Mosaic inspiration from Barcelona, Spain

In preparation for my first next mosaic workshop of 2016, I took a trip to Barcelona, Spain for some mosaic inspiration. Rather than rambling on, I will let the photos speak for themselves. I probably took 100's of photographs during my visit to Barcelona. Below is a selection of them for your viewing pleasure.

My first stop had to be one of Antonio Gaudi's greatest works, Park Guell.

Be sure to click on the photos to get a larger view.

Park Güell

Park Guell is one of the most impressive public parks in the world. The park is located in Barcelona and was designed by famous architect Antonio Gaudi.

Gaudi planned and directed the construction of the park from 1900 to 1914 for Eusebi Guell for a residential park intended for sixty single- family residences.

The project became city property in 1923. Though never fully completed, it still remains one of Gaudi's most colorful and playful works.

Palau de la Música Catalana

The Palau de la Música Catalana was built between 1905 and 1908 by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner as a home for the Orfeó Català, financed by popular subscription.

The building is designed around a central metal structure covered in glass, which exploits natural light to make the make Domènech i Montaner's masterpiece into  a magical music box which brings together all the decorative arts: sculpture, mosaic, stained glass and ironwork.

I could not have finished my trip to Barcelona without a trip to Sagrada Familia. 

Sagrada Família

La Sagrada Familia is one of Gaudí's most famous works in Barcelona. It's a giant Basilica that has been under construction since 1882 and it's not expected to be completed until 2026. 

The cathedral has some nice mosaic features (with much more to come) but for me it is the interior that is a triumph.

It is worth noting that all three sites visited above are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a testament to their significance in the mosaic world.

If this post has inspired you to have a go at creating your own piece of mosaic art, I am running a weekend mosaic workshop at Kinsale Pottery and Arts Centre, Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland on August 27th-28th 2016    

This workshop is open to all levels of experience.

Learn a new skill and create a piece of art for your home or garden in the process.

If you have a larger project in mind, and need help getting started, this workshop is a great way to get you started on the right foot.

The studio sits on the edge of Kinsale town, a touristic gem of west Cork. Bring a packed lunch or head into the town for a bite. Plenty of accommodation available in Kinsale town and surrounding area as well as Cork City itself. A public bus service operates between Cork and Kinsale if traveling without a car.

What does the workshop involve?

 Workshop will involve:

• Introduction to mosaicing materials and tools.
• Introduction to the design process.
• Looking at different mosaicing processes.
• Coming up with a design for your project.
• Creating your masterpiece.
• Introduction to grouts and grouting
• Grouting and finishing your work of art to take home with you.  

Weekend workshop is €180 p/p and includes all materials needed. Teas & Coffees also included. Bring a packed lunch.  Discounts available for group bookings. See below for details. Limited spaces available. Booking essential. AN ADDITIONAL 10% EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT ON ALL BOOKINGS IF YOU BOOK BEFORE JUNE30TH (DISCOUNT CODE: saveme10) 

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Building a courtyard classroom

Here is a look at my latest outdoor classroom project I completed recently. 

In early 2015 Scoil Mhuire National School in Lucan, Co. Dublin put out a tender to commission a creative outdoor space for the students to utilise for years to come. It was commissioned under the government's 'Percent for Art Scheme' which allocates 1% of the building cost of any public building to the installation of an art project.

 

The school prides itself on its commitment to sport and creativity. Drama and music are very important in the school, and the school wished for this to be reflected in the submission. It was also essential that the children were to be involved in some aspect of the work. 

Having consulted with the children they had recommended that the project have something uniquely Irish. The design must be site specific, and be sympathetic to the local geographical and historic context, with reference to local heritage.

Taking all this on board, my design was based on a space that is both functional as well as sculptural, a structure that is visually inspiring from both the outside and the inside, a place for children to get excited about being in the great outdoors as well as learning about it.

Uniquely Irish.

Two ancient and iconic features of the Irish landscape are the dry stone walls that knit much of the landscape together and the ring forts that perch on many of its hilltops.

This outdoor classroom pays homage to both.

Structure Description

The main structure consists of a 6 meter wide circle with two entrances with curved timber seating lining the walls. The walls are constructed of dry stone walls that slope in height from 0.5 meters up to 1.2 meters. A second two tiers of seating protrude out from one half of the circle creating additional seating for larger classes as well as creating tiered amphitheatre style seating for events like class plays and class photos. The walls of the outer tiers descend in the opposite direction to the inner walls creating flowing sculptural shapes.

Building the courtyard classroom

Built during the spring of 2015 almost every weather condition imaginable was experienced. Fortunately one of the many benefits of building walls dry (free of any mortar) is that you can still work even when it's raining. 

 One major challenge in this project was the fact that it is a internal courtyard in the school, meaning that everything coming in and out had to be transported by wheelbarrow through the school corridors.

An estimated 60 ton of material had to be wheelbarrowed into the courtyard through the school. About half of this was the limestone used for the walls.  The walls were built with the help of Ken Curran, a fellow dry stone waller from Co. Tipperary. 

Another challenge was building the walls themselves due to their shape. Putting a 'batter' (tapering the wall in) on a curved wall is a challenge in itself, but this project had the added dimension in that the wall was also tapering down from a height of 1.2meters down to 0.5 meters. As a result of this the foundation of the wall gets narrower as it goes along. 

The dry stone walls of this project are limestone and come from Mike Kelly's quarry near Knockcrockery in County Roscommon. All the stone was handpicked and bagged at the quarry. Most of the rounded cope stones were shaped in the quarry to reduce the amount of waste material being shipped to the school. Approximately 32 tons of stone was used in the construction of the walls.     

'Leamhcán' A river runs through it.

 The river Liffey plays a vital role to the creation of the Lucan village as many of its early settlers would have arrived here travelling up the river. In the Irish language, 'leamhcán' means 'place of the elm trees'.

The name probably comes from people that travelled by river, as Lucan is the first place that elm trees are encountered if travelling inland from the Liffey.

The paths that lead up from the double doors at either end of the courtyard are inspired by this, made up of leaf shaped patterns that are laid in a flowing pattern to give the effect of elm leaves flowing down the river Liffey. 

This pattern flows from either end of the courtyard, swirling around in the centre of the circle where the two streams meet. The leaves that make up the floor of the classroom are a combination of mosaics made by the students and hand cut leaf shaped stone engravings.  

The brief required that the children were to be involved in some aspect of the work. This provided a wonderful opportunity for the students to have their own stamp on the classroom.   

The leaves that make up the floor of the classroom are a combination of mosaics made by the students and hand cut leaf shaped stone engravings. All 414 students in the school got to make their very own leaf tile. 

The inclusion of a number of large metal flowers by Irish artist Jack Harte bring additional colour and interest into the space throughout the year.

The beautifully crafted curved timber seats were made by West Cork master carpenter Noel Burke  

Click on the video below to see the making of the project from start to finish.

It was wonderful to get to build another outdoor classroom project for students to enjoy. You can see some of the other public projects I have worked on in the "Commissions" section of my website here