When I was on vacation last week, I indulged in one of my favorite guilty pleasures …the unauthorized house tour (credit for the name goes to my architect boyfriend). You know you’ve done it… waited until the contractors left and snuck into the new house being built down the street to see what your neighbors are up to. It truly is a great American past time. Off-season in places like Martha’s Vineyard you can even sneek around and get a peek of all those finished houses you saw published but wanted to view in person. In the middle of February they are a lot easier to find without pesky foliage getting in the way and no one is around!
A few pointers:
Sunday is usually your best bet… most contractors take the day off
Don’t wear flip flops… construction sites usually have nails and all sorts of debris around to impale yourself on… remember this is UNAUTHORIZED
Don’t go alone… it is more fun to have someone to share your design opinions with (“That counter treatment is sooo ’90s!”) … and it is a good idea to make sure there is someone who can call 911 when you fall through the floorboards.
Have an exit strategy ready or a good back story when the nosey neighbor or police arrive… (“I’m an architect and just couldn’t help myself…”)
In this case, we were “analyzing construction methods in the Caribbean and how they differed from the States” (yeah right) and our method of escape was a golf cart that topped out at 12 mph… but this all added to the sense of adventure!
On a recent trip to Barcelona I discovered culinary nirvana in the very hip el Born district. After a full morning of Gaudi, my boyfriend and I slipped into Comerç 24 for a quick bite and were so impressed we had to come back for the full tasting menu several nights later.
Comerç 24 is the genius of chef Carles Abellan. After being introduced to Ferrán Adrià, Abellan did a six year stint at Adrià’s famous restaurant, El Bulli, and learned much from the master of applying scientific techniques and tools to cooking (often called molecular gastronomy). Adrià is perhaps most known for inventing “foams” –a technique which consists of aerating ingredients with a siphon, thereby introducing minute bubbles which alter the texture of food.
Following his time at El Bulli, Abellan was selected by Adrià to manage his experimental Talaia Restaurant in the Olympic Port in Barcelona. Abellan then worked in Seville before deciding to open his own restaurant in 2001 on the carrer Comerç.
Design of interior space and food unite inside Comerç 24. The interior is a mixture of shiny colored glass, natural stone, upholstered walls and buttery leather chairs. It is modern and sophisticated but also playful…just like the food. The cuisine is a melange of tastes influenced by Asia, Andalusia, Italy, Catalonia and America. The result is as pleasing to the eye as to the palate.
The restaurant claims: “Comerç 24 considers itself part of a generation of food places that share the same view about cuisine and the world. It’s a deep-rooted but curious cuisine, and open-minded one that is constantly paying attention to other cuisines, wherever they are from, to incorporate the best of them.”
On our second visit to the restaurant we arrived at the beginning of dinner service at 8:30 pm (no self-respecting local would be seen eating dinner before 11 pm) because it was our last night and we had no reservation. We had the place to ourselves for about 5 minutes before it started filling up, so I was glad we had arrived early (yes, my paranoia was rewarded for once). For 54 euros each, we opted for the tasting menu, leaving selection to the chef. We also asked our server to recommend wine pairings to complement the food. It was an incredible experience… which we documented. I was slightly mortified at the idea of being labeled a “tourist” when we pulled out the camera and tried to hide it under the napkin, but then noticed the other diners on either side at the bar were doing the same thing. This was clearly a mecca for foodies and chefs.
tasting menu including mackerel with citrus, tuna with egg yolk vinigrette, cuttlefish with squid ink rice, and oxtail with foam.
The bar was located right next to the tiny open kitchen, so we were able to see food being prepared. It was amazing to see the chef leaning over the plate and carefully arranging tiny leaves. We tried things we had never had before including oxtail, cutterfish and chocolate sorbet with olive oil and salt (who would have thought?) and left overwhelmed by technique, taste and presentation. The service was wonderful… patiently explaining what we were eating. It is an experience I will not soon forget.
If you find yourself in Barcelona, I also highly recommond Abellan’s newest venture in town.. the more casual Tapaç 24. No reservations are taken and the restaurant is open from 8am to midnight. The menu is printed on a paper bag and the food is more traditional featuring such favorites Pan con Tomate (tomato bread), gazpacho, and tostado de jamon y queso (a mini grilled ham and cheese also know as a “bikini”) This bikini was pure heaven… filled with mozarella, jamon Jabugo (cured Spanish ham) and grated black truffled. Wow. Talk about comfort food.
This single meal made my trip to Barcelona… which is saying a lot… but more on that later!
Above: Carlos Abellan demonstrates preparing Infusión fría de dashi
Santiago Calatrava's Quadracci Pavilion and Suspension Bridge
One of my favorite buildings in the States is in Milwaukee… yes.. I said Milwaukee.
I thought my architect boyfriend was nuts on a recent trip to Chicago when he suggested that we rent a car and drive a couple hours to Milwaukee to see a building. I had visions of Laverne and Shirley singing in a brewery and couldn’t imagine what could be so inspiring that we would need to take this journey.. but I played along.. and was so glad I did.
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava completed the Quadracci Pavilion, an additon to the Milwaukee Museum of Art, in 2001. This was Calatrava’s first work in the U.S. Following this project he received the commission in to design the transportation hub at the World Trade Center site in 2004.
Brise-soleil open
Much of his early career was spent designing bridges and train stations, giving him a solid grounding in civil engineering, but Calatrava is also a talented painter and sculptor. The result is a blending of organic sculptural forms with technological innovation and engineering to create a very unique architectural style.
Calatrava’s addition to the Milwaukee Museum of Art is an excellent example of this ability and an amazing building to behold. It was designed to extend the Museum’s gallery space, create a new image for the Museum and to link Michigan Lake to downtown Milwaukee. The latter is accomplished by a 250 foot suspension bridge.
The building is an extension of Eero Saarinen’s War Memorial built in 1957.
Calatrava structure takes flight off Saarinen’s rather heavy concrete structure…. literally. The Pavilion takes the form of a skeletal prow of a ship (an appropriate reference to it’s waterfront location) and is dominated by a brise-soleil — two large wings or sails– which open and close. This kinetic sculpture is made up of 72 steel fins, weighs 90 tons, and spreads to 217 feet at its widest point. The Brise-soleil is not only beautiful but functional. It contains sensors which monitor wind speed and direction and temperature and light and adjusts the wings accordingly. It also gives a visual cue when the Museum is open to the public. It is both engineering marvel and delicate and sensual sculpture.
Any visit to the Museum must be timed with its opening or closing so you can see the building literally “open” or “close.”
Grand Entrance Interior
The interior is pleasing as well. The grand entrance hall soars 90 feet and feels like the interior of a cathedral, bathed in light and pattern. The repeating organic shapes inside change as you move through the space. The quality of the detail is staggering.
The museum itself is overshadowed by its structure. The collection is minor and the display in the older galleries very dark and unappealing. This visit is all about the building. All else pales in comparison.
According to Santiago Calatrava, “in the crowning element of the brise soleil, the building’s form is at once formal (completing the composition), functional (controlling the level of light), symbolic (opening to welcome visitors), and iconic (creating a memorable image for the Museum and the city).”
This iconic building is one that has stuck in my mind as combining those elements I find most compelling in contemporary architecture–exquisite structure, detail, sense of place, strength and elegance–AND IT MOVES!!!
