A city made for speed is made for success?? Besos Mar. Barcelona can be as complicated to live in as it is picturesque. The romantic congestion, activity, decay and maze-like corridors of the old center make for wonderful walking. Our senses are stimulated, our imaginations run loose and our shopping bags get stolen from our hands. The city is dysfunctional. As the city expands, rational plans appear like mirages, architects make beautiful, true measurements on blue prints, but the reality of sites such as Diagonal Mar is crisis. Straight lines are dominant and contemporary building materials are ubiquitous, but here similarities with utopic modernism end. The crowning flop here is "El Forum", a massive, directionless beach front conference center, concert hall and amusement park meant to attract tourism like the 92 Olympics did, but has not. On the other hand, projects such as the “Barcelona Plan” in El Raval, and the continuing spirit of rationalism, funcionality and aesthetics present in Barcelon’s markets shows the city continually re-inventing itself, often for the better.

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Barcelona A well stated problem
this land is your land 06