Last month, the Rodić Davidson traveled to Girona for our annual studio trip. The team spent the weekend exploring the vibrant streets and squares of the historic city.
Known as the City of the Four Rivers, Girona’s historical quarter is influenced by medieval, Roman, Arab and Hebrew influences. Above all, the brightly painted facades of the houses overlooking the river provide a symbolic image of the city. During our trip, we visited one of these houses; Casa Maso, the birthplace of 20th Century Catalan architect Rafael Maso. The RDA team were given a private tour of the house, which has been preserved with the furniture of the Noucentista period, with clear influences from the English Arts and Crafts movement reflected in the interiors of the inner staircase and bedrooms. Caso Maso is the result of the consecutive amalgamation of four houses, bought by the Maso family in the 19th and 20th centuries, with its current appearance similar to the last set of alterations made by Rafael Maso in 1919. During the amalgamation of the four houses, he also united the rear of the houses into one large façade, distinguished by yellow glazed ceramic tiles. Standing there, we were able to see unique views of the city and river.
During our trip we visited some of Girona’s most significant historical developments, including the Cathedral of Saint Mary, Pont de les Peixateries Velles (Eiffel Bridge), the Arab Baths and took a walk along the 9th century Roman walls, where various towers offered excellent vantage points and views over the city and surrounding areas.
As part of the trip, we also visited the Cinema Museum, where some of the 20,000 pieces from Tomas Mallol’s private collection are on display. The museum offers a journey through five centuries of the history of photography, cinematography and images. From Chinese shadow theatre puppets, which the RDA team enjoyed trying out, a camera obscura, which allowed us to see the reflection of the exterior street, and a prominent section of the museum dedicated to the magic lantern. Two hundred years before the invention of the cinema, the magic lantern converted the projection of images into entertainment. The exhibition features a large collection of elegantly hand painted pictures on glass slides used, where light was directed through, onward into a lens. Within Pied Bull Yard and our office in Bloomsbury, there are two camera shops specialising in classic cameras. In the final room of the exhibition, were a selection of classic cameras and we saw how photography was able to reproduce precise images, through the advancement of the camera obscura.