The Travelling Builder at Barcelona

The project: How to make a Concrete Seat
The place: Barcelona

Note: Click on any of the photos to see an enlarged version. There is a description of the photos further down the page.

A bit about the place

Barcelona is made up of grids of narrow streets. In most blocks there is a placa, which is an open area with seats, cafes etc., and some are equipped with kids' play areas. They are places where people can just go and relax.
A typical street is a mixture of residential dwellings, shops, small bars and commercial. A lot of the shops close early afternoon and open again late afternoon. People walk the streets, shop and eat, well into the evening

One of the main tourist streets is called La Rambla or sometimes Las Ramblas, as it is a few streets all joined together in a straight line. Anyway, La Rambla is about 1.2 km long and starts from the bottom of town. There is always something happening along the street, with any amount of people dressing up and putting on shows.

To the east of the street is the Placa De La Vila De Madrid.
That is where I sat on the concrete chair that inspired the "How to build a Concrete Seat" project.
This particular placa (square) is located in the heart of the Barri Gottic area.

It's a great experience taking a breather on one of the very cool modern concrete seats placed randomly throughout the square, and to admire the contrast between these modern additions and that of the old architecture (and a beautiful fountain) which surrounds you. It doesn't take long before you realize you are amongst some interesting and ancient history.

Local Building Supplies
Getting back to building and DIY: So if you wanted to make a concrete chair on the local front there are material para la construction shops (materials for construction) and some of these shops are cemento y ladrillo shops (cement and brick) from where you can purchase a 20 kg bag of mortero (concrete mix) for around 1.9 Euros a bag.

General photos
The photos in the right hand column were taken around Barcelona City.
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
From top right they are...
1) Looking out from the flat where we stayed in Barcelona. It is in a street called Carrer de Marti which is about 5 km from the bottom of town.
2) La Rambla, the happening street.
3) Some concrete seats in the Barri Gotic area.
4) A man making nice music in Barcelona.
5) Yummy Yummy, a ham shop.
6) A walk through a street in the Barri Gotic area, just a stone's throw from La Rambla.
7) A Gaudi Building.
8) An eating and drinking place on the side of the beach at the bottom of Barcelona City.
9) The magic fountain.

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