The massive structure that looms in the background of my sangria shot from yesterday attracted a lot of comment, so I thought I’d show you what it really looks like.
It is in fact a golden fish (Peix d’Or); a 50+ metre long and 35 metre tall, monumental, metallic fish.
This Barcelona icon was designed by the Canadian architect Frank Gehry for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. It is located in the Olympic Village area, between two 154 metre tall towers, the Torre Mapfre and the Hotel Arts.
The fish is constructed from intertwined gilded stainless steel strips, mounted on a metal lattice frame. The sensuous, flowing shape catches the Mediterranean sun perfectly, meaning the sculpture stands out wherever you are in the seafront area.
I’ll end with some words from Gehry himself, who developed a bit of a thing for fish:
“It was by accident that I got into the fish image. My colleagues were starting to replay Greek temples. Y’know in the post-modern thing, I don’t know, when was that… the 80s. That was hot, everybody was re-doing the past. I said, y’know, Greek temples are anthropomorphic. And three hundred million years before man was fish. If you wanna, if you gotta go back, if you’re insecure about going forward, dammit, go back three hundred million years. Why are you stopping at the Greeks? So I started drawing fish in my sketchbook. and then I started to realize that there was something in it.”
Linked to Photo Gallery and Friday Postcard.
Copyright Debbie Smyth, 10 June 2015
Travel with Intent 
Super !
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Great quote from Gehry! I took a few fun shots of this in Barca too but none of them made it into print. Goodness knows what’s still lurking in my folders (and yours!) I love the structure so thanks for the history. 🙂
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It’s quite hard to capture. While researching I found some good shots from above. Maybe I need to stay in the Arts next time!
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Wow that is interesting. #thegallery
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Wow, what an amazing building. Fantastic pictures.
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Wow that’s an interesting structure/sculpture. My Mum and Stepdad just came back from Barcelona a couple of weeks ago and absolutely loved it #TheGallery
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Well, we learn something every day!
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We visited Barcelona last year – in fact I almost used a photo of there for this week too! Amazing city. x
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What a coincidence.
Always a good choice for an architecture related topic
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I’ll have to revisit Barcelona. Thank you for showing us this sculpture, Debbie. Great captures!
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Great images and quote: Barcelona is becoming an increasingly attractive destination.
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