More Cemeteries...

While in Spain we were also able to visit the Montjuci cemetery. What was striking about this cemetery was how it felt much it reminded, at times, of being in a state park. I enjoyed that there was such a mix of burial places all within the hill side.  I think my favorite part was being in the Espais de Memoria. It wasn't form that made the space special but the elements that created the form... the hills enclosing the space and the sky opening it back up. There's a sense of safety...as if being in a fort. It felt comfortable with the warm sun, different places to sit or lie down, and being able to just listen to nothing.

Wall with burial niches



Contemplative Space



 Site Visit: Igualada

I had fortunate opportunity of going on an adventure to Barcelona and the Igualada cemetery. What a great adventure it was...seeing Mies' Pavilion (after one failed attempt), nicknames (Pink Ninja/Pinky, Brown Haired Girl, Miss Ju Ju, Big Brain Boy/Steviboy, Student no 1, Student no 2, Short Blond Hair, Kitty/Ginny Kitty Meow Meow/Great Gradma Ginny or just GGG/Sweet Tooth/Kit Kat, Clem Chowder), getting lost and then "rescued", lots and lots of delicious food (mmm fuet), cheese touches, leaving behind a couple members (this studio is after all survivor),and a little bit of soccer and beer too.

Then there is the site. Pictures of Igualada do not do it justice. This project cannot be photographed, not really. It has to be experienced, seeing the actual scale of the site (which felt much smaller than I thought it would)  and discovering hidden gems like the top of the chapel and the rosemary growing. What was most surprising for me was the feelings that were evoked. I was not expecting to feel as relaxed as I did. There was something very tranquil in hearing the wind rustle the grass or, at certain moments, feeling the sun pour into the chapel.

Miralles and Pinos achieve this sense of being in nature when walking through the site.
Seeing the site makes the task at hand, I think, easier and at the same time impossible. I find that I am questioning initial thoughts of where on the site to do the project and if any intervention would even make sense. There is no way to get an understanding of what is going on in the site with just one visit...I think the studio needs to just relocate to Barcelona for the semester.

Light wells on top of the chapel

View on top of the chapel

Chapel entry

Light condition inside the chaple

Looking into cemetery

Area outside niches

Pin-up: Dibujos and Drawdels

 

Mold for casting

Casting of walls presented at the pin-up

Preliminary Drawdel

Reveres side of final Drawdel

Front side of Drawdel

Side of wire dibujo

Top of wire dibujo

Tectonic Map Update

In the next trial tectonic drawing I made I tried to focus on giving more depth to the drawing and also to make the cross section read better. It seems closer to being a drawing from one perspective and invention from another but I think it still at risk of being more of a model. I think for the final try it may be that I need to shift some of the elements back and forth in space and simplify detail.

Dibujos sin Papel: Plaster Cast

For the stereotmic map I decided to focus on the the three walls and the excavated space inbetween. The first try I cast so that the walls protruded outward. Some of the issues were that the walls were delicate and the mold was difficult to unmold.

In the second try, I reversed the cast by having the walls sunk in and the land raised. I am unsure as to how I feel about the heights of the land and if the walls need to be carved in more. I also think there may be a better way to frame the cast. 

Try 1

Try 2

Mapping Part 2: Dibujos sin Papel

For the final two maps that will be a part of our final series of maps we are to create a tectonic and a stereotomic...basically we are to model a drawing of the condition being examined. The tectonic map can consist of wire, wood or string and explores joints and materials. The stereotmic map should consist of a heavier material like plaster or wax and should be cast in a single gesture.

So far I have only tried wire and am making more of a model of the site than a model of a drawing.



Unconscionable Maps Update...

I wasn't really sure what to focus on in making a drawdel that shows the wall as a place of transition. In the test drawdels I ended up looking at the relationship between the walls defining the excavated space without knowing it.