W: what is it good for?

A building has been going up--or did it come from outer space?--on Barcelona's Sant Sebastià Beach that is popularly refered to as "Hotel Vela" (sail hotel), but whose commercial name is actually Hotel W Barcelona. That's right: W, as in Dubya. Just what has ex-president George Bush II got to do with this hotel? Probably nothing, since he's in the oil-and-war business. But it seem ironic that the name of this hotel would inadvertently honor the most despised US president ever: this building is turning out to be the most despised new construction in Barcelona since work began several centuries ago on the Citadel.

And just as the atrocities committed by Bush junior and his band of inept cronies prompted all sorts of protest, resistance and terrorism movements throughout the world, this building has similarly given rise to an anti-hotel neighborhood group that organizes events such as this one

as well as a Facebook group called GAHV: Grup Anti Hotel Vela Barceloneta (Anti Hotel Vela Barceloneta Group) with over 500 members.

The reason the building is despised is obvious enough: it is a huge, pretentious, malproportioned and unsightly behemoth that casts a shadow on Barcelona's most frequented and beloved public space: the beach. It is situated only meters from the coastline, which together with its unprecedented height means it can be seen from just about anywhere in the metropolitan area. In short: it is a big fat pig of a building whose curving profile resembles a beer belly more than it does a sail. Oh, did I mention that the building is plain ugly?

What everyone is perplexed about is this: why was there no public consultation process or environmental assessment before permission was granted for this project, and why was it exempted from Spanish coastal setback laws?

There is little that can be done at this point about Hotel W, save throw a bomb at it. Let it serve instead, for the many architecture students that visit Barcelona, as a perfect example of how definitely NOT to situate, proportion, or design a building--just as Dubya's presidency serves as an example of how NOT to run a nation. As with any done deal, one has no choice but to make the best of it.

It Came from Outer Space

Some buildings are built from the ground up, while others are flown to their site and lowered from the air with the help of aliens and flying saucers. This hotel in Barcelona's Raval neighbourhood is an example of the latter. Before it was lowered into place, the ground had to be cleared of obstacles (buildings, inhabitants, etc.)...for safety, of course. This part took the longest, as there was one neighbour who resented having to make way for progress. But once he was gone, it didn't take very long for this building to make its magical appearance on the cleared slate, er site. It happened one night during an important Barça game, when nobody was on the street. There was barely any noise, only a few strange lights, and voilà. As soon as the building was gently lowered to the ground, the spaceship was gone. Some workers tightened a few bolts, connected some cables and pipes, and that was it. Oh, shortly before the hotel opened, there was one last clean-up operation: a police round-up of suspected delinquents in the Raval whose activities had been repeatedly denounced throughout many years by residents. The hotel has been around for over a year now. At night, its red lights pay homage to the prostitution trade that flourishes in the area, in spite of efforts by the authorities to the contrary. Thanks to these generous aliens, and the collaboration of friendly monsters, the Raval is now hipper and safer. Benches placed by the Ajuntament de Barcelona for gazing at this object from (its) outer space.