Architecture diary

Recently, a 1908 black-and-white video of a tram circulating through the streets of Barcelona has become popular on social media. The camera is on board, positioned as if from the driver’s seat, capturing the life and architecture of the city at the time. The tram itself is never visible, but its presence is implied as it moves along rails embedded in cobblestone streets, crossing paths with other trams traveling in the opposite direction.

The video begins at the upper end of Passeig de Gràcia, just after crossing Diagonal Avenue, in the stretch at the beginning of Gran de Gràcia Street, which we now commonly know as Jardinets de Gràcia. The curve the tram takes, skirting a photography kiosk to align with Gran de Gràcia, allows the footage to be dated. Behind the kiosk, the first columns of what would become Casa Fuster, designed by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, are seen rising.

The time gap makes us marvel at things that were quite ordinary for people living back then, such as the number of cyclists in the city, who, in the absence of traffic lights, crossed haphazardly in front of the tram. Equally striking are the clothing styles and hats. A hundred years ago, everyone wore hats—even children!

We see the magnificent bench-lamps designed by Pere Falqués, often mistakenly attributed to Antoni Gaudí, which, unlike today, were present on this section of the street. Also visible are pavilions with decorative pedestals similar to those of the Cinc d’Oros, which Falqués would design years later at the intersection of Passeig de Gràcia and Diagonal Avenue. Carts, horses, many people dressed in their Sunday best, and very few cars. A recording that was likely made more to test the emerging technology of cinematographic recording than to document the city is now an invaluable chronicle of those years.

Newspaper archives become true chronicles of each era, an architectural diary of our cities where the passage of time is deposited, turning the simplest things into objects of fascination today.

Recording the events of our days is of great importance. What may seem commonplace or insignificant today takes on great relevance years later. We could say that chronicling is the simplest yet most sophisticated form of journalism. It seems simple because it might appear to be a mere chronological record of an event requiring little journalistic skill. However, inventorying the city is far from simple. As writer Georges Perec reminded us, “There are few events that do not leave at least a written trace—a metro ticket, a note scribbled in the margin of a diary.” Creating an inventory and leaving a written record of society’s frenetic and complex activity and that of our cities demands a high level of literary sophistication.

A few meters further down Passeig de Gràcia, we would have seen the construction of Casa Milà by Antoni Gaudí, which would not be completed until two years after the tram video. At the time, newspapers did not limit themselves to simply reporting on its inauguration but also captured the fiery opinions of citizens. The building received harsh criticism that ultimately determined its popular nickname. Gaudí designed a massive structure with a stone wall that he painstakingly modeled, block by block, in an obsessive process of piecing together the hanging facade. The public, who observed the process for four years, mockingly nicknamed the building “La Pedrera” (The Quarry), and the press published satirical drawings that exaggerated its appearance.

Architectural criticism faithfully reflects the interest that urban spaces and buildings spark among city residents. It plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion, fostering the critical stance necessary for the development of our cities. In retrospect, it provides valuable insight into contemporary thought and avant-garde ideas. As Oriol Bohigas often reminded us, our culture has always celebrated the opening of new squares or buildings with great interest; we enjoy forming our own judgments by experiencing these spaces and participating in the vibrant cultural debates they inspire.

Our fast-paced daily lives compel us to consume constant news about extraordinary events, often overlooking the most common, ordinary things. In this sense, newspaper archives become genuine chronicles of each era, an architectural diary of our cities where the passage of time is recorded, making the simplest things stand out today.

As Georges Perec wrote in his book Species of Spaces:

“Nothing grabs our attention. We don’t know how to observe.
We need to slow down, almost clumsily. Force ourselves to write about what seems uninteresting, what is most evident, most common, most mundane.
The street: try to describe the street, what it’s made of, what it’s for. The people in the streets, the cars. What kind of cars?
Don’t say, don’t write ‘etc.’ Force ourselves to exhaust the subject, even if it seems grotesque, futile, or stupid. We haven’t truly observed anything yet; we’ve merely inventoried what had long since been inventoried.
Force ourselves to observe with greater simplicity.”