Sunday, February 17, 2013

Clean Lines

Well I've been working these past two weeks. I'm immensely glad for this, but it means Lost Highway is being neglected more than it should be. Progress is slow, especially since it has to share time with all my other little projects I've got going (such as the romantic comedy sequel to Diplomacy).

In the meantime, let's talk about modernism: the Barcelona Pavilion to be specific.


Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the Pavilion was built in 1929 for the International Exhibition in Barcelona Spain. It was an immediate sensation; the open, flowing use of space combined with the extravagant building materials made the Pavilion one of the most popular sights during the Exhibition.


It was intended to be a tranquil place for tired visitors. There, they could rest a while before going back to the Exhibition. As such, it had no exhibits of it's own, simply being a minimalist sculpture garden, bluring the distinction between outside and inside, exemplifying the maxim "Less is More".


The use of load-bearing walls was kept to a minimum, in order to create the impression that the ceiling was floating on air. Everything else was either glass, marble or red onyx. What few walls there were encouraged visitors to thoroughly explore the Pavilion's space and the wide glass windows made it feel all the more open and visible.


As you can probably guess, the simple geometric design of the Pavilion makes it very easy to recreate in Source, something I'm hoping to show off in Lost Highway or some later, as of yet unknown map.