The place I chose to write about is “La Malvarrosa beach”.
I am sitting on the sand. In front of me there is the mediterranean sea, with the knowing that much further ahead, in an almost a straight line, there is my home, the country of where I came from, Israel. To my right and left sides of view, there are many people who, like me, are enjoying the sand and hit of valencia’s most famous beach. The colors I see are mainly blue and yellow. The light blue of the sky, it’s tones and shades and with a little bit of soft white clouds. And then, as a dramatic contra to it’s softness and endlessness, there is the strong hot screaming yellow of the sand that spreads throughout kilometers from the place of where I sit.
Q1. I have chosen “La Malvarrosa” beach as the place that makes me feel comfortable because this is one of the only places of where I go when I need to relax. When I need to think.
I have been always attracted to places where, in one way or another, contain kind of a water element. And of course, which “water place” is better than where the sea touches the land.
Q2. What makes La Malvarrosa beach so calm and pleasant for me is the fact that I am sitting in front of an endless horizon and nobody bothers me. I can concentrate on my thoughts and see the world in a positive perspective, I can enjoy the hit of the sun that warms up my soul, I can feel the freshness of the water touching my toes and I can hear people enjoying and laughing all around me. Frankley, sometimes I do like quieter places than this beach, but every time I see the waves something settles within me.
Q3. Yes. I think in every place and moment one could find a disruptive element that pulls them back from the sense of the “perfection” they were looking for. As for me at the beach, it is the fact that I need to share this place with so many more people – people who are making noise, yelling, playing loud music, sometimes throw a ball at you by mistake. They are getting my attention without me willing it. All this kinds of “small things” would might cause you to “loss” the sense of “bliss” that you could have had while sitting on the beach. But, on the other hand – I say, this things pare playing a big rule out of the complete experience. Without them, this particular moment wouldn’t exists and would have been different. I think we should look at things as they are all small parts of a big reality called life. It’s ok to accept and embrace the other things, even if we didn’t expect them.
Q4. I think each place we go has its own unique character, so, in some way I can’t say I would feel the same in a different place. But, with that being said, I do think other places could give me the feeling of relaxation and bliss.
Q5. I do think the beach is a place of inspiration and self-finding. The natural conditions of the sea, sand and sun, with the sound of the waves, are supplying the right environment for the “peace” people are looking for. Moreover, it’s the perfect place to have fun and a great time with friends and family as its an outdoor space, full with room and nice breeze.
Q6. I think the question of changing something in a natural place in order to make it better is wrong from its base. Us, humans, have always the willing to change, to improve, to make the things more efficient – sometimes the things we already have are more than enough.
Obviously, there are places we do need to improve ourselves and our surroundings. For example, places who are meant to serve our needs and are not giving us 100% of what they should have.
However, in terms of nature, I do not think one should intervene or change something of what nature has given us. As the humankind has developed and learned, we notice that our intensive progression and development has a direct connection to the climate change, the global warming, the tremendous natural problems and the natural crisis we have now days.
A sketch I did representing the place:
“Atmospheres”, by Peter Zumthor
After reading 31 pages of “Atmospheres”, by Peter Zumthor my brain was full. I do not know this guy in person neither heard about him before, but he is definitely full with creativity and deep thoughts about the profession he had chosen to master at. The way he describes the 9 elements that for him, are completing architecture, time and space is very unique and inspirational.
I have connected to his words about how, through the first two seconds in music, we can connect ourselves to the feeling that the composer was meant us to feel. and how, throughout architecture, we can get to the same affect.
I do think he is thinking about architecture as a very artistic thing, which is beautiful and really positive and fulfilling thing to do. However, as for me, I am not sure if I am completely agree to give the artistic side the whole credit. As we all know, architecture is also about serving the needs of our clients, the people, who are going to use the space in one way or another.
Overall, I really liked the text. For me, a first-year architecture student, this text has given me many perspectives and ideas to think about as well as another creative and artistic way of seeing things, shapes, forms and materials.
My personal atmosphere
One personal “atmosphere” I have experienced that really influenced me is the Beaches in Queensland, Australia.
I lived in Australia for a year and due to covid, needed to stop traveling and stay in one place, as all the borders between the states have been shut. Luckily, I stayed in one of the most beautiful places in the world – “Sunshine beach”, Noosa, Queensland, Australia. This tropical place has blessed with some magnificent nature areas – many beautiful beaches and wide national parks. The people who are living there are mainly folks who have retired and want to live the best quality of life one could have, and they certainly know how to fulfill this goal.
As I wrote before, I really like the beach, especially when it is unfamiliar, clean and calm. While living in Sunshine Beach, I had a special routine of waking up each morning around 05.30AM and go to see the sunrise from the beach. It was a great opener for the day and filled my energy with good positive thoughts.
Thank you for reading !