Barcelona - Quiet Contemplation at the Mies Van de Rohe Pavillion - knowing it will never be this way for me!

Ok ... please indulge me a little.

I started the year with good intentions. It was one of my new year's resolutions to document the European trip we took in 2013. And I was determined to wrestle apathy to the ground and continue to be a contributing and productive member of the blogosphere. But fate had something completely different in mind.

Yes it would have been better to have started as soon as we got back, while the memories were still fresh, but shit got very real soon after that!

As a result of having nothing more pressing to do, I'm now trawling through half scribbled notes in old diaries, and barely legible jottings on discarded receipts and about a million photos on flash drives galore to try and capture the essence of what it was like stepping out into the Iberian air at the start of a well deserved break from the routine of old.

So perhaps I'll eschew the manic Gaudi grandeur, the crowded streets of Barri Gotic and the tourist traps round L'Rhamblas and start with the sleek, quiet contemplation of the Mies van de Rohe pavilion in Barcelona.

The Pavillion was built in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exhibition and dismantled the following year. It was then reconstructed to exact specifications and re-opened in 1986. All steel, glass and marble, the misleading simplicity of its design and geometry is reflected in much of modern day architecture that we see today. Its almost mind boggling how very contemporary it all looks considering it was developed more than 80 years ago.

Ever the slave to fashion and trends, I was caught up in the brief fascination with designer furniture in the early noughties, but never quite had the financial nous to trully indulge such a passion. So there was a certain anthropological thrill at seeing the Barcelona chair in its original habitat.

There was a time you could walk the grounds and only had to pay an entrance fee if you wanted to enter the building. These days its 5EUR for the lot. So if you're up for some quiet contemplation in amongst the bustle of this busy city, spare a half hour or so and have a wander.

Rant over ... now for some inspiration

Ok ... now that my rant is over and out of the way (sorry all - I needed to exorcise it, it was neither clever nor amusing!!!), writing about the new camera, I'm feeling all inspired. My good friend started a Flickr page (I have one but god knows what my login is!!) and took these amazing photos. I think he even had a blog at some stage, and everytime we hung out, you'd lose him for a second coz he's found some random juxtaposition  (a bit of coloured detritus  amongst grey concrete .. that sorta thing) and is snapping away.

 

Anyhoo, I've always wished I had the inclination and energy to have found a career in design. I do appreciate beauty (well my version of anyway) and like nothing better than flitting through an art gallery, or flipping through a design related zine, whilst sipping*insert beverage of choice* and watching the cool young things drift by.

 

But sadly that does not translate into the real word of contracts, super and income tax. Its nice to appreciate nonetheless. If you are lucky enough to be involved in a creative process of some description, you might come up with something like this:

 

Crazy Cool Barcodes

 

 

thanks again to jeansnow.net for the heads up and pic and designs courtesy of www.d-barcode.com

 

Cool yah?! I especially like the kwik-kopy-esque man holding a heavy load ... thats the orange one in the middle-ish. Who knew that there were design firms out there specialising in the design of barcodes for commercial purposes .. how are jobs like these advertised? "Do you have a talent for design and an appreciation of barcodes"??? Its crazy how there's all these niche-filling industries out there .. filling niches you never even knew existed.

 

 

But I guess commercial design is where the monay is!! M's surgeon's son is a commercial designer. Although I'm not really au fait with the so-called busts of his scattered around his father's waiting rooms. He'd be working to the client's brief for the most part I guess .. which is just as well and you'd agree if you saw those copper objeks dee art. Here is an example of commercial design which I believe is pretty much entirely based on self indulgence. You'd need a large modern white space for this. Presenting Yuki Yamamoto's SPICA speaker (oh ... wait .. yah .. boom boom!)

 

 

 

Donkey Wheel? Why? - Melbourne Open House 2009

Ok ... on the spur of a moment, we decided to haul ass over to the city for Melbourne Open House 2009. We went last year and had such a great time clambering around on top of the Manchester Unity building, and there were certainly more buildings open this time round, and I made sure bladders were emptied and a bottle of water was packed in my bag in anticipation of long snaking queues.

 

We decided to start at CBD West - being mindful of time and the fact that there was probably more parking this end, which there was.

 

First Stop - Denmark house - billed as the "heartbeat of Danish culture" in Melbourne, I had high hopes of loads of danish design eye candy, of which there was some, but not enough to make it that memorable:

 

 Denmark house

I gather this operates as a Private club for Danish expats and Danophiles alike ... it does reek money of the stylish kind ... and the furniture and fittings are suitably indicative of that innate style that scandie's have for clean forms and textures:

 

 

 

What struck me the most was the wintry sun outside cool industrial window frames ... it was great seeing stylish people walking the streets with blue maps in hand and many with scarily serious digital slr's in hand or draped round necks ... I wanted to talk to all of them and have them over for tea ... this is the exact opposite of what I feel when I am traipsing through the shiny plastic halls of knifepoint!!

 

 

Next stop - the Donkey Wheel!! And why is it called the Donkey Wheel - I couldn't find an explanation anywhere and I forgot to ask the nice tall stretch of water on duty in the old ballroom space.

 

It used to belong to the the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company and dates back to 1891 - this is apparently Gothic revival style, but I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to Architectural Styles so it just looks like a really cool old building to me:

 

 

I think this would have been the most interesting of the lot. Only because there is still a real sense of history in its dilapidation. The basement areas are being developed as some kind of art space, so there are a few, lets just call them, installations lurking in the catacombs, including something that looked like globiles of my sensodyne toothpaste:

 

 

And yes there is a prismic effect with the glass tiles at the top, coupled with the slope of white tile below, it is meant to channel/funnel light from street level into the dingy areas below.

 

 

The Upstairs ballroom are is of course much lighter and airy ... not really sure what this space was used for. There's a sizeable kitchen and shower and toilet facilities as well as lots of ladders leading up to lofts ... which was of course off limits to the general public ... typical! ... bastards!

 

 

The highlight was using the old lift sans lift operator ...

 

We decided to give the Mission to Seafarers a miss as we really wanted to go to the T&G building, which on hindsight was a mistake. P went to the Seafarers with his Mum M (Hi Mum!) and he said it was pretty good. We went to T&G and saw the colour changing glass dome (big deal!) and some glass blocks (yawn!):

 

 

There was a modern take on light refraction going on in the atrium with the glass bricks:

 

And a water feature which provided a good opp for one of my shoe pics:

But we wanted to see the old, not the fucking new!!! No let me rephrase that, we wanted to go to parts where the general public don't normally have access to, otherwise what is the point!!

 

So as we walked past the Collins Street Baptist church (also part of the open house), we decided to recharge with a coffee and a biscuit (both pretty darn good with proceeds going to the church) in the glassed in foyer:

 

 

We took some time perusing the church itself ... it was strangely welcoming ... I would consider going to a church as pretty as this ... a few of what PT would have termed "Family" were also having a look and one of them gave us a lovely hello. Bless!

 

 

We tried to then get into the Substation - and it was the first long queue we had encountered and they had already blocked this off. So mental note - next year head straight to the Blockbuster events first!! Its the ones where you're taken in by a guide that have the longest queues. You had to put on protective garb for this one which adds to the time factor. Anyhoo, not having success with the Substation, we headed down to the Capitol Cinema and joined the line there. It was only about a 15 min wait but listening to that first volunteer who started the tour off with an introduction seemed interminable!!! Thankfully our other 2 guides were sprightly enough. But here again, its still pretty much a working cinema, so if you wanted to see the interior you just have to attend a screening at MIFF. However, they did show us some parts of the building that are not as easily accessible, and gave us insight into how things used to look, which really would have been pretty amazing:

 

But its the patterned ceiling in the main complex that is the star turn, and to think they were once illuminated by different coloured lights.

 

 

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Comments:

Temasek wrote:

 

Oh I thought this was someone giving me the answer to why its called Donkey Wheel!! Its sorta of an exhibition. You just get the programme and work out a schedule with the map. Most of the buildings have a tour of some description. Have a look at the website. Just had coffee with P. And yes he's good.

29 July

 

dan cope wrote:

 

I need help.. Is this an exhibition or are you just staring into buildings. How is P? Yes I know... x

28 Jul

friday night saturday morning

Ok ... well we finally made it to Thai Angels on Friday night for a spot of tea.

Friday Night

well its not exactly the cheapest lazy-arse friday night dinner ... but its passeable for a nice little sit-down meal thats hassle free. The main drag of West footscray is turning into a nice little cosmopolitan enclave what with all the groovy young couples that can't really afford fitzroy or carlton ... its hard on the heels of seddon and yazzaville!!

 

As per ush we pigged out!! Had prawn tom yum and bravely asked for HOT (which meant extra slices of raw bird's eye chillies) ... was pretty damn impressive .. one of the better tom yums around

 

We then had a yellow fish curry (fairly mild and on the sweetish side ... but it gets the culinary tick), pad thai (the westernised version minus the dried prawns and pickled turnip - but a really nice flavour ... very more-ish) and a minced pork salad (a bit of a let down - needed a bit more lime and fish sauce)

 

All washed down by a couple of cold Carlsbergs ... sooo reminded me of childhood and the ad we used to have on telly - I can still sing you the theme song "Come up to Carlsberg ..." and the chick in a whit bikini and a belly chain coming out of the surf and morphing into the shape of the bottle ... they don't make them like that anymore!!!

 

Went across the street to the massive indian provision store and stocked up on cup-sized portions of Kulfi .. yes they sell frozen kulfi now ... how happy am I!!! We got Badam (almond meal), pistachio and mango.

 

If you're in the west ... thai angels is worth checking out

 

http://www.thaiangelsrestaurant.com/home.html

 

Saturday Morning

 

So we trundled off to Fitzroy ... M was in the mood to spend!!!

 

We started off at Books for Cooks ... well how could you resist ... its a dangerous place to be for M and me ... 

 

And a $100 later .... jeez!!! ... we left feeling inspired and hungry .. so it was a skip to the bakery across for these yummy herb sorta ciabattas crossed with turkish bread ... don't know what they're called ... I usually point and say that herb thing ... its only $2 each ... and they're pretty massive ... its the bakery near Ladro's .. can never remember the name.

 

Then it was round the corner to Tongue and Groove.

 

 

This is our favourite furniture store ... we've scored 2 great 60's vinyl chairs and a fantastic danish style coffee table from here ... we've gotten to know Ross as a result ... even got an invite to a Featherstone drinks night once ... he was a big promoter of Featherstone ... but he's changing tack very shortly and promoting home-grown modern furniture ... as a result there will be a re-launch soon and we have invites to the party!!! I think he thinks we're like one of those artsy-fartsy couples with cash to spend .... well we'll keep this delusion alive ... we stayed mum about the fact that we were looking at buying a replica Arco lamp ... he would have kicked us out of the shop otherwise ... he's outbid each time a crate of vintage danish furniture goes up for acution and too many cheap chinese replicas are flooding the market ... which is why the need to re-assess his business model ... most of his second hand stuff gets deposited at Lost and Found just up the road ...

 

Which is where we went next ... I scored a vintage winter coat and m bought a couple of retro ties for his gig on sunday (will try and post pics of these soon) ... I had to say No to a couple of skinny ties ... but could easily be persuaded as soon as I've found the right shirts to go with ... oh this never ends!!!

 

It was a really fun day ... and we made a scrummy Sup Kambing (well more of the mamak shop style mutton soup) for tea with the lamb bought from the halal shop ... they do the best cuts for curries and the like ... on the bone with a layer of fat ... perfect!!

 

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

 

This Friday its dinner at Mamaganoush with the old gang

Saturday its another cook-up ... its P's b'day so he gets to choose what we do ... he's already talking terrines and soup ... I'm quelling at the thought!!

 

PS ... the new PORTISHEAD ... words fail me

PPS ... the naked cowboy was at the front of Myer's .... too funny!!!