stop: Granada

I can say that Granada was my favorite stop during my trip. Alhambra is a Muslim palace and fortress complex in Granada. Muslims did not allow idolatry, so they used abstract and floral patterns. The patterns are carved with several depths and used colorful tiles. The water element is important for Muslim culture and becomes a part of the architecture and landscaping.

Fourth stop: Valencia

Valencia is a Modern city in Spain because of Santiago Calatrava’s efforts. The city of Art and Science complex designed entirely by him. Even door handles and huge wall paintings were drawn by him. The architectural finishes are white glazed broken tiles which represent Spanish materials. The tiles sparkle from the lighting and the reflection of water.

 












I cannot communicate every detail of my trip such as the air, color of lights, sounds and smell from orange trees at the garden using only a few words and photos. I learned and saw so many things in Spain, but the best is how they enjoy life. How lovely to take  a siesta and drink wine!!!