Tag: Spain

Google celebrates the letter 'ñ'

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Today’s Doodle artwork, illustrated by Barcelona-based guest artist Min, commemorates the consonant Ñ (pronounced “enye”). The only letter in the Spanish alphabet that originated in Spain, the Ñ is not only a letter but a representation of Hispanic heritage and identity as well.   

The Ñ’s story started with 12th-century Spanish scribes. While hand-copying Latin manuscripts, these scholars of the Middle Ages devised a plan to save time and parchment by shortening words with double letters. They combined the two figures into one and scrawled on top a tiny “n”—a symbol now known as a ”virgulilla” or tilde—to signify the change. Thus, “annus,” Latin for “year,” evolved into the Spanish “año.” 

Panther milk

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panther milk

This Spanish delicacy (leche de pantera) originated from the Spanish Foreign Legion in the 1920s. Soldiers mixed any alcohol they had with condensed milk as a substitute for medicinal pain relief and then it became a fashionable drink in the 70s.

Ingredients

  • 5ml of grenadine (optional, for colour)
  • 35ml of rum or brandy
  • 35ml of gin
  • 35ml of condensed milk
  • 100ml of whole milk

Recipe

  1. Put everything in a cocktail shaker
  2. Shake (don’t stir) with ice
  3. Strain into a glass
  4. Lightly dust with cinnamon
  5. Transform into a panther
  6. Step 5 was a joke
  7. But seriously, drink responsibly

You can also buy your own Panther Milk.

Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion (Documentary)

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The Barcelona Pavilion was originally designed for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe but was demolished after the exposition ended.

Mies had a series of photographs taken of the building beforehand and thanks to these images, a group of Catalan architects were able to reconstruct it between 1983 and 1986.

This documentary details every innovate aspect of the pavilion, with quotes from Mies himself. Every element of the building had a purpose without the coldness of others of the era.

Innovation was the underlying theme, with opulence from the materials used (red onyx, marble and travertine.) As a lover of both Mies and the construct, I found it fascinating and learnt a lot from it.

Anyone with even a passing interest in architecture, design, or the modernist period will enjoy this documentary.

SeMies related: Another Mies documentary and Paul R. Williams: the Black architect of public buildings and celebrity homes

[36] German Pavilion | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Happy 30th, Barcelona Pavilion

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The gorgeous modernist structure with its refined glass and marble stoa was merely created for the exhibition as a temporary building and was taken down within a year.

Its architect, the revered Mies van der Rohe left no blueprint. Work began on rebuilding the Pavilion in 1983 with the photographs and drawings that remained. It took three years complete and now it celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Barcelona Pavilion
Image courtesy of https://miesbcn.com/the-pavilion/
Image courtesy of https://miesbcn.com/the-pavilion/
Image courtesy of https://miesbcn.com/the-pavilion/
Image courtesy of https://miesbcn.com/the-pavilion/
Image courtesy of https://miesbcn.com/the-pavilion/
barcelona-pavilion-2
Image courtesy of https://www.archdaily.com/109135/ad-classics-barcelona-pavilion-mies-van-der-rohe