My year in Barcelona is ending soon and I am feeling already nostalgic. I’ve had my ups and downs and of course enjoyed the ups and tried to learn from the downs. It’s been a curious year and I will remember it. I created this short video with the idea to make you ‘feel’ the vibes of the city. The quality of the video is not the best, neither the montage, but I did have fun while making it. So, even if you get a slight desire to visit this amazing city, after watching this, my mission would be accomplished. Enjoy! đ
Deadlines, Deadlines…
With the approaching end of the school year, the deadlines are approaching as well. For Coventry University I have to create a poster that should reflect my Erasmus experience, that’s why in this post I decided to share the idea behind my poster and the poster itself.
Being given absolute freedom I decided to create a ‘collage’, using my own drawing skills and some of the pictures i took, that best describe my International Exchange experience. In the beginning of my blog I mentioned that I have something in mind, related to the street art in Barcelona. Well, this is it. I was inspired by Barcelona’s street art and in particular, the many painted doors with lots and lots of stickers on them. This is the reason why I decided to create a collage. Someone might ask how is that connected to my course, Interior design? And the answer is that in one of my projects I researched furniture with meaning and designed a table that tells a story. And this is what I wanted to accomplish with my poster-tell a story about my stay in Barcelona. The graphic drawings that I’ve made contain symbols that are key pieces of my experience and my life in this amazing city and the photos… well I just like them, but they also represent some of my favourite places around the city.
Barcelona-Patterns
I remember my first project in Coventry University, we had to design a wallpaper. Something so simple and yet required a lot of research, patience and some skills and although almost 90% of the class used different computer softwares to create their patterns, I used my hands and my drawing skills. There is something really special about creating patterns and ending up with all those little imperfections. What I wanted to say is that I really enjoyed that project and ever since I am creating my own patterns from time to time. Walking around Barcelona I saw a lot of building facades and installations that in a way inspired me, some of them are really famous others not that much, but for sure to me this proves that inspiration can be found anywhere and we just have to look around.
Passeig de GrĂ cia
Santa Caterina Market
Gaudi, of course! Park GĂźell
Park GĂźell
Some shadows. Somorrostro Beach
Barceloneta
Somewhere in Poblenou.
Somewhere in Poblenou.
Somewhere in Poblenou.
Tower Agbar
Somewhere in Poblenou.
Somewhere in Poblenou.
Somewhere in Poblenou.
Caixa Forum
PRBB
Ombre effect. Installation Park de la Barceloneta
Somewhere in the Gothic Quarter.
Science Museum Barcelona
TelefĂłnica I+D
Time Out Barcelona-Gallery Tour II
It’s time for galleries again. In this post I am going to share some more of the galleries `i’ve visited. Seriously they are endless, they are everywhere and waiting to be discovered. So here are my new favourites.
A cute tiny, workshop kind of gallery situated on a small narrow street in the Gothic. They have amazing art work a piano, for those who want to play, and a puppy welcoming all the guests, how cute is that?
Just in front of Olivart Art gallery there is a curious place to visit, called Barcelona visions.
Another hidden gallery and workshop is Taller Bencini.
Leaving the old quarters, we are going to the more contemporary part of the city with Ăngels Barcelona. The gallery forms part of an event called Barcelona Gallery Weekend which is happening 1-4 October. Unfortunately I won’t be there, but for sure is something worth visiting.
I will finish this post with a place I should have visited a lot earlier-[La Virreina] Centre de la Imatge.
Barcelona Contemporary-Architecture
Barcelona has always been known for its Art and Architecture, and especially contemporary architecture. Since I’ve been here I’ve been walking around a lot and saw so many magnificent buildings, I just couldn’t help myself but share some of my favourites.
First I will start with FundaciĂł Mies van der Rohe or also known as MIES VAN DER ROHE PAVILION. This is a place everyone who has even a slight interest in architecture, should visit. It is considered “one of the most influential works of modern architecture”. This work is the culminating point of the Mies van der Rohe’s European stage. The architect had great freedom to apply his ideas in which modernism is conveyed. The radical structural simplicity became a distinctive feature of the architect’s work that popularised the theme “less is more”.
Following Caixa Forum. One of the masterpieces of industrial Modernisme, this former yarn and textile factory was designed by Puig i Cadafalch. FundaciĂł La Caixa, the charitable arm of Catalonia’s largest savings bank, bought it and set about rebuilding. The original brick structure was supported, while the ground below was excavated to house a strikingly modern entrance plaza by Arata Isozaki, a Sol LeWitt mural, an auditorium, a bookshop and a library. In addition to the permanent contemporary art collection, there are three impressive spaces for temporary exhibitions â often among the most interesting shows to be found in the city.
I was lucky to see Encants Vells or Fira de Bellcaire before and after its renovation. This is a ‘crazy’ market of over 15,000 m2 and visited every week for 100,000 consumers. one should definitely visit. It’s usually open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and is always super busy.
And of course Gaudi and Casa Mila or La Pedrera Nowadays it is the headquarters of Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation and houses a cultural centre that is a reference point in Barcelona for the range of activities it organises and the different spaces for exhibitions and other public uses it contains. 
And some more Inspiration…
Barcelona Street Art 3 PHOTOBLOG-Lata Edition
Translated from Spanish lata means tin. And Barcelona has a lot of this ‘tins’ art. You can find them mainly in the Gotic, Born, Raval and Poble Nou neighbourhoods in the small, not too crowded streets, hidden under balconies, scaffoldings and sheds. What i love about them is that they kind of invite you to be curious, look for them around the city and pay attention to the little details.
This post is to show you my ‘collection’ so far. I am sure there are so many more of them waiting to be discovered and I can assure you, I keep looking.
Lifestyle 600
Together with my first Graphic Design Project (CCCP9) I started another 6 week group project. It was presented under the name Lifestyle 600. The project gives publicity of the problems of the current society, such as the biggest financial crisis in the history of our existence or the number of scandals between people and the government. It aims to bring hope for a new beginning, create new reality, retrieve the forgotten values and introduce new life and work opportunities.
We worked in groups that gathered students from different disciplines-Graphic Design, Fashion and Audio Visual Design. We were expected to react and give our position as young individuals to this socioeconomic situation and also figure out mechanisms that can be activated from the design point of view. Possible strategies included: new forms of citizen participation, create communities, patterns of use and exchange, new uses of public spaces, new forms of entertainment, etc.
Together with my group we decided to introduce a problem of the students in Barcelona and their university credits. The system here is a lot different from the one in England, but I won’t go into details. The problem is that all the students are expected to graduate with a certain amount of points (credit RACC), but in order to get them they have to pay for them and because not everyone can afford to do it, we wanted to find a solution and create a web, between students from different universities and different disciplines and make them work together, help each other, use each other’s skills, share workshops, participate in competitions and obtain the amount of credits they need. It was also a great way to bring people together and create a new way of communication between the students, making them more social and open their horizons to new ideas and opportunities. Our project exists under the motto Unify, Collaborate, Create and Share and the name Take & Share.
We had to create a web page, a short film and also think of a way how to promote our ‘product’. We did a test with potential users, students, from BAU, asked about their opinion about our idea. This project was really social and I met a lot of new people, created some useful contacts and learned how to work in group with people of completely different disciplines with completely different ideas and ways of working.
Concept: Laura Peiropano, Pol Checa, Susanna Mateo
Video Editing: Laura Peiropano
Web and Graphic Design: Pol Checa, Aleksandra Venkova
Time Out Barcelona-Museums
As I already said in my previous posts Barcelona is so rich in exciting places to visit and because it is Spring break I decided to check out some of the most popular museums, which somehow I still haven’t visited. By museums I mean art museums, I find them extremely inspiring and in this post I will share my experience.
Firstly, I will start with the fact that a big part of the museums in Barcelona are free of charge every first Sunday of the month and the rest of them are free every Sunday, which means that even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend, you can still check them off your list and appreciate what they have to offer.
Unfortunately there is one negative thing about the museums being entrance-free, they get extremely busy, and the queues are endless, especially now-spring break, when the tourist season is just about to start. I would advice you, if you’re staying for a longer period in Barcelona, like me, go in the months January and February when it’s still quiet.
Anyways, talking about museums, in this post I will talk about the 3 most worth visiting ones:
or Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. What can I say, WOW, a magnificent building, situated in a magnificent place, with magnificent view, and even more magnificent exhibition. It shelters parts of all the arts (sculpture, paintings, drawings, prints, posters, photography and coinage) and has the task of explaining the magnitude of Catalan art from the Romanesque period to the mid-twentieth century.
I was amazed by the exhibition, but I can tell I was also really impressed by the architecture. May be it is just my professional distortion, I will let you decide.
or Centre de Cultura ContemporĂ nia de Barcelona. The CCCB is a public consortium created by the DiputaciĂł de Barcelona (Provincial Council) and the Ajuntament de Barcelona (Barcelona City Council). There were some extraordinary exhibitions, by ARISSA, Kazuhiro GOSHIMA, Sabald, etc…, but somehow i was again stroke by the architecture.
Picasso Museum is may be the most famous art museum in Barcelona and sure it should be. I was lucky enough to visit a really interesting exhibition called Picasso/Dali. Dali/Picasso., which examines for the very first time the relation between those two key figures of the XX century. And since I am a big fan of Dali’s odd work I was really excited.
Time Out Barcelona-Gallery Tour
One thing I love about Barcelona is that there is always some interesting place to visit and something inspiring to see. I am from the people that like to spend their free time visiting galleries and museums, and I’ve definitely chosen the right city, it is so connected to art I can’t even describe. Almost every street has it’s small gallery or art shop or any shop that’s super exciting and inspiring and enhancing in a way (i hope I make sense).
In this post I decided to share some of my favourite galleries that I’ve visited so far and I can tell they are forming a big part of my ‘international’ experience.
http://www.laplataformabcn.com
La Plataforma BCN, this is may be the first gallery that I visited. It’s situated on the same street as my University  and put the start of my symbolical tour.
http://www.ambitgaleriaart.com
Ambit Galeria Art is everything a gallery should be, only with a really cure garden on the back.
Galeria Maxo is such an unforgettable place, with a stunning, awkward ceiling and number of cool original souvenirs, that you can’t find anywhere in the city. It is definitely worth visiting.
This one I found while wondering around the city. Photographers would be interested.
Hidden in the streets of the old quarter with an interesting interior and some lyric quatations a place one should visit.
http://www.n2galeria.com/galeria.php
Amazing expositions always!
Giving new life-DIY Project 2
It all started one beautiful day when I discovered Pinterest… I am just joking I am not going to share some huge story. In this post I am just going to tell you, that yeah, even in Barcelona sometimes I get bored and I need an entertainment of some kind. Pinterest is such kind of a thing and I can spend hours and hours on it. And one day, some time ago I was feeling really bored but still creative, so I decided to spend my time doing some ‘Pinterest experiments’. I found this post for DIY coffee cups. I didn’t need ant specific materials, just some white simple cups (I really hope my landlady wouldn’t mind using hers…), nail polish and water and… tadaaa this is the result.
It wasn’t an absolute fail, on the contrary I would say I am quite satisfied with the result. So this time no #pinterestfail. Follow the link to make your own: http://www.poppytalk.com/2014/07/diy-watercolor-mug.html?m=1
One year of Barcelona 
