Architecture of Europe 2

Barcelona: Arena of Vision

No longer deprived, Spain's second city is undergoing a monumental building program in preparation for the Olympics.
Barcelona is far more than just the second city of Spain, a country emerging from relative poverty and obscurity to rank as one of the most dynamic economic and cultural forces in the new Europe. It is both a great international trading city, a Mediterranean metropolis looking outward to the sea and the ocean beyond, and an intensely regional center, the capital of fiercely independent Catalonia. In this duality lies the essence of its history and the key to its present. As European cities like London, Paris, Malian, Frankfurt, Lyons, and Berlin line up in the stakes for dominance in the increasingly unified Europe of the twenty-first century--when cities may count for more than nations, as they did five hundred years ago--Barcelona seems likely to become one of the winners. There is a vision and energy in the place, an unwillingness to depend on past glories and a determination to excel in every area of human activity.

London's New Art Museums

The international boom during the 1970s and '80s in new museum building and in the extension and aggrandizement of existing institutions was driven not simply by a demand for more display space, but by a growing tendency to redefine the entire role of the museum. Modern museums consist not simply of galleries but also shops, restaurants, lounges, and gardens. Libraries have expanded to embrace the new electronic technology, so that visitors can easily access for themselves on a screen information they once would have gotten from books. Every section of the population now has to be considered. The disabled and infirm have to be able to reach all parts of a new building. Children are targeted for special attention--indeed, education, in the widest sense, is now a central function of museums. There are concerts and conferences, lectures and films, symposia and social events for "friends groups. And the architecture is not just a contained- it's a vital part of the total experience.

Greece's Fingers of God

While travelers flock to Athens, turning it into an anthill of tourism, and cruise ships clog its harbors, there lies nestled in the mountains of central Greece, a land that only the most intrepid travelers find, and time seems to have forgotten.
Giant fingers of granite rise up out of the Kalambaka valley like the hands of God reaching toward heaven. Perched miraculously on the tips of these fingers are five ancient monasteries and one convent, all of which are active and thriving today.
The area is called Meteoras and it literally means "up in the clouds."
In the 11th century holy monks began to occupy natural caves carved high high up in the rock face by wind and erosion. These are sandstone and conglomerate rocks, raised to their current levels by a massive earthquake now lost in the fog of time.They were a perfect refuge from the distractions of civilization and a quiet place in which to lead a life of contemplation and meditation.