Tale of Two Cities: Barcelona and Valencia architecture
In both Valencia and Barcelona, I had the same reaction: how did these buildings get built? Barcelona has an all of its Gaudi gaudiness, and Valencia has a totally new neighborhood of Calavatra buildings.
I visited La Pedrera apartment building in Barcelona (get the Articket at a less popular location like the CCCB to skip the 30min-1hr long line). I'd seen Gaudi's works in my art history books, but what I didn't expect from just looking at pictures is that it's not just the facade that's all wavy, it's the inside and top of the buildings as well! Here's a view from the rooftop terrace, looking down into one of the central courtyards.
La Sagrada Familia was a different story though. This one was a bit too grotesque for me, like the sea creatures of Pirates of the Caribbean overgrown with barnacles.
In Valencia, Santiago Calavatra created the whole new neighborhood of the City of Arts and Sciences full of performing arts centers and exhibition halls. It's located in a part of the former river bed, which has turned into a much-used green belt cutting through Valencia. Here's a picture of the Science Museum.
Here's the Palau de les Arts. They are beautiful buildings, but as a group look rather deserted when there aren't performances going on, or the museums are closed. Even when museums are open, things can feel a bit lonely. Still, thumbs up to both Barcelona and Valencia for constructing so many daring buildings.
