Global Architecture + Design, Fall 2016, Newsletter III

The Fall semester has already gone, and students did very inspiring and interesting work while in Barcelona. In addition to the architecture classes that they were taking at the IaaC, they all took one elective course at CIEE and we would now like to share some of the work they did. 

Some students signed up for a class called “The city in visual culture”, and one of the most successful learning moments of this class took place during the visit to Palco Brand, a local design studio. While there, CIEE students were able to participate in a brainstorming session geared toward rebranding the Barcelona Kids brand. They were asked to think about something related to their childhood, and different potential slogans for the brand were subsequently discussed. At the time this post is being  published, the Barcelona Kids website has been not been fully updated yet, but Pol Guardia and his team will hopefully complete it very soon. For now, just enjoy looking at some pictures of that fantastic and inspiring session!

We also want to share some of the work done by Mark and Elizabeth, both from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. For their last assignment, they created some very interesting images that reflected their critical thinking over the different ways of seeing and experiencing cities.

According to Mark, “Barcelona is a “City of Icons”. These icons, whether they be buildings, sports teams, food, etc., all have a part in producing a global image of the city which is then broadcast out to the world. Through these specific pictures and instances advertised, Barcelona has become a leading city not only in Europe but within the global context. The driving factor behind this success is the touristic market which has been drawn to the city based upon the icons created and consumed for a multitude of events. I have chosen five main icons and altered them to create a dialogue between Barcelona and other major cities. In these photos, I have chosen to replace Barcelona specific monuments with others from around the world to convey the idea that although this city is rich with culture and history, the main attractor elements are no different from that of places such as London or New York. The city functions using these icons to its advantage, however the icon itself has very little meaning. If one were to replace one with something similar, as I have in these photos, Barcelona would essentially function in a similar manner, highlighting the monuments to gain global recognition”.

At her turn, Elizabeth explained that “From day one, I have loved the street tiles found throughout the city. In this project I use the idea of Barcelona’s eight tiles and the city’s other visual icons to describe the parts of the city I’ve found most meaningful during the past four months”. Here you can see some of the tiles she designed.