Confronting Heathrow yet again made our entry into Madrid all the more stunning.
How can an airport be made to be such a pleasurable experience?... by excellent design it seems, enhanced with a playful flamboyance. Note the colours of the spectrum used as a persisting theme. Barajas Airport, Lord Richard Rogers...
>>>>Madrid Barajas Airport
Can a landscape architect ever be simply on holiday when confronted with work from the great designers of the world? The creativity of Rogers, Calatrava, Foster and Gehry mixed with that of history, of the ‘old world’, made demands on the senses to supersede the expectations of mere holiday-making. Recording the wonder and indulging in it over time justly rewards the effort. Dare I ask, do we go back home to rest?
I was especially impressed by the significance of contemporary design experienced alongside the acknowledged treasures of a distant past...
The diversion to Bilbao in northern Spain’s Basque country provided so much more than just the star attraction, Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum, part of old Bilbao’s revival plan. To be found were riverside promenades, a joyful fountain, a sculpted canine in full leaf and a Calatrava bridge spanning the river in splendid style.
Contributing to all was the metro system by Lord Norman Foster (not illustrated) and the delightful tramway, a space age treat and an inspiration for all car-oppressed city dwellers. The regular 10 minute service has attracted 3 million passengers during its 3 years of gradual expansion. For the explorer interested in urban design and landscape this visit had much to offer.
>> EuskoTran, the Bilbao Tram Service,
>> research paper (pdf):
“Return to the Rails: The Motivations for Building a Modern Tramway in Bilbao Spain”
The forms of the Guggenheim Museum within and without, challenged all conventions. Voluptuous titanium-clad surfaces gleamed and responded accordingly to the times of day and night. The popularity of Gehry’s work is understandable but for me a question arises as to whether this should lead inevitably to a proliferation of what, in a single circumstance, presents such a truly unique event? Obviously I will have to seek out more of the Gehry creations wherever they happen!
>> The Guggenheim at Bilbao
Bilbao’s green tramway corridor with its thin steel rails barely apparent, could be a charming introduction to any city. With touch-screen electronic stylishness at each tram stop and tramcars pleasingly configured and detailed, what better way to visit a Guggenheim Museum, old downtown or the new shopping centre?
Of special interest for me was the orientation of tracks to the kerbside instead of the middle of the road. This simple deviation from the norm appeared to leave trams and motor traffic relatively free from conflict. In the old city quarter two-way and one-way roadways each functioned in uncomplicated fashion alongside the single or double tramtrack layout set adjacent to the building lines.
photos: © Bruce Mackenzie 2006
>>>>>more pics from Bruce Mackenzie >>>
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Spice and Spectacle in Spain and Morocco