Gehry's Peix (Fish), Barcelona

1 more image

When Barcelona presented itself to the world for the Summer Olympic Games in 1992, new buildings and structures appeared, but of course also a lot of art. Among the most obvious sculptures is the Peix (Catalan for fish) by Canadian artist Frank Gehry. Its sun-reflecting metal structure makes it easily visible from distance. It sits on the Olympic Port Building in front of a big skyscraper. Materials used are steel, stone and glass.

You can find this giant steel sculpture of a fish on Barcelona beach at the start of the Olympic park area . It was created by star architect Frank Gehry as a commission for the Olympic Games in Barcelona in the 1990s.

Gehry is famous, for example, for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (Spain), and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (USA).

Just go for a stroll on the beach and note the sculpture as you walk past.

The Golden Fish. Everyone has seen it, whether looking left, down the beach from Barceloneta or being under it in Port Olimpic. The Golden Fish seems to mark the beginning of the area and lies at the bottom of two other landmarks, Spain’s tallest buildings, the Hotel Arts and the Mapfre tower. The man responsible for the fish is also one of the two architects who designed The Hotel Arts, Frank O. Gehry. Like so much of Barcelona’s public art in this area, Gehry was commissioned for the 1992 Olympics. This huge fish sculpture, measuring 35 m x 54 m came out of Gehry’s ongoing interest and fascination in fish imagery and shapes. The position of the fish looking out to sea is rather appropriate too. The sculpture is made out of stone, steel and glass and is immediately eye catching with its shiny metal plates changing colour depending on the sunlight.

www.barcelonaconnect.com

The beach is really long and lined with palm trees. The area behind Port Olimpic is dominated by Barcelona's two tallest skyscrapers - one is the luxury Hotel Arts Barcelona and the other is an office block. Here you can also find the giant copper sculpture Peix (Fish) by Frank Ghery.

The large sculpture in the Vila Olimpica just North of Barceloneta is one of the largest in the world and was created using computer aided design techology for the 1982 Olympics.