La Ricarda

I love this landscape and the insights it embodies...

Probably not yet known out of the architectural context, La Ricarda is open for reserved groups. Luckily, I have been there for once with friends under a privileged invitation. And our route was exactly the same as shown in the following video:

Airplanes were taking off and landing next to you... It was on Oct. 1, 2011. Unfortunately, I lost all my photos of that day. You may read instead an illustrated dairy with texts in English and Spanish, as well as another report written in Catalan.

To me, the most attractive design is inside (at the same time outside). There is a "dark" corridor with colorful but modest crystal cubes. Apart, what impressed me most were the furniture in the dining room: White chairs have their backs in a form that recall of lecterns in an orchestra (see here at p.12). 

We also climbed up to the roof by a wooden ladder, which was a challenge for me and many others because it looked so tall but was simply laid against the wall. I remember nobody dare get down facing the ground and how we were warning people downstairs to hold it firmly until we were completely off.

Curiously I already knew this area before. Apart from "El Prat" which is the airport I use most often, I also practiced inline skating around it (blue lines in the map), as there is a quiet fitness track for both runners and cyclists; Later, another walking way was built to connect the two terminals. While wandering in the beautiful nature, you can feel how airplanes' shadow invades into your existence. In most of the occasions, the coast-side runway is used for taking-off, and the inner one, for landing. The choice also depends on the wind direction of the day.

Yeah, for me it is interesting to find in a brand catalog such a vase with the dry flowers that I have been seeing from time to time, or an actress in new looks, a TV spot made at a venue I can recognize...

Like Barça's motto which claims "més que un club", we shall say La Ricarda was "more than a house". Besides its stylistic value in architecture and interior design, and besides family memories of who grew up there, it served as a refugee for intellectuals (details in Spanish and French) during Francoist Spain. A documentary has been finished this year for this purpose. Below you can watch the trailer subtitled in English (version in Spanish available here):

Recently, IconicHouses.Org has held its third congress in Barcelona, during which a call was sent about saving this fine work of Antonio Bonet:
Icon at Risk: La Ricarda (English) (Report in Spanish here).

Most of you might know many buildings of Art Nouveau in Barcelona, like the famous Casa Batlló, or the less known Palau Güell, but I think it necessary to draw certain attention also to this jewel of Rationalism: Casa Gomis-Bertrand "La Ricarda", with which I have been in touch quite often but somehow ignored till now. And more, I am personally in great debt to one of its holders and thus, connected to a piece of treasure that witnessed the house's guests of another time.

(All the images, except the map, are from third parties which I have found by Google. Thank you all!)

Montmartre's Boulanger

Though later I've found the title should be "Boulanger's Montmartre" instead.

在纪录片Mademoiselle（subtitles）接近尾声的地方，访问者请布朗热给作曲家划分等级，她直接无视；于是访问者又举了一个例子坚持问道：比方说这个人比贝多芬如何呢？她回之以白眼：你扯啊，拿蒙马特高地去比喜马拉雅山……当初看第一遍时对这段印象很深，也觉得那问题太欠，以至于后面她如何絮叨对贝多芬的爱我都充耳不闻了，但“蒙马特”三个字却一直牢记在心。那时完全不知道，她随口说出这个地名，其实因为那正是她眼前最现成的例子。

2014.11.04 Clicky广场

2014.04.11 红磨坊

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我对纳迪亚·布朗热最早的印象，大概是来自于她给肯普夫的一封信。当时只隐约觉得此人耳熟，应该很有名望，但具体干什么的也没去细究。

第二次明确看到布朗热字样，是在莱昂斯卡娅一篇访谈里，她被问到对64年ENESCO大赛评委诸如鲁宾斯坦和布朗热有何印象，她说，布朗热没和选手们说话，不甚了解，但鲁宾斯坦超级风趣，会9门语言，到处BLABLA……那个时候我已经知道布朗热在巴黎或者说20世纪音乐界的位置，也知道如Dinu Lipatti、Idil Biret还有我一心向往的Samson François等人都曾跟她学过和声。

（来自网络）坐着看镜头的女孩儿应为Idil Biret

不过，当我最终看到她的照片时，竟然吃了一惊——她简直就像是和Chus Lampreave一个模子刻出来的——上世纪网络不发达，学西语的时候很大程度上依赖阿莫多瓦的电影，其中常见到一位典型、自然而犀利的超无痕大配角Chus奶奶，所以看到纳吉亚·布朗热的样子，感到似曾相识的亲切。

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虽然我后知后觉，但（所以）到后来，就也逐渐知道了……比如她的天才妹妹莉莉·布朗热……比如她们安葬在哪里……

2014.04.11

第一次去蒙马特公墓的时候，就被那丛洁净而眩目的生机所感染。墓如其人——在欧洲看过一些墓地，但凡不是旅游/政治原因变身景点的（如肖邦墓）或年久失修残破不全的，其他的墓大多很能反应墓主人的格调……炫富的、文艺的、呆板的、威严的、甚至卖萌的，逝者本人或其亲友的选择，其实也就定义了这家/个人。

纳迪亚·布朗热生前也一定常来给父母和妹妹扫墓，不知在她的心中家族墓地应该保持什么样子……在我看来，无名人士种下的这株郁郁葱葱的常绿植物，映衬素朴的白色，跟她留给人们的高洁气质非常相合。而待秋天再去，看到又多了一簇花种在泥土里，另有一朵小雏菊：

2014.11.04

我把头天大风大雨刮落的行道树枯叶从花叶丛里拣出来，整理时碰到了一只羞涩的小蜗牛，或许是先前在叶子上躲雨的……

但布朗热的蒙马特远不止于这片被道路桥穿过的著名公墓——在距离墓地步行5分钟的一栋房子里，有她这一生主要的生活和教学场所。

说来惭愧——第一次游巴黎时就路过了（当时在一夜大雪后的冰冻路面上艰难地去往浪漫主义生活馆），但直到四次之后，才了解到这里还有个莉莉·布朗热广场——她们的故居所在地，布朗热姐妹在此从1904年住到各自离世：

跟欧洲很多“广场”一样，其实就是个路口，另外三面分别有一个二星小旅社、一间香槟红酒铺以及一家咖啡馆，除了咖啡馆所在的楼面，其他三处都挂有广场路牌。Ballu街36号临街左侧一排单独隔了出去，是美发屋；进入正门，剩下右侧貌似门房的一间，锁着，但上面贴的一张纸显示（至少目前）此楼叫作“纳吉亚和莉莉·布朗热楼”（Immueble Nadia et Lili Boulanger），下面列有左右单元各层住户姓名。

2014.11.04

从台阶的踩踏程度可见这里（曾经）的人流量，而现在都用电子门禁，所以这门房的功能应该也废了，大概除了信箱。不敢久留……可能由于内部好几面窗上都是镜子，本来就心虚的我，恍惚间忘了先去按开门铃，直接在门把上折腾了一通，差点以为自己要出不去……

回到街上，再从门房的窗子里向里探，却什么都望不到了。沿着这条Vintimelle街走两步，会路过一个叫A. Max的街心广场，人物雕像旁建有儿童游乐区……继续向前，横过Boulevard de Clichy（不往地铁站的大路上走），就会直接来到蒙马特公墓入口所在的那条小街上——我猜测着，纳吉亚在她大半生的时光里一次次地去看妹妹，是否也如此穿走其间……

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补：

1。本没准备单独唠叨这个，但上周从巴黎回国，到家收到马慧元的书，正好看到其中一篇是《闲话布朗热》，于是决定且记一笔。

2。这两次因她（们）去蒙马特的日子恰好是411和114，给图片加注时才发现。

大头是米，米是大头

大 头 大 头

下 雨 不 愁

人 家 有 伞

米 有 大 头

Cabezota, cabezota

No me preocupa que llueva

Los otros tienen paraguas

Y yo, mi cabezota!



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