My first public space, Tres Xemeneies (The Three Chimneys) has a series of art installations along the backside of the park. These three concrete slabs act as a backdrop for the entire space. Local graffiti artists are encouraged to express themselves each week with a series of new designs. The particular slab below was created by a well known graffiti artist known as Fablo Oliveira or Cranio. He often uses images of Indians in his work, to illustrate the indigenous people of Brazil. These fun illustrations were created to provoke observers' thoughts on consumerism, identity, corruption, & the environment.
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Week I: Graffiti by Cranio and other local artists
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Week II: New graffiti
Each week new graffiti is created for display in the park, illustrating a new narrative each time. With its ever-changing artwork, many new users are drawn to the space throughout the day.
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Week I
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Week II
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Week III
 
PictureParc del Joan Miro | Once a slaughter house
I have been visiting my two first sites on my run every morning. They are both located conveniently along the Parallel, one of the busier streets in Barcelona. Each site has impressed me each day with new faces & new activities taking place there.



Joan Miro Parc, previously a slaughter house had been integrated into the city as a public park by Ildefons Cerda. The location & scale of the park allow for a series of rooms for different use. There are a wide range of possibilities in the park due to its design and complexity. Gardens, a square, playgrounds, a library surrounded by water, a forest of palm trees & pines, art, and architecture are some of the features within the site. The picture above is of a small girl climbing on a large red rope structure, within one of the six play areas situated in the park.

PictureArea Per De Gossos | A specific area for dogs
A variety of activities take place in each of the rooms or sections within the park. Early Thursday morning I ran into these two furry dogs. Their owner was nice enough to let me take their picture. A group of dog-owners assembles every Thursday to have their dogs trained in a particular fenced off space called Area Per De Gossos.  Joan Miro Parc is a place where visitors can choose which area they prefer, and the park offers a wide range of possibilities.

Cerda's design was part of a restoration project that targeted the city square & the area around it. The park represents a new approach to city development and encourages the emergence of large quality public spaces throughout the city. 

 
Every week we are required to compose a letter to our off-campus advisor. For the last few letters I have watercolored images of flowers, waves, and other illustrations relating to the activities we have participated in or the sights we have seen so far. Since we travelled to the Pyrenees Mountains this weekend, I decided to watercolor the landscape of one of the villages in the Vall d' Aran  on the front of this week's letter.
 
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Just booked our trip tonight to Vielha, a small village located within the Pyrenees Mountain Range. These mountains form a natural border between France & Spain. We will be hiking some of the trails weaving beyond it, we are hoping to find some with outstanding views of the landscape! This is the first of many of our weekend trips!

 

instructions

1. Use an 8.5" x 11" sheet of card stock. Watercolor the entire sheet with whatever color you like.
2. Let dry. Cut paper into varying size squares. Cut each corner off each of the squares so the tips are round.
3. Use a pencil to draw a spiral on each square starting from the outside into the middle.
4. Use scissors to cut along the line you have just drawn.
5. Once you have cut out the spiral, crumple the paper to loosen its fibers. This will make the paper easier to work with.
6. Using the outside most piece of the spiral begin to roll it up and continue until you have rolled all the way to the center.
7. Push the edges out as you go to make the spiral look more flower like. 
8. Once you have finished the spiral let it loosen a bit... It will not unravel if you happen to let go. 
9. For the desired effect, determine how tightly spiraled you want your flower and secure with some glue or tape.
10. Enjoy!

Hint: To spruce up your flowers a bit you may add a little glue on the tips and add glitter!
 
Manifestations of culture are created when individuals living together think and plan consciously. This often develops social relationships and ideas that modify the environment. These social relationships produce an interconnected network made up of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, customs, language, and habits. Their integration into everyday life has resulted in a range of meanings that we associate with places, buildings, people, spaces, landscapes, etc. 'Places, buildings, and spaces are felt throughout the world to have culture-specific meanings and functions.' As we are 'makers' of our own worlds,  we have made culture a way of life.  
-'Analyzing Cultures | An Introduction & Handbook'

I have chosen several post-industrial sites that have been transformed into public spaces. Each site's integration into the urban fabric and existing cultural codes/expressions associated with them will explain their function as a public space. The culture-specific meanings of these places will be determined by the shape, size, features, location, materials, uses, vegetation, and people that are found there. These attributes will develop a series of public spatial codes, this has a lot to do with what individuals use this  space for, whether it be entertainment, recreation, celebration, leisure, etc. Culture is infused into these spaces, particularly because of the existing industrial remains that are found there today. Traces of Barcelona's industrial past are highlighted to give character and a sense of remembrance of the past. Although the significance and function of these spaces has changed they posses a different sense of validity or importance within the present urban landscape.
PictureMosaic from Park Guell, Architect Antonio Gaudi
Public art is one way culture is expressed in many communities. In the Tres Xemeneies Gardens local graffiti artists are encouraged to design a series of slabs across the back of the park. 

 
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Writing postcards to friends && family-- bet you don't know which one is yours! Each one was selected especially for who I am sending it to. I love sending letters... so each of you can hold a piece of Barcelona & read about what I'm experiencing while I'm studying here. There will be many more to come so continue checking your mail everyday ! I will be sending this batch out tomorrow so keep a look out this next week! Buenos noches mi amigos!

 
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Early dinner of fresh melon, kiwi, pineapple, & a glass of dry white wine.
 
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I bought some herbs from the florist on the corner below our building to spruce up my room a bit! Looking forward to having some color to contrast all the while walls in our home. It looks like I may be making another trip back to purchase a small olive tree as well-- Something about my name makes me feel obligated to do so!

 
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Tuesday morning run to the La Platja Barcenoletta !

    Olivia     Bennett

    Hi! I'm studying the reclamation of Barcelona's derelict industrial sites as public open spaces. 

    Study    question

    Barcelona addresses post-industrial sites within its urban landscapes. How have they transformed or redefined these sites as new spaces & to what effect ?

    Sites

    + Jardins de Tres Xemeneies
    + Parc de Joan Miro
    + Parc del Clot
    + Parc de la Central Poblenou
    + Parc de l'Espanya Industrial