In our groups, we began to think about the castle at different scales. I found it interesting to think about the importance of the presence of the castle, and its affect of the city as a whole. These images show the castle in the day and in the evening. I observed how the castle has a powerful presence, as though it ‘watches over’ the busy city below. Here, some images show the castle in the day and in the evening. The castle creates an extremely Mediterranean landscape during the day, and in the evening a romantic atmosphere.
I began to think about what Alicante might look like if the castle didn’t exist. Using Photoshop I edited the castle out, to understand the concept.
The outcome of the Photoshop task helped me to understand the importance the castle has within the city, and its atmosphere. It acts as a visual reminder of the historical story of Alicante, and completes the character of the city. From this, I began to compare the character of Alicante to the character of other coastal cities in Spain. I feel Benidorm has one of the most contrasting characters, with more of a developed, less historical aesthetic. I questioned what Alicante might be like with this kind of aesthetic, and how it would change the city and impact its inhabitants. I used Photoshop again to test this, I found that adding skyscrapers into the landscape changed the character of the city dramatically and highlighted the importance of the castle.
Design Studio 5 & 7 