and the winners are…

first of all, thanks to all the participants for their warm comments!
louise picked up the names of the 3 winners of the "lapin-lottery".
congratulation to enno, debb campbell & murillo s romeiro!
please, send me your address by email and I will send the book asap.

by the way, the book is now for sale on my online shop.

"poblenou" lottery

to celebrate my last book "poblenou. atlas ilustrado de un barrio industrial", it's time for the traditional "lapin-lottery"!
louise will pick up 3 names from the comments of this post, to win a dedicate copy. 
you have until sunday 25th of novembre at midnight, barcelona hour, to get a chance to win.
and the winners are enno, debb campbell & murillo s romeiro!

« Poblenou. atlas ilustrado de un barrio industrial »
hard cover, 92 pages, 210 x 160 mm, 15.00 €
published by "Ajuntament de Barcelona

poblenou open night signature

I will sign my book of poblenou this friday night from 20:00 to 22:00 at brutus de gaper during the "poblenou open night" organized by poblenou urban district. see ya!

"poblenou. atlas ilustrado de un barrio industrial" published by ajuntament de barcelona, 92 pages, 210 x 160 mm, 15.00 €.

book launch "poblenou"

exposición y presentación del libro "Poblenou. Atlas ilustrado de un barrio industrial" publicado por el Ajuntament de Barcelona en presencia del autor Lapin y de Jorge Carrión:
jueves 25 de octubre a partir de las 19:00.
Can Picó, calle de Pere IV, 58, metro Bogatell


The book I was working on during the last 3 years is finally ready!
I started documenting the gentrification affecting my Barcelona neighborhood, as old factories are replaced by hotels and office buildings.
The pages of my sketchbook have become a record of change, as the old is bulldozed in the name of progress. This is my testimony to keep in mind what made Poblenou special to me.

You are all invited for the book launch and exhibition on Thursday 25th of October at 19:00 in Can Picó, calle de Pere IV, 58 in Barcelona.

« Poblenou. atlas ilustrado de un barrio industrial »
hard cover, 92 pages, 210 x 160 mm, 15.00 €
published by "Ajuntament de Barcelona"

lost poblenou update!

before the launching of my book "poblenou. atlas ilustrado de un barrio industrial" in fall 2018, here is a selection of my last sketches of poblenou.
the district keep changing and I archive the industrial patrimony before it disappears…

"space oddities" workshop in poblenou, barcelona

how can I describe this past 5 days with such a great group of sketchers from all around europe?

first of all, thank you very much to isabel and swasky who invited me to teach with them in my neighborhood, poblenou. we definitely pushed our sketching boundaries curving the space to fit 180º to 360º scenes in our sketchbooks. we also invited the participant to focus on some quotidian subjects in spite of the many monuments of barcelona, showing the transition that is happening here, also called gentrification.
I especially appreciate to get time to speak with every participant, and to get 2 workshop cessions with each in small groups of 8 to 10 sketchers, that allow me to go further in the explanation of some complicated representation as cylindrical and spherical perspective.

following are some of this special moments we shared together:









congratulation to each of you, you made a terrific job.
see you soon again, and until than keep sketching!!

lost poblenou - update

I keep sketching my neighborhood "poblenou" in barcelona to keep an archive of old factories and shops that are disappearing "poc a poc".
you will learn more about my "lost poblenou" project in the spanish newspaper "el periódico" or on spanish radio "cadena ser".

lost poblenou

I live in barcelona for 10 years now, after living the first months in the barceloneta district, I moved to poblenou to escape the crowd of tourists. I immediately felt at home in this old industrial area, a mix of factories, small modernist houses, graffiti, families on the rambla de poblenou and workers. it was a forgotten place in barcelona, far away from the touristic itinerary.
then, I saw the construction of 22@, a modern trade center, offices, universities and art foundations together. some chimneys and bricks buildings are cohabiting with skyscrapers. it’s fine to me, a normal expansion to bring modernity to barcelona, but the mood of the district was changing already.
so more and more creative people were moving here as poblenou became « trendy ».
meanwhile lots of huge hotels are built from scratch in the place of old façades in small streets that had the patina of past decades. and many more hotels are under construction…
this is a big trauma. I don’t recognize anymore some blocs, the rambla de poblenou is not familiar anymore, and the menu of the day in some trendy new restaurants is « paella and sangria » which get nothing to do with barcelona, but a cliché for the increasing number of tourists.
there are still plenty of great places in the neighborhood as poblenou is a vast district.
it will take a few more years to change the entire area, but on the way to the flea market this morning, I mind that some more houses, bars and workshops had disappear…
So I feel the urgency to archive in my sketchbooks this poblenou that disappears.
I know that the battle is not fair, I can only sketch to fight the gentrification, but I need it to keep in mind what made poblenou special to me.

poblenou

this are some illustrations I've done for the past exhibition "drawing poblenou" about the urban district of barcelona.