After much debate and rethinking, I’e decided to do my website as an online gallery of the modernist architecture in the city of Barcelona. I had originally considered rethinking historical websites on specific sites, such as the market there, but instead decided in terms of design flexibility and finding a more specific historical audience, it would make more sense to undertake something with a slightly broader focus. Rather than one specific site, that would have a very limited amount of viewers, this may appeal to art history students at all levels, to architects and architecture enhusiasts, and to anyone with an interest, either academic or touristic, in the modernist buildings of Barcelona. There are sites that are devoted to this, but most are primarily focused on tourism to these sites, and do not provide comprehensive history about the buildings themselves, and often ver little information about the architects, or the history of Modernista architecture as a whole.
The main concerns that I am having in terms of design reside in the look of the site itself: I am having quite time wrestling with how I want the site to look: is it cheesy to try to emulate at all the artistic sensibility of modernism in the site’s design? Would it be better and more clear and cohesive to let the design of the buildings speak for itself with minimal interference with the surrounding design? In terms of readability and making the site look clean, I am leaning more in this direction. Then I am battling with the font: should I try to use a modernist font at all in the site, or replace that with a graphic or something to get at the point and use a more modern font instead. Again, the direction I am leaning. I want the site to be artistic and creative, but at the same time, when dealing with a type of architecture that is so intensely decorative and flourished (as well as colorful) I am thinking that it might be beneficial to keep it streamlined.
As for what I would like the site to achieve, I want it to be an online gallery of various buildings and decorative aspects of the modernist architecture of Barcelona. It is plentiful to say the least, with at least 115 different buildings that would commonly be referred to in this manner. That is surely a conservative count. Some are UNESCO sites, as is the case with the Palau de la Musica Catalana. Many of the buildings have interesting histories, and I would like to make that available alongside the images of the architectue. I would also like to provide the locations of the buildings for anyone interesyed in a potential visit to them, as well as biographies of the architects, and the history of the movement in a global context. I would also like to make available some resources for further research on the movement and the buildings. That way if there is anything else in terms of research tools that someone might need, there would be links.
October 20, 2008 at 2:45 pm
To answer your question: First of all, I do not think it is, as you say, “cheesy to emulate artistic sensibility of modernism” in your website design. On the contrary, I believe it is important to integrate some architectural cues via graphics, fonts, or icons that reinforce the modern theme. However, at the same time I believe it is also important to strike a “balance” between artistic design and clear, cohesive information on modern architecture in Barcelona, Spain. In otherwords, I recommend that you combine some artistic elements in a way that does not interfere with the beauty of the architecture.
Questions for you: For my clarification, of the 115 (plus more) different buildings represented in Barcelona, my question is do you plan to include all of these buildings along with biographies, historical narratives, links, etc. including photographs for each? If so, that’s a lot of information…you will need assistance in your research, so don’t forget to include additional funds for assistance in your grant request. Also, do you plan on breaking up the material into certain time periods since there are so many buildings, and make it more digestible to your audience? What will you say on your website or do in practical terms to target your audience…it would be helpful to clear about your audience.
I think you have a great idea, and I look forward to getting together in our group to discuss this all face-to-face!
October 20, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I think you’re asking all the right questions, or at least your questions are sounding similar to mine, so if nothing else you’re in good company
I think how you want to make your site appear is entirely up to you (I guess that doesn’t really help, but seriously!) I don’t think it would be cheese to emulate a modernist design in your site at all because I think that would really drive home to the viewer what kind of site they are viewing. Of course you can equally argue that you just want each image to speak for themselves and not interfere with too much design (I’m thinking in particular about several weeks ago in class when we looked at the National Gallery of Art site where the background was plain white, which made the images really stand out)
I will be interested to see what you decide and I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone to hopefully help with not just my ideas, but also those of the group.
October 27, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I’m always sort of suspicious of letting something “speak for itself”, especially if there is a narrative, no matter how minimal, that’s being conveyed. I like the idea of selecting fonts and so on that both mediate and help bind a site together. I have stumbled across sites that are both minimalist yet very consistent in message and flow. If you do go with some specialized font be sure and test it on several different browsers and platforms (Windows and Apple). I have seen some very nice modernist fonts look quite nice on one platform but look pretty hideous on another.
I like the idea of providing building locations. Would there be some connection to a mapping utility such as that provided by Google? I know that may sound a bit “touristy” but for visual people like me having a map provides important context for the building. Just a thought….