Field Study to the Ship Yards

The other day we went to visit the old Barcelona ship yards. Due to Barcelona's location directly on the Medditerranean, it is a very important economic center, and has been since it was inhabited. On our way to the to the guilds we walked passed the museum of contemporary art, known as the MACBA, in the El Raval district of Barcelona.

 This area of town was once a very bad area. It was riddled with drug dealers, and plenty of illegal activity. Now however, it is a place for children to skate, meet their friends, and start a night out. It is more family oriented and is no longer a place to fear. The major cause of this change was the museum. If money is being put into a location, and there are activities for everyday people to participate in, the area would slowly get rid of its dark side, and it will turn around. That is exactly what happened, to this area, and it is now a safe and fun place for young local kids.

Another part of town that is trying to be revitalized is the Rambla de Raval. It was over taken by a large Pakistani immigration population and turned into a place that no locals, or tourists wanted to go. The construction of a large hotel complex was one way to bring in tourists to the location. It is a long strip that is constantly being maintained and working towards making it a great place for locals and tourists. This is culturally important, much like the construction of the museum, as noted above, because it is cleaning of the dangerous parts of the city and making it a better place to be.

We then made our way over to the Library which is also an important cultural hot spot for Catalunya. It is a place for people to enjoy the courtyard (pictured below) and is home to the largest collection of Catalan literature.

Entrance to the Library courtyard

The last stop on the field study was the old ship yards (pictured below). The center of all commerce and the major port of Barcelona was the ship yards. Here is where the ships were built and put into the sea for importing, exporting and transporting. The location near the water allowed business in Barcelona to flourish and thrive, but it all had to started with the construction of the ships and submarines. This has a large impact on the Barcelona today. Although the ship yards are no longer being used, and the major Barcelona port has moved, it all began here and it helped build up the city of Barcelona by establishing an economic center and bring money and commerce into the city.

Ship Yard