THERE IS BEAUTY IN THE CITY

there is beauty in the city - the conversation - #19

2012-01-18T11:56:00.000Z

In response to Igor...

The growth of a city is often inextricably linked to the efforts and presence of one or two notable figures. Post-industrial cities can often be dominated by the ghosts of the same figures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Wedgwood

there is beauty in the city - the conversation - #18

2012-01-14T10:06:00.002Z

a quick reply from igor brings into question our cities' heroes...

Plaques, monuments, statues, street names ... the cities are full of signs and landmarks that celebrate, commemorate or highlight people and events that are assumed to have played an important role in the development of today’s city.

But those urban marks go back to past times and tell us stories which, as history itself, should be revisited and reinterpreted every now and then, as the official history not always tell us the truth.

Rafael Sánchez Mazas was a founding member and leader of the *Falange and Minister during the Franco regime. Today, there is no reason why such a significant character of the Franco dictatorship should give name to a walk in Bilbao.

*A fascist political movement and party

there is beauty in the city - the conversation - #17

2012-01-04T14:10:00.000Z

in reply to igor...

urban markings create memorials to human presence and events. cities are, in some part, a product of these presences and occurences which combine to create narratives that make each city unique.

pc john taylor was pushed from a building while attempting to apprehend a burglar.

there is beauty in the city - the conversation - #16

2011-12-18T12:57:00.001Z

Igor replies...

Nobody discuss the need for urban renewal of cities (much more arguable and controversial, I agree, is how to do it), but even greater is the need of its inhabitants to keep the memory of their tracks through those urban microcosms; even though, as this is the case, an attempt of showing evidence of our passage through life or just where we were once.

Festive Greetings from Beauty in the City

2011-12-18T12:50:00.002Z

there is beauty in the city season's greet ings 2011 from glen stoker on Vimeo.

Festive Greetings from There is Beauty in the City - we are celebrating by being box number 18 in the AirSpace Gallery AirVent Calendar window project. Have a look at all of the entries here, and choose your favourite in the vote. Each day a different artist has created their take on the Festive Season, and Beauty in the City has selected the most 'christmassy' of the entries we have had so far. So Festive Greetings to all of our followers and collaborators, and here's to a Beautiful 2012!

there is beauty went to plymouth and saw...

2011-11-29T00:16:00.000Z

the sea

some cows

and surprise surprise

some art.

well it was the british art show

amongst plenty on offer we saw keith wilson's zone 1

and the amazing, highly acclaimed The Clock , Christian Marclay's 24 hour montage of clips from several thousand films showing scenes featuring clocks and watches, or situations indicating a particular time of day.

There's still a week of the British Art Show left, and it's well worth making the effort to get to England's western-most city.

Plymouth is one of those cities - a bit like a land that time forgot - a real sense of a bygone importance replaced with a note of ennui. It definitely has a charm though, a melancholy charm, in the way that seaside towns and cities do. oh and a great 1950's utopian outdoor shopping centre.

there is beauty in the city - the conversation - #15

2011-11-27T10:45:00.000Z

in reply to Igor Calvi's last post...

Where We Used To Live (2011)

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #14

2011-11-02T12:24:00.003Z

Urban Still Life III

Igor writes...

In increasingly populated cities, to the point that by 2050 “the cities will absorb all the world population growth”*, is interesting to find out how we can still find isolated and “uninhabited” urban spaces in which the human presence can only be sensed and not seen; sometimes in a poetic way, much more prosaic in others, one just have to follow the trace…

In any case, will the cities of the future be able to put up with the waste generated by their increasingly population?

*Mike Davis, “Planet of slums”, 2006

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #13

2011-10-22T21:12:00.003+01:00

glen stoker:

I walk past this window a few times a week and always feel compelled to peer inside. The dishevelled room, is a workmen's rest room and is inhabited by a fridge, a microwave oven, a heater and a couple of chairs.

And a table.

I've never seen anybody in the room. But I know there's a human presence because the table always has something on it. Usually it's a folded tabloid newspaper. Today it was a carrier bag, full of tomatoes.

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #12

2011-10-01T14:23:00.002+01:00

igor calvo:

During our conversation, we have “talked” more than once about the "protected" spaces that cities devote to the vehicles that drive along them everyday, either when they fulfill their primary function (as car “nurseries”), or even on such occasions when they are used for another purpose (as in the case of car boot sales); however, little mention have we made of its main protagonists: the cars which, at least in Bilbao, nearly match the number of its inhabitants, with the problems that it brings to the circulation in the city.

There are times even, as in this street in the center of Bilbao, in which, depending on how we place ourselves, we can hardly see a human presence among so many cars if not reflected in the car glasses.

bahar mhamad - hawraman, kurdistan

2011-10-01T14:12:00.005+01:00

Thanks to Bahar for these evocotive images taken in Hawraman

mud art
mud art which made with earth and water , the earth should be pure and clean of anything , by putting water on the earth you should make it wet first .
when its get wet start to mix it properly till the earth getting soft , massage it for 10 minute till change all earth to mud .
leave it for 30 minute then give it massage again for 5 minute after that its ready to use you can make any tips of work as you want especially in art design .
its also used for mud oven till now in iraqi kurdistan .

flour machine
this machine is used for grinding of grain in iraqi kurdistan as a classic life till seventieth , how ever its not in use any more because modern machine in use instead
its created with two circler special stone which is hare to break and two pieces of wood ,the bottom one called male because it has a wood which is located on the focus of it .
the second one called female because it has a harrow , the harrow is in the middle .
the male wood is smaller than the harrow female stone the reason of that is :the male wood should get in the female harrow before use .
the male is motionless, but the female is rotter its also has a piece of wood its used as a peddle .
how it makes flour ?
full the machine of grains
by putting the grains in to the harrow machine on the top , then start the machine by peddle wood to orbiting the male stone .
when you orbiting the male stone the grains going down among them and finally the flour comes out in the middle of machine .

wall stone
the wall stone is one of must beautiful and hard Kurdish design which was made by them , its belong to hundred of years ago
its made with stone and mud , the stones are corrected and decorated by hummer before the use also the mud was made hard and strongly by mixing with a little of grass , the reason of that because the grass defending of mud , its make the mud to stay between the stones even if the mud gets wet by rain especially in winter.
Because that part of Kurdistan which is located on the mountains which is called Hawraman is the coldest part in Kurdistan people still using this tips of wall by using cement instead the mud .

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #11

2011-09-09T10:47:00.001+01:00

Number 11...

For six days a week, this space comprises one of the city centre's 20+ car parks. Empty spaces designed to make money for the council at the expense of those wishing to use the city centre. The over-provision of car parks in relation to the amount of people who wish to use them means that many of these spaces remain largely empty. Empty spaces consisting of a series of marked, car-size empty spaces.

Every sunday, the council allows this car park to be used as the location for the Stoke-on-Trent City Centre Car Boot Sale. For £8.00 you can hire a space to park your car and sell possessions from the boot. The space is transformed into a bustling hubbub, as throngs of the city residents descend to grab a bargain, or to recycle the unwanted parts of others' lives.

august's beauty in the city visit - birmingham

2011-09-06T15:33:00.002+01:00

Following recent postings on the idea of a country's second city, what criteria it comprises and why certain cities have struggled to fulfil the role, i headed to Birmingham to spend the day, not only spreading the word about the project, but focussing on its potential as the U.K.'s second city.

previous polls have deemed Manchester to hold this status despite Birmingham having more than double the amount of people. It is often suggested that a city's cultural state is the most important factor in acquiring the second city tag, something that Manchester, with its music and art scenes as well as its two top football teams has claimed for years.

I identified several art spaces in Birmingham ( the Museum and Art Gallery, the Ikon, the R.S.B.A, Eastside Projects, Grand Union, Vivid and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts )and set out to visit them all certain that Birmingham couldn't be the cultural wasteland it is often portrayed.

in the event, I struggled. I had no directions, nor smartphone and so I had to rely on a combination of the city's signage and the olden days method of asking people!

the centre of Birmingham is full of blue civic signs for pedestrians. at any one time there are 3 or 4 in your eyeline. i tried to find some of my art space destinations via these signs but there was no mention of any of them. it struck me, however, that the contents of these signs gave a real insight into what the civic authority deem to be the most important components of the city. So I set myself an hour, of noting down the contents of each sign i came across.

In the event, I noted the contents of 35 pedestrian signs and found that the most signed destination was for shopping with 51references- mainly under the description of "central shopping area" but also the bullring shopping centre and central market areas. The second most popular was the city's transport hubs, particularly its three stations, referred to 43 times. I did find my way to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery thanks to the 7 signs directing to it.


showing the 15 most popular pedestrian destinations in Birmingham City Centre

The poll i had carried out before my trip, asking which factor was most important in the determination of a second city had failed to offer shopping as an option, yet it was quickly clear to me that not only did the city's signage deem it to be most important, but so did its people.

In the process of asking directions to the six art spaces i'd yet to discover, i also took the opportunity to find out where the city's beautiful spots were. The result was that i failed to get to the Ikon, the RBSA as nobody I asked had heard of them. The Barber Institute was too far out to walk.

However, I was given directions to Digbeth, just a 10 minute walk from the centre and told that the area was becoming the city's de facto "cultural quarter". I found Eastside, Vivid and Grand Union within 2 minutes walk of each other, though the latter two were obviously between exhibitions and were closed.

I was also told about a wall made out of cars and was told by one respondant that this would be his choice for his favourite sight in birmingham. The wall fronts a car park, on the same road as Eastside Projects and claimed the day's title of there is beauty in the city.

lynn friedman - san francisco, usa

2011-09-03T10:39:00.002+01:00

here is my brand new Public Bike. It's sitting in my living room next to the window so I can

admire it whenever I want. It's so beautiful. And it's helping me be more beautiful and appreciate more beauty. I'm riding through golden gate park, getting exercise, meeting people, photographing things you wouldn't see driving by. I feel free and youthful.

there is beauty in the city : city visit to birmingham

2011-08-30T19:06:00.000+01:00

During the post made to announce last month's Manchester visit, i made reference to the idea of the England's second city and posited that in many peoples eyes, and particularly in cultural terms, Manchester is the holder of that title over its more populous rival Birmingham.

In population terms, the figures speak for themselves - 2006 estimates put the population of;
Birmingham at 1,006,500 within the broader West Midlands conurbation totalling 2,284,093 and
Manchester at 452,000 within Greater Manchester which totalled 2,240,230.

But for the debate as to which claims the second city status to have raged for so long means that factors other than population obviously come into play - including geography, economic contribution, educational establishments, "knowledge and transport infrastructure" and, most contentiously, cultural. It is this "cultural" area which often leads to Manchester's elevation to the second city status, but with no real hard facts underlying it. It has almost become an accepted truth that Birmingham is a cultural wasteland and Manchester is a Western Bohemia. Whilst it maybe fair to say that behind every generalisation lies a modicum of fact the truth is rarely so polarised.

And so it with this in mind that we here at There is Beauty in the City will head to Birmingham and take a walk around its cultural beacons, in search of England's undoubted second most populous city's beauty. In the meantime...some Birmingham facts -

It's council motto is Global City Local Heart
There are over 8,000 acres (3,237 ha) of parkland open spaces in Birmingham. In fact Birmingham has more trees than Paris, more miles of canals than Venice and more parks than any other European City.
Birmingham is the UK’s largest manufacturing and engineering centre and accounts for 25% of the country’s exports.
Birmingham is the home of the Balti curry.
Britains first ever 4 wheel petrol driven car was made in Birmingham by Frederick Lanchester in 1895
Major John Hall Edwards took the first x-ray photo in Birmingham in 1896
Birmingham has six twin cities

Chicago, Illinois, United States
Frankfurt am Main, Germany^[187]
Johannesburg, South Africa
Leipzig, Germany^[188]
Lyon, France^[189]
Milan, Italy

and finally, the following, all creatives, all hail from Birmingham

Albert Austin – (Silent film star)
Pato Banton – (Reggae artist)
Blaze Bayley – (Musician - former vocalist of Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden)
Sir Michael Balcon – (Film director)
Alfred Bird – (Inventor of custard powder)
Justin Broadrick – (Musician - Godflesh)
Geezer Butler – bassist of (Black Sabbath)
Pogus Caesar – (TV Director and Photographer)
John Cadbury – (Founder of the Cadbury chocolate company)
Ali Campbell and Robin Campbell – (Musician, UB40)
Barbara Cartland – (Novelist)
Jasper Carrott – (Comedian)
Lisa Clayton – (Solo yachtswoman)
David Cox – (Artist)
Cat Deeley – (Television presenter)
Oscar Deutsch – (Founder of the Odeon Cinemas chain)
Hunt Emerson – (Cartoonist)
Mick St Clair – (Pinjabi DJ/Producer)
Ian Emes – (animator)
Frederick Roland Emett – (Cartoonist, artist and kinetic sculptor)
Niki Evans – (Singer)
Trevor Eve – (Actor)
Sid Field – (Comedian)
Sir Francis Galton – (Scientist, founder of eugenics)
Roland Gift – (Actor and musician - Fine Young Cannibals)
Mark "Barney" Greenway –(Musician - Napalm Death)
Rob Halford – (Musician - Judas Priest)
Charlie Hall – (Actor - most famous for his work with Laurel and Hardy)
John Hampson – (novelist)
Tony Hancock – (Comedian and actor)
Mr Hudson – (singer)
Raymond Huntley – (Actor)
Tony Iommi – guitarist of (Black Sabbath)
Jamelia – (R&B singer))
Edward Burne-Jones – (Pre-Raphaelite painter)
Albert William Ketèlbey – (Composer)
Denny Laine – (Paul McCartney and Wings)
Jeff Lynne – (Musician; co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra)
Eric Maschwitz – (lyricist)
Nick Mason – (Musician - Pink Floyd; did not reside in Birmingham)
Zena McNally – (Singer - Mis-Teeq)
Shazia Mirza – (Comedian)
Henry Vollam Morton – (Journalist and travel writer)
Constance Naden – (Poet & Philosopher)
Ozzy Osbourne – singer of (Black Sabbath)
Carl Palmer – (Musician - Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
John Poole – (Sculptor)
Enoch Powell – (Politician, poet and classical scholar)
Michael Pinder – (Musician - The Moody Blues)
Nick Rhodes – (Musician - Duran Duran)
Pat Roach – (Actor and wrestler)
Sax Rohmer – (Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward) – (novelist)
Martin Shaw – (actor)
Sukshinder Shinda – (English born Punjabi music producer and artist)
John Taylor – (Musician - Duran Duran)
Roger Taylor – (Musician - Duran Duran)
Bill Ward – drummer of (Black Sabbath)
Willard Wigan – (Sculptor)
Toyah Willcox – (Singer, actress and television presenter)
Steve Winwood – (Musician—solo artist and co-founder, Traffic)
Chris Wood – (Musician; co-founder, Traffic)
Roy Wood – (Musician - co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra)

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #10

2011-08-25T12:32:00.001+01:00

this is the tenth installment in the ongoing cross-city conversation between there is beauty's glen stoker and bilbao photographer igor calvo of ph'a'ke.

#10 - a reply from igor...

In conversation # 9, Glen reflected on the failure of many urban policies and the stubbornness of local governments and authorities to tell people where it may or may not walk, move, go…and he was absolutely right.

Not so long ago, the council inaugurated a new plaza/square “in the middle of a roundabout" in the center of Bilbao. Being the chosen site for the plaza/square already controversial (a place of relaxation surrounded by traffic), its design, with the benches looking at the road and the citizens who would seat in them breathing the bad fumes from the vehicles surround, seems like nonsense.

On the day of its “opening”, many were the citizens of Bilbao who came to show their disagreement with the design of the new plaza/square and, above all, to request the change of the benches location; so that, at least, they would look towards the centre of the plaza/square instead of facing the road. The city council shook its head with signs of disapproval, emphasizing how whimsical were their fellow citizens and, making a great exercise of kindness, moved "some" of the benches as citizens demanded.

Thus, Bilbao has gained a place that makes traffic to flow easier through the center of the city, but the council has wasted another chance to make the city more friendly for its citizens and pedestrians. All that, thanks to public money of course, on account of the same taxpayers who requested its modification.

there is beauty in the city - july visit to manchester

2011-08-01T14:28:00.001+01:00

Saturday's visit to the Burlington Fine Arts Club in Manchester, saw us looking to create a small map of Manchester beauty. We all have our own idea of what constitutes beauty and similarly the things we find attractive or noteworthy about cities is a very subjective idea too.

We chose the Burlington as our venue as they were holding their closing event, after a month of providing local creatives with a space to exhibit, establish networks, discuss ideas and an opportunity to engage in Manchester’s grass routes contemporary art scene, and this promised a good range of interested parties to engage with us.

We produced a basic questionnaire which asked 4 questions;

What is your favourite thing about cities?
What is your favourite thing about Manchester?
Where is the beauty in Manchester?
Please direct us, in words or with a map, to this beautiful place.

Once completed, the participant was then invited to place an umbrella ( a slightly cheeky nod to Manchester's famed inclement weather) in our specially produced city map. In return, they were offered a magnet pack. We're really looking forward to seeing the photographic responses.

A big thanks to everyone who took part on the day and engaged with us. we now have a much clearer idea of where to find beauty in Manchester. here's a selection of responses and some examples of creative direction giving...

Mr. Smith's dream

Thomas's Chop House

the old brewery building

there is beauty at the Burlington

2011-07-27T12:22:00.000+01:00

This month's beauty field trip sees Manchester in the spotlight.

The Burlington Fine Arts Club, a pop up social space running parallel with the events of the Manchester International Festival, aims to give local independent creatives a space to exhibit, to establish networks, discuss ideas and an opportunity to engage in Manchester’s grass routes contemporary art scene. Find out more here.

We'll be setting up a stand at the club on Saturday from 3pm and hoping to find a cultural map of the city's beauty.

sarah gee - jingdezhen, china

2011-07-21T15:55:00.001+01:00

Jingdezhen is ceramic paradise, where even lamp posts and rubbish bins are made of porcelain. Tradition is still very important: brightly glazed BIG urns abound, and rickshaws are used to transport unfired pieces from workshop to public kilns.

Jane Howie - Manchester, UK

2011-07-20T21:18:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Jane for these Mancunian images, taken whilst visiting Manchester International Festival.

there is beauty in the city:bilbao - draws to a close

2011-07-20T20:49:00.006+01:00

After an exhausting 6 months, the trans-national exercise in urban beauty intervention has come to an end. Ph'a'ke's Igor Calvo and Susana Martínez Ximénez have ensured that the Anna Francis' project which started here in Stoke-on-Trent as a small but beautiful part of the city's 2008 Axis Festival, will live long in the memories of the hundreds of Bilbaoans who contributed to or viewed the project or even stumbled across a placed magnet as the project took the city by storm this spring and summer.

Here, in Igor's words, is a summation of the project.

There is Beauty in the City:Bilbao has been a wonderful project, born of the collaboration between the on line art gallery PhotoArte Komite in Bilbao and There is Beauty in the City in the United Kingdom (thank you so much Glen and Anna); a project which has managed that nearly 200 people (including participants, collaborators and organizers) had been involved in this non to profit project to perform a relational experience, a journey through the beauty of the city that has led to the creation of a choral art work and, above all, of a very special map of the beauty of Bilbao, made up of 141 photographs of many other interventions, and 21 interviews collected in video.

More than 150 points of Bilbao which have been intervened by its citizens, reassessed to show the immense beauty the city hoarded; all this, only armed with a magnet and a camera. Thus, we have had the chance to discover many other faces of Bilbao, some less well known, others, sadly, in the process of disappearing and which, thanks to the citizens of Bilbao, will no longer be forgotten.

An art work of incalculable value, as the contributions of the participants in the project are priceless.

And also a big effort, the one made by the organization to carry out an exhibition that not only would reward the efforts of everyone participating in the project, but could be enjoyed by all the citizens of Bilbao and all the people who would come to Sala Rekalde, a great art gallery committed to contemporary art in the heart of the city. Thank you very much Alicia (managing director of Sala Rekalde).

The visits to the exhibition did nothing but increase the success of the project and its impact among the citizens of Bilbao. A huge success also due to the work of communication made by the department of culture of the city council of Bilbao, who contributed so much to disseminate the project.

But the trip of There is beauty in the city: Bilbao did not end after the exhibition at Sala Rekalde. Such was the interest generated by the project that the organization decided to extend the journey of There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao.

In this new adventure, we had the invaluable help of Ziortza Etxabe, from Eutokia, who involved in this project to ZAWP's Oihane Korres and Manu Gómez from hAcería. What is more, as a wonderful finale to the project, There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao will be exhibited at the Bilbao Museum of Art Reproductions until the next 17^th of july, in which it will share space with the Aphrodite of Milo amongst many other distinguished residents of so much beauty, thanks to the invaluable collaboration of Saioa Barrenetxea and Itziar Markija (the ones in charge of the Bilbao Museum of Artistic Reproductions).

The intention of those collaborations was to involve as many people and take the beauty map of Bilbao to many areas of the city as possible.

There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao has collected 140 interventions, in addition to 21 interviews, in which so many citizens of Bilbao have shown us those parts of the city where they have found beauty. There are many different views and notions of what is beautiful in the city, many areas of our city re-evaluated and re-valued thanks to Bilbao citizens. It was natural then, that the exhibition of the project will not remain just at a certain point of Bilbao and would leave the city center to take and spread the beauty to other areas away from the city centre, unfortunately, less favored by the urban development of Bilbao in recent decades.

Some of which have also been intervened by the citizens of Bilbao, who have wanted to show the beauty that is often found in those places that keep unnoticed or are less recognized by the human tide that floods along the city of Bilbao.

Therefore, There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao departed from Sala Rekalde, at the heart of the city, to reach Bolueta, Zorrozaurre and Bilbao la Vieja.

"After speaking several times with Photoarte Komite about the project of THERE IS BEAUTY IN THE CITY: BILBAO, and after taking part in the initiative in one of the interviews with the creative industries in our environment with the urban garden that we are doing in EUTOKIA as image, we decided to go further and made a proposal.
Being aware of the interest of the project: enhancement of our people, our environment, as well as another way of setting up, understanding, viewing and/or enjoying our citizen cartography, we decided to contact Joxean Sáez de Ocariz (EUTOKIA Project Coordinator) and assign the EUTOKIA headquarters in Boluetabarri to show the Map of the Beauty of Bilbao "

Ziortza Etxabe

"ZAWP Bilbao is a project located in La Ribera de Deusto-Zorrotzaurre within the context of urban transformation that will occur in the coming years in the area. ZAWP Bilbao claims to be the artistic look, innovative and creative of this process of urban transformation and, in turn, make this area a new standard of creativity and innovation. In this sense, it is interesting to bring to our environment the exhibition There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao, where the citizens of Bilbao themselves have photographed their special areas of the city. Among them, La Ribera de Deusto-Zorrozaurre has not gone unnoticed, as this post-industrial area, unknown to many citizens of Bilbao, has a surprising charm that never fails to impress any passerby to walk along the banks of the river "

Ohiana Korres.

Finally, There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao arrived to Bilbao la Vieja. Thanks to Saioa and Itziar the project has not only had the possibility of be exhibited at the Bilbao Museum of Art Reproductions, but also they have made it more accessible to all people by canceling the entrance fee to the museum during the exhibition of There is Beauty in the City.

Born at the beginnings of the last century, the Bilbao Museum of Art Reproductions is one of those "hidden treasures" among the museums of Bilbao and of which all the citizens of Bilbao should be proud. One of the few European museums (and it is not chauvinism) that can show off of having sculptures cast directly from the original works from the Vatican Museums, the Academy of Florence, the Berlin Museum, the Louvre, the British Museum ... The 28^th June, at the Bilbao Museum of Artistic Reproductions, the Map of Beauty of Bilbao will be the guest of such a famous hosts as the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Aphrodite of Milo....and this time it is a bilbainada.

In this new set up, the exhibition adds two new creations related to the museum and two beauty icons of all time: The Aphrodite of Milos and the Apollo Belvedere.
Visitors will be able to admire the sculpture of Aphrodite of Milos, also known as Venus de Milo, one of the statues representing the Hellenistic period and whose original is in the Louvre in Paris. Besides, the Museum contributes with two photographs: one of Apollo Belvedere and another of one of the angels located next to the windows of the apse. In both cases, like the other photographs of the project, with a magnet that read "There is beauty in the city."

From the 17^th July onwards, There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao will leave the city, the three photographs produced to show the process of transformation in which the city is immersed will be delivered to its only possible owners: Elena, Rodrigo, and Erika, who intervened these urban areas and showed us the beauty they contained; and all the graphics, maps, pictures and other items that have been part of the exhibition will be removed.

However, this will not be the last journey of There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao. The video made up with all the submitted photographs of the 140 interventions will continue surfing the Internet to the more distant places we could imagine. And most importantly, we sincerely hope that There is Beauty in the City: Bilbao had contributed to add many people from Bilbao to the list of collaborators in the overall project of There Beauty in the City, so that they continue finding, intervening, showing and spreading the beauty armed with a camera and a magnet.

Farewell.

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #9

2011-07-20T20:00:00.000+01:00

Whilst on a walk of Stoke-on-Trent's ring road, looking at the way citizens are officially guided around their city spaces, I was drawn to this urban phenomenon, known colloquially as a "lazy line".

In the last post in our conversation, Igor's depiction of Arriaga Square, showed how a city space is appropriated by its citizens for a use other than that imagined by the planners, politicians and authorities in general.

This image shows the formation of a shortcut from the pathway up a bank towards a large shopping centre. The authorities have repeatedly tried to dissuade the city's inhabitants to take this route, but have been repeatedly ignored and, over many years, a new, democratic, popular walkway has formed.

Cities are often full of these popularly formed objections to the inadequacies of urban plans, though it is very rare for the authorities to admit their error and formalise these shortcuts or "lazy lines" into properly constructed pedestrian routes.

Manuel Boado - bilbao, spain

2011-06-02T09:35:00.001+01:00

My favorite part of Bilbao is one of the walls of the Guggenheim Museum which I call the fire by their shape.

Mi rincón favorito de Bilbao es una de las paredes del museo Guggenheim que yo le llamo la chimenea por su forma.

there is beauty in the city:bilbao - the video

2011-05-30T17:23:00.001+01:00

As part of the bilbao exhibition last week, a looped film of all 140 or so images was shown on a huge 10 foot screen. here, for your delectation and delight, is the film.

vince o'toole - lisbon, portugal

2011-05-30T12:23:00.000+01:00

three photos, two taken from the hilltop overlooking the city, the other was on the side of a tramline.

eleanor bennett - new mills, uk

2011-05-30T12:21:00.001+01:00

thanks to eleanor bennett for these three great, evocative images - unfortunately although there is undoubtedly beauty to be found in towns, there is necessarily a difference between a town and a city!

All the pictures were taking in my favorite town - New Mills in Derbyshire.
I love taking images down there, I've done work for the local book shop and won an award with the WPO for an image I took of one of my friends there. Its a lovely place as well as the urban setting that also have a beautiful park and community garden.

there is beauty in the city - may visit to bilbao #2 - the insider

2011-05-29T13:27:00.002+01:00

Part two of there is beauty in the city's visit to bilbao is a counter to that tourist view of a city. Ph'a'ke's Igor Calvo gives us an inside view of the city he has known all his life on a walk that lasted 4 hours, and took in 6 distinct areas, all close to Igor's heart for one reason or another and which, collectively, offer an overview of a city outside the realms of the traditional tourist view.

THE INSIDER

ONE - Abando Train Station

Although a coastal city with an airport, those two travel opportunities actually lie outside Bilbao in different municipalities. The airport in Loiu to the north of Bilbao, and the ferry port in Santurtzi, some 15km to the west. So Abando train station came to represent the possibility of travel for a young Igor who would visit this spot and stand and watch the trains coming and going.

TWO - Irala

Irala is an area of Bilbao which lies outside the centre - ostensibly a public square, surrounded by apartment blocks. The square was regenerated in the 1970's by the city council but is now tended and looked after by its residents. The square is characterised by the use of graffiti as a regeneration tool, open plan seating areas, and a some berlin-style public table tennis tables. For Igor, this is a place of beauty - an example of how a space can be used to its best advantage and somewhere he can come to sit and think.

Interestingly, though, he wouldn't come here at night, as the atmosphere changes - to one of foreboding and fear. He was struck recently by a tv news report of a demonstration by the square's residents about the rise in crime in the square.

THREE - RECALDE PLAZA

The geography of Bilbao, with the sea to the north and surrounded by mountains on all other sides means that its urban planners have to be creative in the ways they set out for the physical growth of the city. The motorways coming into Bilbao are constructed on a series of huge concrete stilts, which allows for spaces underneath which are used in a variety of ways. Sometimes for much needed car parking space, but most often for areas of urban leisure.

One such space is Recalde Plaza, an area Igor has been coming to since he was a boy - a popular but tranquil park space where the peace is only interrupted by the ethereal rumbling of the overhhead cars. This is an area of contrasts - the chaos of the transport network against the tranquility of the park space, the colourfulness of the graffiti, the playground and the grass against the grey of the concrete and, as announced by one piece of 'green' graffiti, a contrast between the concrete structuralism and the green earth.

HALFWAY - LUNCH
In Bilbao, you're never more than 100 yards away from a bar serving a beer at perfect temperature and a selction of mouthwatering pintxos.

FOUR - MASUSTEGUI

Masustegui or Mount Caramel is a suburb of Bilbao, part of the district Basurto - Zorroza (District 8). It has a population of 4,069 inhabitants and an area of 0.81 square kilometers. This area of Bilbao has become home to a population of immigrants from Galicia in the North-West of Spain. In the 1950's they came to work on the estuary of Bilbao, and in the coal and iron mines. The area here was privately owned mining land and is situated on the slope of one of the hills overlooking central Bilbao. The area has an autonomous feel, with the sort of white-washed housing type which is typical of Galicia but unlike anything else in Bilbao. Since the 50's the residents who had self built their community were living life in a sort of limbo, as there was a dispute over who owned the land, however, in 2010, they were finally awarded citizenship of the city and allowed to stay.

FIVE - SAN MAMES

Spain is as religious a country as you'll find and Bilbao as a city is no different. There is a competition though, in the form of Athletic of Bilbao - the football team which selects only Basques to play for them - a modern day footballing anachronism. For Igor, the devotion is total. He says he cannot walk past this place without some form of overt physical acknowledgement - either a nod or a wave. " Each time I come I feel a chill and the hairs on my body stand on end"

SIX - THE RIA - LA RIA DEL NERVION

Practically every major world city is built around or along, or is inspired by a major river, and for Bilbao the Nervion is a majestic presence. The river metaphorically resembles a vein running into the heart of the city - the lifeblood of a city's existence. A large part of the Nervion in Bilbao is surrounded by the degeneration of the city's post-industrialisation, but once into the centre, it becomes the focus for some stunning urban planning - a home to the boat-shaped Guggenheim and other municipal river-oriented museums and restored and preserved relics of the river's past , as well as a series of spectacular bridges.

For Igor, the river allows a space for relaxation and contemplation - it fulfills an instinctual need to find the calm of water - and many an hour is spent sat on one of the river-side benches.

Igor also chose this remnant of an old river taxi-stop as a symbol both of the river's importance and former glory.

POSTSCRIPT

It was a privilege to get Igor's insider's tour around Bilbao - to be shown the not-so-shiny parts of a city normally 'un-visited' by the city-break tourist - and towards the end of the walk, which lasted approximately 4 hours, we found ourselves walking out of the city centre, following the river. The street named Deustuibarra runs for miles out of the city, hugging the river, and is lined with the run-down buildings familiar to all of us who live in post-industrial cities. This whole project was born as a response to how people who live in such cities and those charged with the task of regeneration view their cities and so it was fascinating and appropriate to happen upon an artists collective's response to this area and this problem. The series of pink signs - and there were at least 50 or maybe more of them - were attached to successive buildings, and gaps and offered a series of suggestions - possibilities of how this once thriving area, now deadened by the loss of industry, could be re-vitalised with, ok, a little bit of money but more importantly with a lot of imagination and vision. This artistic intervention was funny and inclusive in its approach but most importantly hit right at the heart of the problem faced by the post-industrial city.

this suggests the building could be turned into a flea market

this derelict building as we can see below could become a bar

there is beauty in the city - may visit to bilbao #1 - the tourist

2011-05-27T13:46:00.003+01:00

As everyone knows by now, there is beauty in the city recently took Bilbao by storm - or maybe that should be the other way round. Since the start of the year, we here at bitc have been highlighting a different city each month and so it would have seemed odd not to take the chance to put Bilbao under our spotlight.

So, this month we are presenting a view of Bilbao which comes in two parts. Firstly, the tourist view - a simple snapshot presentation of a stranger's perception of a strange city. And secondly, inspired by a previous work of Anna Francis - Official Tour Guide - Stoke-on-Trent, Ph'a'ke's Igor Calvo gives us the insider's view of Bilbao - a look at those urban areas not necessarily at the forefront of the Bilbao City Guides.

THE TOURIST

bitc to bilbao from glen stoker on Vimeo.

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #8

2011-05-27T11:38:00.004+01:00

number 8 in a series of conversations with between photoartekomite's Igor Calvo and there is beauty in the city's glen stoker. This response from igor -

Usually, the human map of Arriaga Square consists of the citizens of Bilbao going to the theater (that gives its name to the square) to consume culture or those who cross it in their way to the Old Town and tourists who arrive both to the tourist office and to enjoy the architecture of the building.

Although, only some times, people decide to make other use of this emblematic place in Bilbao. Without having to ask for permission, without having to apologize for gaining it, the citizens themselves have decided to "occupy" the Arriaga Square to show their indignation over the ineffective and useless Spanish political class.

there is beauty in the city bilbao - the selections.

2011-05-23T22:04:00.001+01:00

There were about 140 entries to There is Beauty in the City : Bilbao and from the start, Ph'a'ke's Igor and Susana, the exhibition organisers planned to select three images to print. The images would represent the past, the present and the future. Here are those three images, along with the texts supplied by the artists and the reasons for selection.

THE PAST

Intervention #37

Author: Elena Llanos

Place: Zorrozaurre

Elana wrote: Beauty is not only in determined places, there are no places more beautiful than others, I think it has to do with our sensations in each moment and what a place reminds us with. It can be in an emotion, a feeling, a memory that becomes to fruition in the places we live in. Many times it is far away form the places established as nice, out of the postcards. They are our places, where we resort in searching of what make us feel good or give us pleasure.

The photo is taken in Zorrozaurre's bank. It's a place where time seems to have stopped. It is linked to the river, as I think Bilbao is.

selection criteria: Bilbao has always been a city closely linked to its estuary, a city with a strong industry tendency that had its zenith in the times of industrialization, when to the margins of their everlasting estuary came ships load with countless goods and stuff to land them on the docks at the edge of the Nervión.
But the city left behind this time to change once again, and from an industrial city it has become a city of services.
However, we can still find traces of that past, as that crane placed in an old dock that remains as a milestone and a witness of a city that left behind its industrial infrastructure.

THE PRESENT

Intervention #33

Author: Rodrigo Fuentealba

Place: R.A.G.'s building.

Rodrigo wrote: I have chosen this place because it is a building that is going to disappear from the urban landscape.

From sustainability point of view, it is worth mentioning the high energy cost that will be used for its demolition, adding the cost generated by the construction of a new building in its place. I think it is in good conditions and it has many possibilities to be reused.

From patrimonial point of view, is a representative building of Rationalist Architecture of Bilbao Ensanche. It is a work of Diego de Basterra, former Architect of Bizkaia Diputación. He was one of the men who helped making up the city look nowadays we know. Apparently, politic-financial power together with property speculation have finally obtained its architectural importance reclassification by relevant organisms and authorities, removing any kind of legal protection category, being able to erase it definitely form day to day landscape.

Taking into account that, such industrial architecture collection, besides being included in patrimonial routes as part of the modern movement, in its moment was contemplated the possibility of installing there a modern art museum, and in the last years it was suggested to reuse it like flats, failing both ideas.

But in sum, unfortunately it is today one more example of the destruction of our city historical memory, opposite to the fearless glance and voice of everybody.

Selection criteria: The RAG building still remains as an example and witness of the problems and unresolved issues that a city like Bilbao, in many aspects still in transition, must face.
Factory and gas station, with no space and no place in the future of Bilbao, still an example of the buildings from such an important time in the history of the city, is waiting for its demolition. Even if we do not know when it could happen, given the uncertain economic days to which we face.

In any case, it appears that the time is over for the RAG, leaving the building in a limbo of difficult balance until the time of his disappearance arrives. Another industrial element that will give way to a new element in the race to create a new city.

THE FUTURE

Intervention #81

Author: Erica Liquete

Place: Casco Viejo

Erica wrote: I have always spent a lot of time in the Botxo, although I am not from Bilbao.

However, since some weeks ago, I can say I am from Bilbao, and more specifically from Casco Viejo.

That is why I have chosen this photo, as it was taken from the balcony of my new home.

I've got lots of favourite places, but this one represents my new life stage.

Selection criteria: If something seems almost an impossible task, it is to show in a single image the future of a city. How to show something that has not taken place? How to illustrate what lies ahead?
If we would have to start somewhere, we should begin by saying that the future of Bilbao will be the one its citizens want it to be. But for that, you need a young city, which attracts more and more people with its prospects for future opportunities to fill the city with their hopes and dreams.
After several decades during which the city experienced a population loss drip, Bilbao is today, once again, an attractive city that increases its number of citizens each year and does it, moreover, attracting more and more people at heart of the city.

there is beauty in the city went to bilbao and held an exhibition

2011-05-23T21:38:00.002+01:00

When Ph'a'ke (Photoartekomite - Igor Calvo and Susana Martínez Ximénez) contacted us back in January to ask if they could make a There is Beauty in the City exhibition in the Basque capital city of Bilbao, we could never have imagined just how much the city's people would take this project, dreamt up as a response to the post-industrial situation in Stoke-on-Trent, to their hearts.

The opening night of the show which took place last tuesday, 17th May, saw about 240 Bilbaoans turn up to the Sala Rekalde gallery to see the 140 photographic submissions shown on the huge 10ft screen. The 15 minute showreel which depicted all of the submitted images ( a principle which lies at the heart of us here at there is beauty in the city) had the crowdin a thrall - amazed and amused at the areas of their city deemed to be beautiful enough to be depicted with our small magnet. At the end of the film, they broke out into a spontaneous round of applause - a sound to gladden the heart.

There were two undoubted factors which underpinned this amazing response. Firstly, Igor and Susana's tireless work ethic and keen understanding of the project's raison d'être. These two really haven't stopped on this project for the last 4 months - a constant talking up of the project - they used their local media to the utmost effect, meaning that queues of people turned up on the two occasions to collect their magnets, in fact many more people than magnet packs, and an astounding 60,000 hits to their blog. They canvassed everybody, from the normal Bilbaoan to council representatives. There is Beauty in the City was given airtime on Basque television and printspace in its newspapers. As an exercise in promotion, watching Susana and Igor at work was a real education. Their hard work more than paid off and they both thoroughly deserve the feeling of contented satisfaction they both must have felt on hearing that unsolicited round of applause on tuesday night. They also have the eternal gratitude of us here at TIBC.
The other factor was the public of Bilbao. They quite obviously loved this project. It's my guess that the people of this city, the capital of small area of northern Spain which is in search of a degree of autonomy from national Spanish rule, jumped at the chance to proudly display and share and promote their beloved Bilbao. Whilst it may be true that many of the entries were quite conventional and conservative in their approach - we think that at the centre of this project is the idea of a celebration of the city, and the response of the people of Bilbao was most definitely celebratory.

The Spanish odyssey for There is Beauty in the City doesn't end here. Ph'a'ke have two further venues in Bilbao in mind to show this exhibition - which will represent different building use and socio-economic areas of the city. And further afield, there is the tantalising possibility of another collaborative link-up, this time with a group from Galicia, in Spain's north-west. We're really excited about the prospect of the Beauty extending its reach even further. Watch this space for further details.

So, a great big thankyou to Igor and Susana - and an equally great big thanks to Beautiful Bilbao and its Beautiful people. Here is what it all looked like.

THE SET UP

Hanging the three selected prints.

Each image was beautifully printed and represented, from l-r: the past, limbo, the future.

This panel comprised a 15cmx10cm print of each submitted image.


The Submission Map was a perfect representation of the area covered by the project. A large central concentration was counterbalanced by some determined outposts.


The film screen

An early visitor

One of the many television crews

The screen here showed a looped film of the 25 video testimonials made in the lead-up to the show.

Booklets produced in Spanish, Basque and English, plus some magnet packs just in case there was anybody who had yet to get themselves one.

THE EXHIBITION

susana martinez explains there is beauty in the city:bilbao

2011-05-14T01:44:00.000+01:00

there is beauty in the city : bilbao - the exhibition

2011-05-11T20:01:00.001+01:00

After the windfall of images of Bilbao over the last few weeks - nearly 150 in total - the tv coverage, the video testimonials, there is beauty in the city : Bilbao - the exhibition will open at the Sala Rekalde gallery in central Bilbao.

The exhibition, which will be the project's 5th and second in Spain, will feature prints of three selected images from the near 150. The three images have each been selected in response to the City of Bilbao in terms of its past, its present and its future. There are also plans to show each and every submitted image in the form of a looped film.

The exhibition will open on Tuesday, 17th May and will run for a week.

the gallery is a space dedicated to promoting and raising awareness of contemporary artistic practice. Ever since rekalde was set up in 1991, it has specialised in looking at contemporary art produced in Spain and abroad through initiatives that reflect the debates that are the focus of art today. rekalde sees itself as an environment in which it is possible to draw together all the key aspects related to the meaning of artistic production, the various ways in which art is presented and represented, and its ability to enter into dialogue with different publics. rekalde is divided into two spaces, enabling it to fulfil its resolve to approach its various undertakings—including exhibitions, projects to present certain works, debates, video screenings, talks and publications—at the appropriate pace. It is an institution committed to learning through experience and aims to serve as a forum for all those who want to take part in the debate on the various languages of culture.

Tania Argandoña - bilbao, spain

2011-05-11T12:28:00.000+01:00

Best of Bilbao: its people. Variety and color in the market of Dos de Mayo

Lo mejor de Bilbao: su gente. Variedad y color en el mercadillo de Dos de Mayo

Ivo Valadares - bilbao, spain

2011-05-09T20:54:00.000+01:00

I like the Garden and its surroundings. The architecture and the quiet that prevails.

Me gusta el Jardín y su entorno. La arquitectura y la calma que se vive.

there is beauty in the city went to brussels / bruxelles / brussel

2011-05-09T19:50:00.004+01:00

April's beauty in the city's visit took in the city that places itself at the centre of the European Union. Belgium is a country of ironies. The seat of European government, yet officially the world record holder as the country which has been without a government for the longest (11 months and counting). A country placed at the heart of a European coalition designed to maintain a continental peace, yet one which is seeing rising tensions between the speakers of its two competing languages.

Our beautiful day in Brussels took in;
gruesome sculptures and beautiful landscaping in La Botanique - Brussels' historic botanical gardens

The Atomium - a monument originally built for Expo '58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn, it stands 102-metres (335 ft) tall. It has nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

The panoramic view from atop the 100 metre structure offered a perfect chance to see Mini-Europe a model park containing reproductions of the most attractive monuments in the European Union, at a scale of 1:25. Roughly 80 cities and 350 buildings are represented. The park is renowned for the quality of its models, some of which cost as much as €350,000 to make

A trip to the Brussels Art Fair where Artist, friend and VIP Kevin Hunt was showing

some much needed and top quality refuelling

before finishing with a whistlestop tour around 6 art galleries.

there is beauty in the city : the conversation - #7

2011-05-09T15:56:00.002+01:00

number 7 in a series of conversations with photoartekomite's Igor Calvo.

The Boothen End, The Victoria Ground, Stoke-on-Trent.

Life is full of places we used to go. Where once we felt at home.

The remains of the home terrace of what was the UK's oldest football league ground, the home of Stoke City F.C.

Sandor Inopia - bilbao, spain

2011-05-09T11:02:00.001+01:00

http://www.planetainopia.com
http://www.petraport.com
http://www.lukinfor.com

Hope you like my picture, is one of my favorite spots in Bilbao:
Etxebarria Park, within walking distance of the old town of Bilbao and a whole
green area ideal for sunbathing, reading the newspaper or think quietly
as it is. In the background is the entrance to an elevator that has
Bilbao to overcome the disparities that abound.

Espero que os guste mi foto, es de uno de mis rincones favoritos de Bilbao:
el parque de Etxebarria, a un paso del casco viejo de Bilbao y todo un
pulmón verde ideal para tumbarse, leer el periódico o pensar tranquilamente
en lo que sea. Al fondo se ve la entrada a uno de los ascensores que tiene
Bilbao para sortear los desniveles que tanto abundan.

Roberto Porto - bilbao, spain

2011-05-09T10:57:00.002+01:00

José Miguel Zearra Sarachu - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T22:22:00.001+01:00

Assistant photography site that I propose to include Bilbao
in terms of beautiful and charming places in the city.
I particularly like to be one of the favorite places
by what has happened in one of my different routes daily walk
Bilbao after my work day to release tension and
relax. I consider it one of the most beautiful buildings of the city and
with the recent remodeling has become an icon of
transformation of the Villa.

Adjunto la fotografía de el sitio de Bilbao que propongo para incluir
en el plano de lugares bonitos y con encanto de la ciudad.
A mi particularmente me gusta por ser uno de los lugares favoritos
por los que paso en uno de mis diferentes itinerarios de paseo diario por
Bilbao después de mi jornada de trabajo con el fin de liberar tensiones y
relajarme. Considero que es uno de los edificios mas bellos de la ciudad y
que con su reciente remodelación se ha convertido en un icono de la
transformación de la Villa.

Edu Acebedo - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T22:07:00.001+01:00

New Square, the heart of the village, a meeting of bar hopping and exchange: in the traditional Sunday market with stalls selling books, records, second hand, exchanges of cards, selling birds ....
Besides a large outdoor stage where I have spent pleasant moments watching and listening to good concerts during the Aste Nagusia.

La plaza Nueva, pleno centro de la villa, lugar de encuentro, de poteo y de intercambio: en el tradicional mercado de domingo con puestos de libros, discos, cosas de segunda mano, intercambios de cromos, venta de pájaros....
Además de un gran escenario al aire libre en el cual he pasado agradables momentos viendo y escuchando buenos conciertos durante la Aste Nagusia.

Elena Martínez - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T22:05:00.001+01:00

It is an image of the new Bilbao, the museum, the tower and sculpture by Anish Kapoor. It is an image of Bilbao as ever, with the overcast sky and ready to let out our eternal sirimiri. It's my favorite way to do it by bike.

Es una imagen del nuevo Bilbao, con el museo, la torre y la escultura de Anish Kapoor. Y es una imagen del Bilbao de siempre, con el cielo encapotado y listo para dejar escapar nuestro eterno sirimiri. Es mi trayecto favorito para hacerlo en bici.

Maité González - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T22:03:00.001+01:00

Paseo del Arenal (from Arriaga to the bridge at La Merced) is a place where I enjoy walking, especially if it's a sunny day. I like to admire, I always find some new detail. It makes me feel like I was outside Bilbao, walking in any other city. Bilbao many stories are behind those windows.

El paseo del Arenal (desde el Arriaga hasta el puente de La Merced) es un lugar por el que me gusta pasear, sobre todo si hace un día soleado. Me gusta admirarlo, siempre encuentro algún detalle nuevo. Me hace sentir como si estuviera fuera de Bilbao, paseando por cualquier otra ciudad. Cuántas historias sobre Bilbao se ocultan detrás de esas ventanas.

Sandra Mateo - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T22:01:00.001+01:00

An amazing place in Bilbao, because I first heard a live sitar, because there's always some concert or recital performance that encourages you in the evening, for the incredible kindness and good atmosphere.
Comfortable armchairs, tea, magical atmosphere and art in all its expressions, what more could you want?

Un increíble lugar en Bilbao, porque escuché por primera vez un sitar en directo; porque siempre hay algún concierto, actuación o recital que te anima la tarde-noche; por la increíble amabilidad y el buen ambiente.
Sillones confortables, tés, ambiente mágico y arte en todas sus expresiones, qué más se puede pedir?

Ian Feijóo - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T22:00:00.001+01:00

The source of the dog is one of the tourist sites that are hidden in the Siete Calles, Bilbao. I can not always avoid going there, watch the tourists and Bilbao different drink your water and get some hope that other.
Some joke: "watch out, they say that if you drink you get pregnant!"

La fuente del perro es uno de los sitios turísticos que se encuentran escondidos entre las Siete Calles de Bilbao. No puedo evitar pasar siempre por allí, contemplar a los diferentes turistas y bilbaínos beber de su agua y pedir algún deseo que otro.
Algunos bromean: "cuidado, que dicen que si bebes te quedas embarazada!"

Txema Blanca - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:58:00.001+01:00

This picture is taken from the Pedro Arrupe footbridge. I like the place we used to walk around here when the weather lets us, and we see a much improved Bilbao.

Esta foto esta sacada desde la pasarela Pedro Arrupe. Me gusta el lugar por que solemos pasear por aquí cuando el tiempo nos deja, y se ve un Bilbao muy mejorado.

Iñaki Aperribay - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:56:00.001+01:00

After leaving work I come here to run a while. It is a recreation area. I like it because it is an open space because there are always people doing sport. Beauty is my area of Bilbao.

Después de salir del trabajo vengo aquí a correr un rato. Es un espacio de ocio. Me gusta porque es un espacio abierto y porque siempre hay gente haciendo deporte. Es mi espacio de belleza en Bilbao.

Iratxe Crespo - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:54:00.001+01:00

This picture is taken from the viewpoint of Artxanda, I like that when I was little since there was always going to see fireworks Bilbao holiday with my parents and my sister.

Esta foto esta sacada desde el mirador de Artxanda, me gusta por que cuando era pequeña desde allí siempre iba a ver los fuegos artificiales de las fiestas de Bilbao con mis padres y mi hermana.

José Luís Fernández - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:52:00.001+01:00

It is a park where there were railroad tracks, for me, this is the change in Bilbao.
Now the kids are playing, walking and all enjoying aitites.
Before there was only one park, the ducks.
Now each district, each zone has one and you can go from park to park.

Es un parque donde había unas vías de tren, para mi ese es el cambio de Bilbao.
Ahora están los chavales jugando, los aitites paseando y todos disfrutando.
Antes sólo había un parque, el de los patos.
Ahora cada barrio, cada zona tiene uno y se puede ir de parque en parque.

Carlos Feijóo - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:50:00.001+01:00

The picture was taken on the streets of Casco Viejo Dog, in my opinion is a landmark of Bilbao, and I think that every city must have a well where throwing coins and a source where wish lists, what better than the Source of Dog or San Miguel also has a lottery also renowned for his side and a boutique for princes and princesses.

La foto esta tomada en la calle del Perro del Casco Viejo, en mi opinión es un lugar emblemático de Bilbao, Y creo que toda ciudad tiene que tener un pozo donde arrojar monedas y una fuente donde pedir deseos, que mejor que la Fuente del Perro o de San Miguel que además cuenta con una administración de Lotería también de renombre a su lado y una boutique para príncipes y princesas.

María Eugenia Fernández - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:49:00.001+01:00

I chose this area because my brothers and I were born and live very happy years with people from the same street that we were one big family.
Additionally, the name STREET FRIENDSHIP, is precious, because it was created between two friends, who then lived there.
Has changed since then, years ago was very busy area because it was Portugalete station and very close to the station Abando.
Now, there are other businesses, but will always be my street.
Well, I encourage you to visit in summer is very fresh.

He elegido esta zona, porque mis hermanos y yo nacimos y vivimos años muy alegres, con gente de esa misma calle, que formábamos una gran familia.
Además, el nombre CALLE LA AMISTAD, es precioso, porque se creó entre dos amigos, que luego vivieron ahí.
Ha cambiado, desde luego, hace años era zona de mucho trajín, porque estaba la estación de Portugalete, y muy cerquita la Estación de Abando.
Ahora, hay otro tipo de negocios, pero siempre será mi calle.
Bueno, os animo a visitarla, en verano se está muy fresquita.

José Antonio del Caz - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:46:00.001+01:00

I chose this picture (made from the house where I spent my childhood) because for me, marks an improvement of quality of life of what is today this area between the neighborhoods of Zurbaran, Trauco, Begoña a Etxebarria Park (where shows the fireplace in the background) and a change of file on the old road, with its new roundabout which speeds the traffic on the one hand and the other creates parkland with play area to the right of the picture.

Not long ago, 40 years, this same landscape was formed by iron and steel factory (Factory Etxebarría) and a road at two levels at the site of the roundabout without traffic lights (entrance between Trauco and Zurbaran was carried through steps underground).

He elegido esta foto (efectuada desde la casa donde pasé mi niñez) porque para mí, marca una mejora de calidad de vida de lo que es esta zona hoy en día entre los barrios de Zurbaran, Trauco, Begoña con un Parque de Etxebarría (donde se aprecia la chimenea al fondo) y un cambio de disposición en la antigua carretera, con su nueva rotonda que agiliza el tráfico rodado por una parte y por otra crea unas zonas verdes junto con una zona de juegos a la derecha de la fotografía.

No hace mucho, 40 años, ese mismo paisaje estaba conformado por una fábrica siderometalúrgica (Fábrica de Etxebarría) y por una carretera a dos niveles en el lugar de la rotonda y sin semáforos (el acceso entre Trauco y Zurbaran se realizaba a través de pasos subterráneos).

Amaia Blanco - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:44:00.001+01:00

It is a very typical scene and very beautiful in Bilbao, where fortunately the growing green in any corner without assistance.

Es una escena muy típica y muy bella de Bilbao, donde por suerte el verde crece en cualquier esquina sin ayuda de nadie.

Paula Quintanilla - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:42:00.001+01:00

I've always lived in Deusto and I love this neighborhood, and even more so now with the amazing amount of reform that has had this and its surroundings. And what better way to represent the beautiful bridge of Deusto. I remember how once when opened barges moving goods to the old port of Casco Viejo. As the boats touched their horns ... However, although now not open, not sure if it for the love of my memories, but I think it has lost the beauty and magic.

Siempre he vivido en Deusto y adoro este barrio, y más aún ahora con la cantidad de maravillosas reformas que ha tenido este y sus alrededores. Y que forma mejor que representarlo con el hermoso puente de Deusto. Recuerdo como antiguamente se abría a la hora de pasar las gabarras de mercancías hacia el antiguo puerto del Casco Viejo. Como los barcos tocaban sus bocinas... De todas formas, aunque ahora no se abra, no se si será por el cariño a mis recuerdos, pero creo que no ha perdido la belleza ni su magia.

Ane García - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:40:00.001+01:00

The taste of our own

El sabor de lo nuestro.

Iurki - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:39:00.001+01:00

Because sometimes the most simple is the most beautiful.
Bilbao is a city within walking distance to the many pleasant and beautiful places in almost all something in common.

Porque a veces lo mas simple es lo mas bello.
Bilbao es una ciudad donde caminando se llega a los muchos lugares entrañables y bellos y en casi todos hay algo en común.

Itziar Calvo - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:37:00.001+01:00

This picture represents two things, firstly the regeneration of the estuary of Bilbao and on the other hand, from the point of view, is my place of rest and relaxation after each workday. A look at the river and a bit of fitness to cope with all the next day.

Esta foto representa dos cosas, por un lado la regeneración de la ría de Bilbao y por otro lado, desde el punto de vista personal, representa mi lugar de descanso y relajación después de cada jornada laboral. Un vistazo a la ría y un rato de gimnasio para poder con todo al día siguiente.

Aritz Albaizar - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:35:00.001+01:00

Small tiled Martians as a pixel tiles have taken Bilbao. Now the walls of the Villa are the screens and I've become an entire space-invader-hunter. Wally is like looking at just replacing the man dressed in red and white stripes for 40 Martian scattered buildings.
But what is all this madness? So basically it is a performance framed in exposiciónPercepción [S] tencible, participating French artist known as Space Invader. It is something like a video game addict Banksy 80's.
Bilbao is not the first city invaded by Martians. Before they were Paris, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, New York, Istanbul and Vienna.

Pequeños marcianos alicatados en baldosas a modo de píxeles han tomado Bilbao. Ahora las paredes de la Villa son las pantallas y yo me he convertido en toda una space-invader-hunter. Es como buscar a Wally sólo que sustituyendo al hombrecillo vestido de rayas rojas y blancas por 40 marcianos repartidos por los edificios.
¿Pero qué es toda esta locura? Pues básicamente se trata de una performance enmarcada en la exposiciónPercepción [S]tencible, donde participa el artista francés conocido como Space Invader. Es algo así como un Banksy adicto a los videojuegos de los años 80.
Bilbao no es la primera ciudad invadida por los marcianitos. Antes lo fueron París, Londres, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Nueva York, Estambul o Viena.

Koldo Pico - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:33:00.001+01:00

The river and its recovery

There is something more typical in his ria Bilbao?
The great buildings come and stay in the city, more or less spectacular, flashy or unique, but the river is there, has been and will be there watching it all happen.
Now being restored or at least have failed to see choronguitos and occasionally see some fish.
But what is a city living back to the estuary or river? Look at the big European cities and we answer ourselves.

La ria y su recuperación

Hay algo más típico en Bilbao que su ria?
Los grandes edificios llegan y se quedan en la ciudad, mas o menos espectaculares, llamativos o singulares, pero la ría ahí está, ha estado y estará ahí viendo todo pasar.
Ahora recuperada o en fase de, por lo menos hemos dejado de ver choronguitos y vemos de vez en cuando algún pez.
Pero ¿qué es una ciudad que viva de espaldas a su ría o río? Miremos a las grandes ciudades europeas y nos responderemos nosotros mismos.

Manu Martínez - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:31:00.001+01:00

It is one of my favorite spots in Bilbao. And, in a corner is so insignificant a part of such size as an artist Chillida ...
Not a bad idea for the Plaza Euskadi similar piece was chosen, even for alms popular.

Es uno de mis rincones favoritos de Bilbao. Y es que, que en una esquina tan poco significativa se encuentre una pieza de tal tamaño de un artista como Chillida…
No sería mala idea que para la Plaza Euskadi se eligiera una pieza similar, aunque fuera por cuestación popular.

Albert Díaz - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:28:00.001+01:00

Perhaps it is one of the most popular and Bilbo known secret that few can find it, but for my special. This was the perspective that I just put my first foot in Bilbo, once I left the bus that brought me from the airport. Any surprises, a preconceived idea of gray rather than destroyed upon entering the city and see the Guggenheim and the expansion that has nothing to envy to my beloved Barcelona. After a few seconds to put my goal was to find the metro station towards the village of Sarriko and another surprise! These original approaches to the metro. This city is falling in love with me slowly ...

Quizás sea uno de los lugares más concurridos y conocidos de Bilbo que pocos secretos se puedan descubrir en él, pero para mi especial. Esta fue la perspectiva que tuve nada más poner por primera vez mis pies en Bilbo, una vez me dejó el autobús que me trajo desde el aeropuerto. Todo sorpresas, una idea preconcebida de lugar gris se destruyó nada más entrar a la ciudad y ver el Guggen y ese ensanche que nada tiene que envidiar al de mi querida Barcelona. Después de unos segundos para situarme mi objetivo era encontrar la estación de metro, dirección al barrio de Sarriko y otra sorpresa! Esos originales accesos al metro. Esta ciudad me va enamorando poco a poco...

Gorka Rodríguez y María Arana - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:25:00.001+01:00

Imajinatu Bilbao is a collective construction project. Visitor participation is proposed as a plastic game challenging and fun: it is about building ideas that represent a city's desire through the text or drawing. Among all participants have made a constellation of diverse ideas, related to city life: mobility, endowments, public space, family, friendship, sex, sustainability, work, urban planning, culture, art .... It also includes diversity in view of the city the inhabitants of Bilbao. There are very accommodating visions with the latest changes that have taken Bilbao and also looks very critical of them. However it should be noted the constructive spirit of all of them.

Bilbao Imajinatu divergent form a collective imagination as it is not a community building in which all agents share the same cultural framework. With contributions from within and outside the city, children, adolescents, young adults and the elderly. Over 7000 people have participated in its construction. Each of them expressed from their knowledge, perspective, and language. Among all make a discursive practice close to the idea of a collective three-dimensional collage.

Regarding the aesthetic formation, construction has been taking shape itself and has been made with blocks of different sizes with regular and irregular forms. Construction in progress while it lasted exposure has generated a formal multiplicity in continuous motion. The jumble of blocks of cards has made as a set of occupational niches generating a set of internal representations in the form of images where to look, explore and sort in memory.

Imajinatu Bilbao es un proyecto de construcción colectiva. La participación del visitante se plantea como un juego plástico estimulante y divertido: se trata de construir ideas que representen un deseo de ciudad a través del texto o del dibujo. Entre todos los participantes se ha conformado una constelación de ideas diversas, relacionados con la vida en la ciudad: movilidad, dotaciones, espacio público, la familia, la amistad, el sexo, la sostenibilidad, el trabajo, el urbanismo, la cultura, el arte….Recoge también diversidad en la visión que de la ciudad tienen los habitantes de Bilbao. Hay visiones muy complacientes con las últimas transformaciones que ha tenido Bilbao y también miradas muy críticas con las mismas. No obstante cabe destacar el ánimo constructivo de todas ellas.

Imajinatu Bilbao forma un imaginario colectivo divergente al no tratarse de una construcción comunitaria en la que todos los agentes participan de una misma estructura cultural. Hay aportaciones de dentro y de fuera de la ciudad, de niños, adolescentes, jóvenes, adultos y ancianos. Más de 7000 personas han participado en su construcción. Cada una de ellos se expresa desde su conocimiento, su punto de vista, y su lenguaje. Entre todos conforman una práctica discursiva cercana a la idea de un collage tridimensional y colectivo.

Respecto a la conformación estética, la construcción ha ido tomando forma propia y ha quedado conformada con bloques de distinto tamaño con formas tanto regulares como irregulares. La construcción en proceso mientras duraba la exposición ha generado una multiplicidad formal en continuo movimiento. La maraña de bloques de tarjetas se ha conformado como un conjunto de nichos ocupacionales generando un conjunto de representaciones interiores a modo de imágenes donde mirar, explorar y clasificar en la memoria.

Naroa Ibarretxe - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:22:00.001+01:00

Sarriko Park, a park where many of us have grown up and, also like all of us has grown, a meeting point for us. A place in the 80's was filled with syringes and my little brother confused with thermometers, to become a space where children play, walk dogs, people playing sports and breathe ... breathe in eucalyptus, and in addition to cleaning our lungs clean our soul. A good place to reflect and think that if a park can go forward, we! Aurrera Bilbo!

El parque de Sarriko, un parque donde muchos hemos crecido y, que también como todos nosotros ha crecido, un punto de encuentro muy nuestro. De un lugar que en los 80 se llenaba de jeringuillas y que mi hermano pequeño confundía con termómetros, a convertirse en un espacio donde los niños juegan, los perros pasean, la gente hace deporte y se respira… se respira a eucalipto y además de limpiar nuestros pulmones limpia nuestra alma. Un buen sitio para reflexionar y pensar que si un parque puede salir hacia adelante, nosotros también! Aurrera Bilbo!

Aitor Barona - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:20:00.001+01:00

Tic Tic Tic ... Somo Invaders.

We came with the intention to invade your planet and destroy it completely, but seen such beauty, we aborted the mission and have decided to take this beautiful picture of your city of Bilbao and leave our own label.

Return

Tic Tic Tic... Somo los Invasores.

Veníamos con la intención de invadir vuestro planeta y destruirlo por completo, pero vista tal belleza, hemos abortado la misión y hemos decidido llevarnos esta bonita imagen de vuestra villa de Bilbao y dejaros nuestra propia etiqueta.

Volveremos

Nasteborraste - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:18:00.001+01:00

I love the mix of classic and modern in this part of Bilbao. This fusion is what comes to represent the picture.

Me encanta la mezcla entre lo clásico y lo moderno de este rincón de Bilbao. Esa fusión es lo que viene a representar la foto.

Martín Gilabert - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:16:00.001+01:00

This picture retains the charm and charisma of those places that offers typical cuisine of Bilbao.
This spot belongs to "Berton" Old Town represents the culture of good food, friends, of the gatherings.
In short, the best option for "out of pot"and enjoy the paradise of tapas, tapas and flags.

Bilbao during the last two decades has managed to reinvent itself, but keeping intact its cultural roots, its characteristic places, despite having changed its character and appearance.

Esta foto conserva el encanto y el carisma de todos aquellos rincones típicos que ofrece la gastronomía de Bilbao.
Este rincón perteneciente al "Berton" del Casco Viejo representa la cultura del buen comer, de los amigos, de las tertulias.
En definitiva, la mejor opción para "salir de poteo" y disfrutar del paraíso de los pintxos, tapas y banderillas.

Bilbao durante las dos últimas décadas ha sabido reinventarse a sí misma, pero manteniendo intactas sus raíces culturales, sus rincones más característicos, a pesar de haber transformado su carácter y su fisonomía.

David Fernández - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:14:00.001+01:00

I have experienced the transformation of Bilbao and reflected in a picture was quite complicated. Would have to leave many people and places in the picture, some of which are no longer with us and places that no longer exist, but who also have their charm. We must be very proud of what has been done and what will be done.

Every day when I went by bus to school, saw Euskalduna shipyards and many ships have been bouncing along the river and many washes in the blast furnaces, so that the magnet should be on steel. Corten steel 5 cm thick of a sculpture of an American artist, Richard Serra, located in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, because I've been all over and that I liked is Bilbao.

We have changed the use Corten steel gave him, but we continued to make wealth, but wealth otherwise the end of the day. There are no hundreds of workers in the shipyards but thousands of tourists who come to see the beauty that we are becoming Bilbao.

Yo he vivido la transformación de Bilbao y reflejarlo en una foto era bastante complicado. Tendrían que salir muchas personas y lugares en la foto, algunas que ya no están con nosotros y lugares que ya no existen, pero que también tenían su encanto. Tenemos que estar muy orgullosos de todo lo que se ha hecho y lo que se hará.

Todos los días cuando iba en autobús al colegio, veía los astilleros de Euskalduna y he visto botar muchos barcos a lo largo de la ria y muchas coladas en los Altos Hornos, así que el imán debía ir sobre acero. Acero Corten de 5 cm de grosor de una escultura de un artista norteamericano, Richard Serra, situada en el Museo Guggenheim de Bilbao, porque he estado en todos y el que mas me ha gustado es el de Bilbao.

Hemos cambiado el uso que le dábamos al acero Corten, pero nos sigue aportando riqueza, de otra manera pero riqueza al fin y al cabo. Ya no hay cientos de operarios en los astilleros pero si miles de turistas que vienen a ver lo bello que estamos convirtiendo Bilbao.

José Andima Salutregui - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:13:00.001+01:00

The photograph was taken on a rainy day in the heart of our city. I chose this location because I believe symbolizes the motto "There is the beauty in the Bilbao city" as summarized in such a short space, key foundations of the original design and beauty of Bilbao. An environment in which, on the one hand, sits the Library of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, but with a modern design that integrates perfectly with the classical building of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia representing both, both the court culture universal for the Library, and from our historical past and present in the case of the council. In the foreground, the beautiful sculpture The Walker, Nazábal Gomez, who represents the man who seems to delight in the contemplation of the environment, assuming the thoughts of all the beauty and wisdom that surrounds him, while in the background, a woman's face shows his amazement at the transformation experienced by the Village.

La fotografía está tomada un día de lluvia en pleno corazón de nuestra Villa. He elegido este enclave porque creo simboliza el lema “There is the beauty in the city Bilbao” puesto que sintetiza, en tan corto espacio, fundamentos claves de la originalidad y belleza del diseño bilbaíno. Un entorno en el que, por un lado, se asienta la Biblioteca de la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, con un diseño moderno pero que se integra perfectamente con el corte clásico del edificio de la Diputación de Bizkaia representando, ambos, tanto la cultura de corte universal en el caso de la Biblioteca, como de nuestro pasado y presente histórico en el caso de la Diputación. En primer plano, la bella escultura El Paseante, de Gómez Nazábal, que representa al HOMBRE que parece deleitarse en la contemplación del entorno, asumiendo los pensamientos de toda la belleza y la sabiduría que le rodea, mientras que, al fondo, un rostro femenino muestra su asombro ante la transformación experimentada por la Villa.

Kontxi Ximénez - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:11:00.001+01:00

The Museum of Fine Arts is one of my favorite places. It is my relaxation lose their rooms contemplating such beauty and talent together.

El museo de Bellas Artes es uno de mis lugares predilectos. Es para mi un relax perderme por sus salas contemplando tanta belleza y talento juntos.

Iñigo Gracianteparaluceta - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:09:00.001+01:00

From the hallway access Solokoetxe elevator, you can see a wonderful panorama. The sea of roofs, formed by the Old Town and Seven Streets, with the Cathedral of Santiago as vertical exponent, gives way to the tower of Naja and Abando train station. Behind the characteristic cover, can be seen, the building of EITB. To its right stands the BBVA building, less because the neonatal Iberdrola Tower.

Fascinates me, though in many cases the projection creates unsustainable urban-Bilbao.

Desde el pasillo de acceso al ascensor de Solokoetxe, puede observarse una panorámica maravillosa. El mar de tejados, formado por el Casco Viejo y sus Siete Calles, con la catedral de Santiago como máximo exponente vertical, deja paso a la torre de Naja y la estación de tren de Abando. Tras su característica cubierta, se deja ver, el edificio de EITB. A su derecha se eleva el edificio BBVA, menor ya que la neonata Torre de Iberdrola.

Me fascina -aunque en muchas ocasiones la crea insostenible- la proyección urbana de Bilbao.

Iñigo Gracianteparaluceta - bilbao, spain

2011-05-03T21:07:00.001+01:00