Blog on Spain

NOTE: what follows was written originally as an intro to the book review on The Lions of Al-Rassan.

We’re heading to Spain. I have my copy of The Lions of Al-Rassan, and The Moors Last Stand by Elizabeth Drayson – reviewed in Forward Reviews. I may pack my copy of Don Quixote for insurance. With reading material, chapbook, laptop and Nikon, I’m heading to Iberia.

If photography is important on vacation, be sure to marry an tolerant person.

Sites in Spain I’ve wanted to see for most of my adult life; what tops the list is Guadi’s Casa Milá in Barcelona and the Alhambra in Granada. Ranked third list would be Guggenheim in Bilboa, a shameless extravagance—titanium alloy sheathing gives it just the right hue, don’t you think? Though even there I’m bound to get interesting photos.

I envy the 3D airplane technology Frank Gehry’s firm adapted to design his golden best—the only way the Guggenheim in Bilbao and Disney Opera House in LA, to name his most famous, could be built was with 3D airplane technology. The framing marries up to the skin in these organic, non-linear wraps following his early ‘fish’ restaurant in Japan—organic metal sheathes.

Modern 3D technology is a marvel—if you have client who won’t settle for less. But I will accede to a more stubborn dreamer who found a way to build the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

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Though Guadi did his with hand drawings and weighted strings of stone to replicate a parabolic curve. The definition of a parabola that he understood by geometry. Guadi was into modern geometry decades before the Modernists came along. Guadi brought the Catalan skill at masonry to shame other Europeans practicing Art Nouveaux. Look Ma, no computer.

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In Madrid, the Prado Museum just went through a major redesign by Rafael Moneo, a European master, and I expect to find it stirring.. El Greco, the painter I’ve always wanted to see, enveloped by the subtle touch of a master Modernist. So: Museo del Prado

My theory of architectural history—please forgive me, Dr. Cooledge—is that Modernism began in Europe because draftsmen were tired of drawing Corinthian column capitals pencil stroke at a time. In my days at a drafting table, I actually did like the work if it had paid better and no one bitched at me. There’s mediocre to bad Modern buildings—and at the far other end of the spectrum, Rafael Moneo.

So I suppose that pushes Gehry’s sculpture down the list. There’d better be good photo opportunities. A friend—another architect—texted me a few days ago, said he and his spouse of years were going to Barcelona, then hike the Pyrenees. We’ll miss hooking up with them by days. We’ve never hiked with them, but that could change.

But first, we’ll visit the Alhambra in Granada, a major architectural influence still seen today—whose courtyards descended into the simpler, but still beautiful haciendas in the Southwest of this continent. The Alhambra comes from a line of great North African architecture dating back to Istanbul, to the Roman Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. I am drawn to the art of those cultures. 

Hagia Sophia—photo by William E. Evans, ©2014

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Working on the general subject of the Alhambra, I came on two worth noting. One is a history. And the second one landed me on a Smithsonian link I Googled. I still do that out of habit, and certainly not love. The book is from 1842 by an author and his architect companion. Both architects. Oh, are the drawings beautiful! My next book review in the Book Café was written by Jules Goury and Owen Jones.

[Site plan of the Alhambra palace—drawn by Jules Goury and Owen Jones—Courtesy of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives No Copyright - United States]  

We’re heading to Spain. I have my copy of The Lions of Al-Rassan, and The Moors Last Stand by Elizabeth Drayson – chapbook, laptop and Nikon, and we’re headed to Iberia.

People are always wishing life ran a few more years. If it doesn’t, we can study the crumbs left behind.