Architecture + Design, Fall 2017, Newsletter I

EXPERIENCE(S)

A new semester for Architecture + Design has begun and students, aside from adapting to the city during the first days of orientation, have already started classes. In the core course, “The City and the Visual Culture”, students are learning first-hand about the urban development of Barcelona. In a combination of class lectures and activities, they visited some key places in the city to better understand this transformation, like Ciutadella Park and Montjuïc Mountain, where the Universal World fair took place in Barcelona in 1929.

Besides viewing some of the major constructions and facilities, such as the National Palace or Plaça de Espanya, students also had the chance to visit one of the most important historical structures from that World Fair: the German Pavillion by Mies van der Rohe. Considered one of the four main buildings of the Modern Movement, the magic and relevance it holds in the history of architecture is more than well-known due to its symbolic significance and the revolutionary design of its time. In fact, all the students had already studied it in some of their classes. Even though it was dismantled after the fair, a replica was built in 1986 by three Catalan architects in order to emphasize its architectural importance. 

Also, Jessica and Jack, from Tulane University, wanted to highlight some of their first impressions of the program. Check them out in this video!