DAVID F ROSS, AUTHOR AND ARCHITECT
Where is it?
Barcelona.
Why do you go there?
I’m drawn back to Barcelona because it reaffirms what makes a city great. The universal truth that people make places and not the other way around is exemplified by Barcelona.
Its identity comes from prioritising public spaces for people but without losing the necessary accessibility and supportive infrastructure that makes a city memorable.
The modern Barcelona has everything: grid-iron order, balance, human scale, urban hierarchy. It is like Glasgow, but with a better underground, a sunnier complexion, and a beach.
How often do you go?
I’ve been to Barcelona eight or nine times. Visiting or working in unique parts of the world has created a desire to see new destinations so I wouldn’t normally return to places I’ve been to before. But Barcelona is an exception. For me, it’s the place which every other place is measured against.
How did you discover it?
My grandfather saw Rangers win the 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. I remember him talking about what a great experience it was.
In the early 1990s, I read The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt. She reinforced the idea of architecture as a specific form of spatial – and therefore political – thinking. Barcelona is the best expression of Arendt’s belief in cities as public spaces to be prioritised by municipal governments over other commercial drivers.
In 1999, the city of Barcelona was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal for a substantial contribution to international architecture. It was – and remains – the only time in 175 years that a place has been the recipient, as opposed to an individual.
What’s your favourite memory?
My wife Elaine and I were on holiday in Barcelona just after the 1992 Olympic Games had been held in the city. We’d had this romantic notion of staying on the beach at Viladecans. When we got there, the “accommodation” we’d booked was basically a tiny garden shed with wee green lizards roaming around freely inside.
On the last three days it rained so much that we couldn’t keep the water (or the sand) out. It makes us laugh now, thinking about it. Favourite memories don’t always have to be great ones, I guess.
Who do you take?
Elaine, my missus. She loves Barcelona – the food, the culture, the entire vibe – as much as I do.
What do you take?
Too many T-shirts. Novels that I won’t make time to read. A guidebook that I now don’t need. A pro-European attitude that I’m defiantly clinging onto.
What do you leave behind?
Work-related pressures and an elderly dog called Harvey.
Sum it up in five words.
Alive. Exciting. Vibrant. Surprising. Gallus.
What other travel spot is on your wish list?
Tokyo. Another place where urban design quality is a significant characteristic of the built environment.
Dashboard Elvis Is Dead by David F. Ross (Orenda Books, £9.99) is out now
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