From Crown to Iberia

Spain 2011 Itinerary

2013-01-20T03:18:00.001+01:00

This year's plan:
1. We start with 11 days in Barcelona, including two day trips to Girona and Igualada.
2. We then take the AVE high-speed train to Madrid, where we'll spend 12 days, setting up a base camp for a series of high-speed rail powered day trips to Cordoba, Valencia, Leon, and Toledo, plus a very low-speed trip to El Escorial.
3. An intense 10-day workshop in collaboration with the IE School of Architecture in Madrid, dealing with the topic of density. Details are still being finalized -- more information to come.

Join us!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

30 Days, 18 Cities, 164 Buildings in 240 Seconds

2012-01-13T04:39:00.000+01:00

We've condensed the entire trip into four minutes. Some of the images you see here come from the 2009 and 2010 trips.

Information Session - Monday, Feb 07, 6pm, Crown Hall Lower Core

2011-02-06T18:30:00.001+01:00

Join us for an information session tomorrow evening at 6pm -- we'll have more details about the program, and especially about our exciting workshop with IE University School of Architecture in Madrid.

See you then!

Spain 2011 Program

2011-01-19T01:31:00.001+01:00

We've got an exciting trip planned for 2011, including a ten-day workshop in conjunction with the IE School of Architecture in Madrid.

Our travels will be intense. Using Madrid and Barcelona as base camps, we will visit a total of 8 cities in 35 days, including a ten-day design workshop in Madrid. We will walk until our feet are sore. We will visit more than 80 buildings, and fill piles of sketchbooks in mere weeks. We will immerse ourselves in the cultures--architectural, culinary, historical, social--of the Iberian Peninsula, and from our observations, we will begin to learn about the relationship of building culture to culture more broadly understood.

Our trip will take us to the following cities: Madrid, Toledo, El Escorial, Córdoba, León, Igualada, Girona and Barcelona.

The course will consist of three phases: we will spend the first twelve days based in Barcelona, including a pair of daytrips to Girona and Igualada; the next eleven days will be spent visiting Madrid, and using the city as a hub for high-speed rail-fueled daytrips to five other cities in Spain. The third and final component of the trip will be a ten-day design workshop at the IE School of Architecture in Madrid, where IIT students, Spanish IE students, and a group of students from around the world will collaborate on an urban-scale project. Instruction will be in English, with Professors Goodman and Canna forming a team with other professors from the IE School.

More information to follow.

VIVA ESPANA!!!

2010-07-07T22:57:00.003+02:00

Straight out of Bilbao...

2010-06-23T01:41:00.002+02:00

From the White Night festival...a performance involving three guys beating the life out of this car. No joke.

the one, the other, the amazing

2010-06-07T00:30:00.002+02:00

Very few things produce the same emotion more than once. The discovery of the unknown has always the advantage of being the first encounter with the unexpected, but the Great Mosque of Cordoba defies that rule to become an endless discovery.

We were immersed today in its complexity, and after a more than two hour-long visit, we shared a great conversation based on the idea of how two different systems met and the effects that this overlap produced.

We had 13 pairs of eyes looking at different aspects of it, and when we left we all saw much more than what we saw a few moments before.

Drawings are starting to appear as tools of thinking rather than just representation, and with that each one of us is finally traveling.

the Rottery

2010-06-04T00:50:00.002+02:00

San Lorenzo de El Escorial is more than a palace, cathedral, and monastery; it is also the resting place of the kings and queens of Spain. After the death of a monarch, they are not immediately placed in the crypt. Instead, they are moved to the waiting room (or "rottery" -david goodman) where they stay for 40 years. yum.

2010-06-03T01:04:00.003+02:00

"Don't show the limit of your knowledge or the bottom of your pockets" - said the architect that we visited today in Toledo. You can take a lot out of these words.. For me architecture stands on the edge between clarity and ambiguity, transparency and mystery. The more I learn about architecture the more I understand that it is not simply design. It is a very deep and thorough study of the site, history, human expectations, and the needs for the building. It has to be approachable, but it should surprise at the same time; it has to create a sequence, a procession; finally, it has to create an emotion. What kind of emotion do we want a building to create? For me this is the hardest question. The archive building we went to today created a feeling of stability, serenity, embrace of the past... The architect seemed to have a strong passion for his work and the deep understanding the past, the site and the culture of the town...

Toledo

2010-06-03T00:04:00.005+02:00

wow. today we traveled to Toledo by high speed train (only 30 min away). We were all scoping out rental properties in hopes that we could someday live there. A beautiful mix of architecture, landscape, and willingness of drivers to let timid touring teenagers :) cross the road has made Toledo a 'muy bueno' experience.

HIGHLIGHT: met Ignacio Mendaro Corsini, architect of the Archivo Municipal de Toledo (archive building). I loved listening to him describe his project, even though I don't speak spanish. It seems architecture IS a language of its own.

HIGHLIGHT # 2: the El Transparente (skylight in the middle of the Toledo Cathedral). I've never seen anything like it. If you're reading this now, you need to go see it...really, right now.

2010-06-01T00:07:00.002+02:00

The day started smoothly with a cafe con leche in the Circulo de Bellas Artes.

By 9:00pm we were all feeling that that steamy, milky coffee was a couple of days ago.

The day was full and exhausting, Caixa Forum, Museo Reina Sofia (...Guernica...), Atocha Station, Parque del Buen Retiro, and a long, endless walk for some, through the new and old city.

The high point of the day, an outstanding, Tim Burton's fantasy Spider Man in the Plaza Mayor, trying to convince one of our students to proudly take his place... We will keep you posted with the latest news about this concern.

2010-05-30T17:17:00.005+02:00

We are in Madrid for the week! It is such a European city! People are dining out at any time day and night. Just sitting outside or inside having a drink or a cup of coffee. The city creates a very relaxed and chill vibe. Some of the interesting things I found are all the mimos posing along the streets. There are people dressed as torreodors, gorillas and all other random things. There are lots of magicians, street artists and entertainers along the streets! Pretty fun! Watch out for pickpocketers though. The guy on the picture is seemingly without a head! And he is posing for my camera and giving me sums up! haha
Some other interesting things: eggs is a dinner food and bar food apparently (how odd!); there is no drinking water available in most places! You have to pay for water even at a restaurant; the symbol of Madrid is a bear sniffing a tree! The first day we got here we were clueless why there was a statue of a bear and a tree on the main plaza Puerta de Sol! haha :) Alright, back to having an amazing time here :))

Cutredad madrileña

2010-05-29T03:22:00.003+02:00

There is a unstranslatable word that superbly describes Madrid: "cutre".

The word, enchanting and even mysterious, can't even be translated to other "spanishes": if you are from another spanish-speaking country you have no way to understand it other than to come here and let yourself live the experience... Suddenly, you feel initiated and fully capable of understanding not just the word, but a must deeper essence of what Madrid is, and what makes it in a strange way, beautiful.

Figure: calamari sandwich (bocadillo de calamares) defying the concept of a sandwich and fully embracing the essence of Spain's capital.

See you on Monday!

Our last meeting before LEAVING!!!

2010-05-03T04:38:00.002+02:00

Final countdown! We are about to leave.

Please meet us at Crown, Lower Core, this Wed. 5th at 6:00pm to refine some details and see if you guys have any additional questions. We will talk about where to meet, what time and so on...

Please be sure you have ALL YOUR PAPERWORK DONE! we don't want to have surprises! And be sure you have your ISIC student ID, it will give you great benefits.

Ok... see you in a few days!

OUR FIRST MEETING!

2010-03-02T20:52:00.003+01:00

The summer is getting close! and we have to get ready.

On Friday, March 5th at 6:30 in Lower Core we’re having a group meeting to discuss details about the summer class, registration, and other preparations.

Please confirm you can attend this session and come with questions if you have any.

Application deadline is here!

2010-02-23T20:04:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow, Feb. 24th is the deadline for the applications!

If you have any doubts, email us. The application forms are online and you can download them.
Please forward all the info with it: Letter of recommendation, a simple but thoughtful 3 pages maximum portfolio and the letter of intention, explaining why you are interested on going to Spain (well... it's so obvious!)

We are looking forward to traveling around Spain with you.

ETSAB WORKSHOP -15 days of intense work and enjoyment

2010-02-17T01:13:00.005+01:00

As we announced in our presentation, the Workshop in Barcelona is a way of extending the trip for 15 more days.

The workshop will be held at the ETSAB, the school or Architecture in Barcelona from July 8th to July 22nd, and this year, the participants for this edition will be:

- Universidade FUMEC - Faculdade de Engenharia e Arquitetura (FEA), Belo Horizonte, Brasil
- Cork Center for Architectural Education, Cork, Ireland
- Tongji University, School of Architecture, Shanghai, China
- Western Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland
- ETSAB - Escola Tecnica d'Arquitectura de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

and of course, us!

Each school brings between one or two professors and from 5 to 10 students and rather than staying with our well known classmates, we will mingle with the other students making interschool groups to propose a design.

The workshops are centered on the urban scale, in part because of the large tradition of the school of Barcelona mastering this topic and also, because Barcelona is one of the cradles of the urban design of the XIX century with the Cerda plan that still guides the development of the city.

During the past editions, the topics were the following:

2004 - URBAN HOUSING INTERVENTIONS
2005 - HOUSING INFILL IN URBAN INDUSTRIAL AREAS
2006 - INTERMODAL STATION IN FIGUERES.INFRASTRUCTURE: Design, City, Landscape
2007 - THE TEMPLE OF THE SAGRADA FAMÍLIA: URBAN ICON AND PUBLIC SPACE
2008 - FIGUERES, THE GATE TO EUROPE-Infrastructure / city edge / tourism / renewable energies / landscape
2009 - EL CARMEL: AFTER THE CITY

As you might see, the topics are HOT!

Sharpen your pencils!

How To Apply

2010-01-21T19:00:00.000+01:00

If you're interested in applying to the Spain/Portugal 2010 Program, the application forms are available at the below links. You'll need to submit an application form, work samples, essay and recommendation no later than the 24th of February.

APPLICATION FORM
RECOMMENDATION FORM

For more information about the itinerary and course budget, please click here.

Photos from 2009 Trip

2010-01-13T00:14:00.003+01:00

We've put together a brief slideshow of the photos from last year's trip. Many of these were taken by one of our students, Matt Renfree. You can also check out some of the work done by the students during the trip, and some photos of the exhibition of student work that we put together in the fall. To view the images, click on the preview to the left.

High point.

2009-06-28T13:19:00.001+02:00

In Barcelona now.

We have had a succession of high points on this trip, each one briefly holding the title of "best of trip".

Friday afternoon will be hard to beat. Jordi Fauli, one of the chief architects of the continuation of the Sageada Familia, gave us a four-hour tour of the church, the working studio and model shop, and of the construction site. We were taken into the scaffolding over the nave and were able to see up use the complex geometry of the vaults.

From the slightly rickety scaffolds 250 feet above Barcelona, we were treated to a view of the city, and of Gaudi's original towers, from a truly priveleged vantage point.

Extraordinary photos to follow.

We've just left Mies's Barcelona Pavillion. The students feel at home.

Goooooooool!

2009-06-25T23:39:00.001+02:00

Last night most off the group gathered after class to watch the US play Spain in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup soccer tournament. We were heavy underdogs, and no one here much respects US soccer. Basketball, yes. But not soccer.

We virtually took over the bar we decided on, and once the US scored in the 27th minute, our group began to cheer with such passion that most of the Spanish left in the bar departed for friendlier parts.

The USA won 2-0. Spain had not lost in 35 straight matches. We must bring good luck.

No one seemed too upset, but just to be sure, I immediately shushed the group of students that began the "U-S-A" chant after the match ended. Probably best not to rub it in. Though I read every newspaper this morning to savor the Spanish surprise at having been upset by a bunch of 'yanquis' that know nothing about soccer.

Pintxo

2009-06-21T22:08:00.003+02:00

A pintxo is a Basque tapa.

It´s usually served on bread, and one grabs what one wants from platters on the bar.

Romina and I have just eaten many.

We found perhaps the best Pintxo bar so far, in a sterile new neighborhood of housing slabs, where we´d gone to check out the Moneo church under construction (I worked on this project several years back and was astonished to see it almost complete).

If you happen to be in the Riberas de Loiola neighborhood of San Sebastian, we highly suggest you stop by Bar Alkain.

Chillida in San Sebastian

2009-06-21T22:01:00.002+02:00

Today´s highlight: a visit to the Chillida Leku museum, a vast park on the outskirts of San Sebastian dedicated to the work of Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida.

The sun appeared later in the day, after we also crossed town to see the Peine de los Vientos, a piece by Chillida that grows out of the rocks, suspended over the sea.

All okay except for the rain.

2009-06-19T16:21:00.001+02:00

A note to all family members and loved ones reading here: we are all perfectly fine.

The Basque terrorist group ETA detonated a bomb in the suburbs of Bilbao today. A police officer was killed. We are in Bilbao today, but I just found out about the bomb right now, as I checked the NY Times.

Life goes on in Bilbao. Everyone is just fine, though the rain has complicated our plans.

A note about Mérida

2009-06-19T03:41:00.002+02:00

Moneo's Museum is still one of the high points of the trip. A complete experience. We were all really quiet for a while after we go out. I had seen the building in 1994. I don't think I understood it then. But this time, it hit me and many of us, pardon the obvious but unintentional pun, like a ton of bricks.

Unexpected finds in Santiago de Compostela

2009-06-19T03:29:00.003+02:00

Antón Garcia Abril - SGAC Headquarters. Newer Brutalism.

The things I've been to busy to note.

2009-06-19T03:20:00.001+02:00

No luck finding time or free wifi lately. Not since Mérida. Since then: Lisbon, where we happened on to one of the biggest holidays and street parties of the year; Porto, where we heard a piano concert in Koolhaas's Casa da Musica (and where Jacob Ernst wore long pants) and where I learned to get past the decay of the city and discover a charming city; Santiago de Compostela, where we were given a warm welcome and an hours-long visit to the construction site of Eisenman's City of Culture - a building that seemed to me simultaneously beautiful, tragic, and exhausting; León, where Mansilla and Tuñon's MUSAC and auditorium were the main draw, and where several of us attended a harrowing two-hour theatre performance of La Fura Dels Baus, in which we were all subjected to a simulated hostage-taking; and on to delightful Burgos today , where I truly wish we had more time just to be, not to see anything in particular.

butterflies of Lisbon are in love with Mr. Miller.

2009-06-14T10:00:00.002+02:00

dinner at Mcdonalds in Portugal.

2009-06-14T09:53:00.003+02:00

WHY !!????????????

Merida has a nice pool by the bus station

2009-06-12T21:19:00.005+02:00

Thursday june 11,
me, sam, matt, dan, tyler, archit, the other dan, nicole and brian were stuck in Merida, till 1 in the morning while the rest had left for Lisbon, earlier at 4 that evening.
I can´t say for others, but for me, matt, dan and ty it was a blessing in disguise. We found a nice pool in a neighbourhood next to the bus station . We spent a good 4 hours there, ate pizza at a plaza across the river, and relaxed in a park till our bus for Lisbon was ready.

Where only architects dare to tread.

2009-06-12T01:13:00.001+02:00

No time to post lately. Every day, it seems, brings a new city: Granada, Seville, and we're now on the bus to Mérida, where we'll we Rafael Moneo's National Museum of Roman Art, probably one of the most important buildings of the last 40 years.

Merida's a small place - probably no more than 75,000 people, though about 2000 years ago it was the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, roughly corresponding to modern-day Portugal. Today, it's a regional capital, but pretty sleepy in general. When I went up to the window at the bus station to make sure all 29 of us would be able to buy tickets to Merida, the ticket agent looked at me, puzzled: "What is there in Merida?" she asked.

"A museum," I replied. This response did not seem satisfactory to the woman behind the counter, though she sold us the tickets anyway.

Module

2009-06-07T22:50:00.001+02:00

The cathedral destroyed a huge chunk of the mosque, but it still has to fit into the rhythm set up by the original building. So it's not all bad, see?

An admission

2009-06-07T22:40:00.001+02:00

I have just arrived in Granada after about 18 hours in Córdoba, where we saw the Great Mosque and the Alcazar before dashing off to catch the 7:20 to Granada.

This was the second time I'd seen the mosque, but it left me as speechless as before. I know it's not the most fashionable position but I really don't dislike the 16th-century cathedral that sits in the center of the mosque. It's violent and awful in some way, but I can't get myself to hate it. Is that ok?

Usera Library - Ábalos + Herreros

2009-06-06T20:48:00.001+02:00

A highlight from yesterday. A photo I did not take.

A mystery.

2009-06-06T19:25:00.001+02:00

How is it that I eat fried food at every meal and have lost five pounds so far?

prof. Goodman not in BLACK !

2009-06-06T17:37:00.003+02:00

On the day of our trip to the historical city of Toledo, Prof. Goodman sported a white shirt, a pair of dirty green pants and green sandals to match. This and the ugly archive buildinng were the highlights of the trip.

El-escorial. casa loco

2009-06-06T17:19:00.002+02:00

A roof toop view of El Croquis owners house in El Escorial.
it was a hell of a hike and we saw some cows and a couple of bulls lingring around the area!!

Marathon

2009-06-05T21:54:00.001+02:00

Today was our last day together in Madrid--given the advanced state of exhaustion in which both students and faculty find themselves, we have decided to take most of the day off tomorrow. We more than made up for it today. We began with a guided tour and some verbal sparring with overzealous security guards at the Regional Archive and library by Mansilla and Tunon. Probably the best building so far- a reworking of a 29th century beer factory and a huge channel glass-clad addition. Then, off to gritty Usera and the public library by Abalos and Herreros. A mini-skyscraper for books. Wonderful. Then a marathon walk past housing blocks by Wiel Arets to a suburban train that took us to a childrens' swim meet at Alberto Nicolau's wavy-roofed public pool in Valdemoro. One student, who shall remain nameless, attracted the attention of all the teenage girls.

A very long day....and still so much we haven't been able to see.

The Trains in Spain

2009-06-04T00:57:00.002+02:00

The students seem to have completely mastered the Madrid metro system, which is a major accomplishment, as it's one of the largest in the world. I hear them talking among themselves about the most efficient ways to get from one place to another, about where to change trains, and how to avoid transfers.

The infrastructure here is decades ahead of the US. The highways are perfect, subways, trams, and high speed trains link everything together. The students have begun asking why we don't have this kind of thing in Chicago. I have no good answers.

El Escorial

2009-06-04T00:49:00.003+02:00

It can take awhile for El Escorial to sink in. We spent the entire day in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about an hour's train ride from Madrid. Phillip II spent all the gold in South America to build the immense palace and monastery that dominates the mountainside here. I quite honestly don't know what the students thought of it. The language is muted, the building is stark, mute and austere. Perhaps tonight it will sink in.

Aching feet.

2009-06-03T02:11:00.001+02:00

The program officially began 40 hours ago. We have been walking for about 20 of those hours. My feet are not happy. Still, the things we're seeing are amazing, even if they're not new to me. Today's big surprise: de la Hoz's headquarters for Telefonica: a huge campus under a delicate roof. Beautiful multilayered facade. We end the day in Parque Juan Carlos I, where Nicole performed backflips and Jacob and Tyler competed in Downhill Longjump.

In Madrid

2009-05-29T01:32:00.001+02:00

Having fled Barcelona only minutes before the return of newly crowned European champions FC Barcelona (a sight that this Madridista could not bear) we arrived in Madrid about 3 hours ago. I have eaten a large plate of patatas bravas. Life is good.

What Lisbon Feels Like.

2009-05-24T05:18:00.003+02:00

For those who've never heard Madredeus, it might not be a bad idea to bring them along. This is "guitarra," from the 1994 Wim Wenders film "Lisbon Story".

de viaje

2009-05-24T05:17:00.005+02:00

some music is one of the most important things to have in your luggage.
so, I'm starting with the content...

Spain/Portugal 2009 Book

2009-05-24T04:48:00.007+02:00

For those who need more than one copy, or those who never got one, we've made the Volume 1 of the Spain/Portgual Travel Book available on lulu.com:

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/spainportugal-2009-illinois-institute-of-technology/6873169

Volume two, which will include students' drawings, photos, collages, etc., will be available after the trip ends.

Begin the begin.

2009-05-24T04:14:00.008+02:00

Choosing a suitcase is a difficult business. The backpack is, of course, a classic, with or without decoy Canadian flag patch. The typical wheelie isn't bad either.

We leave tomorrow. I have not yet chosen a suitcase.

This is where we start. Updates to follow as possible.