Old Warehouses vs Barcelona Urban Planning

Back in late 80s of last century Barcelona started the transformation of its waterfront by demolishing the intricate artificial barrier of warehouses and industries in the area near La Barceloneta and part of Poblenou with an eye in the 1992 Olympic Games. It was said that for the first time the city had stopped turning its back on the sea. Here is an interesting post in Spanish with some old pictures of Barcelona coastline that will certainly give you an idea of what it was like. What started as a modest makeup ended up in a drastic change which is still alive and has permeated other areas of Barcelona not so close to the sea. After 20 years we have a radically new skyline "thanks" to the greediness for urban soil of foreign investors and local travel and real state companies in connivance with our politicians. Indirectly we have won a modern and attractive city although some are surely happier than we are after speculating on bricks. As you can see in the picture above, the last warehouses compete with new architecture and are bound to disappear soon to quench the thirst of our urban planners' dictates. Old warehouses have been used in the past as part of art activism in Barcelona although such initiatives are sabotaged by speculators that eventually succeed in their schemes (in fact I've just found out there was an art group established in this very place that disappeared in 2009 after two other previous forced evictions). To our leaders: thanks for the sea (we already had it although we did not see it), thanks for the new look and for making Barcelona more attractive and prosperous. Now, can you please stop building for money and consider more social and cultural investment?

Art on Exterior Wall Panels, Barcelona

After a building is demolished it leaves behind traces of old rooms and partitions in houses next to them. Many times the unpleasant view can be avoided with exterior wall panels of assorted materials. If on top of them you add some colorful samples of art, an otherwise lousy corner may become a happy canvas to deter monotony.

Street Art on Doors: Face - Barri Gotic, Barcelona

While walking along the streets of Barri Gotic in Barcelona and looking for some nice graffiti to photograph for a client, I found some curious artwork, or at least some clotted surfaces with beautiful texture where different manifestations of street art blend in some kind of collective collage. You could say this face, with the silent-movie magnetic look, tries to hypnotize the curious passerby, from the bottom of a dead alley into some parallel world inside the wood. As to the annoying locksmith sticker below, they are omnipresent in every corner of the city. I took the time to erase the phone number.

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Street Dancing in Barcelona

Frozen in time. Do you remember the Matrix? You know, the bullet scene and all. I wish I could change the perspective here and show you the street dancer from different angles. If you like street dancing, hip hop, want to see a freeze or are just curious about the image, please visit previous post: Urban Street Dance in Barcelona.

Photographer's corner: Advanced Photography Tips

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Urban Street Dance in Barcelona

And this is what the street dancer in yesterday's post was looking at, one member of his crew performing a freeze. Here is a video with a basic freeze guide. Please don't try this at home.

Skateboarding in Barcelona

Experience has taught me that I shouldn't talk about modern trends be it in music, fashion, hobbies or sports. Why? Well, I simply get too old for that. I am only 44 but there are things I am not prepared to understand just because I was born and raised in the 60s. Gosh, ancient history now! There are specially a couple of posts I sadly remember too well, one was about a jacket with a logo that read "social distortion" and the other was about "ska". I won't bring the issue back though. It was just an example of how can a middle-aged man screw things up when it comes to young people's stuff. This elusive preface will be my alibi to tiptoe over today's picture: Skateboarding in Barcelona. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that the photograph was taken at the beach in Barcelona.

Ska-mania: The Third Wave

"Skamania an Indian word meaning "swift river" and refers to the swift currents of the Columbia River"...hmmm nope. Not this meaning, what is it then? I am getting too old for this. Oh, here it is, "Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was a precursor to rocksteady and reggae." I don't get it why is she wearing that T-shirt then. Well I read that there was a second wave in the UK in the 80s. But she looks too young for that...oh yes there is a Third wave Ska and even Ska punk, that must be it. She looks punk alright, not the dirty kind though. Maybe I have been listening to Ska bands without me knowing it. Should I ask her? No, let her alone in her sweet teens waiting for her date, who cares how they call music nowadays.

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