Beyond the Walls of Rome: North Trip: Part 2

Okay, here we go. North Trip: Part 2! The second half of the trip was quite interesting, taking us further and further north of Rome. There are still five towns/cities that I haven't told you about yet, so I will just get straight to it.

Sixth Stop: Sabbionneta

Oh my. What can I say about Sabbionneta. Several words and phrases come to mind to describe it: scary, abandoned, creepy, strange, and when are we leaving? Sabbionneta was a small fortified town designed on Roman principles. There was one main street, that draws you towards the main theatre in the town. The most interesting thing we found in this town was a randomly placed set of bumper cars. Of course, many of my classmates took advantage of this particular feature of the town.

Sabbionneta Urban Armature

The Local Theatre

Bumper Cars!!!

Seventh Stop: Mantova

Mantova was another strange stop on our way around the northern part of Italy. Mantova was a city of arches. Every walkway was covered and lined with arches and columns. It rained our first day there, but we rarely had to raise our umbrellas because of this urban condition. The walkways were all connected by a series of piazzas throughout the city highlighting different historical buildings. 

Mantova Urban Armature

Cathedrale in Mantova

The Palazzo

The Mantova Canal

Eighth Stop: Verona

In the tenth grade, we read Romeo and Juliet. After that, I always dreamed of someday going to Verona, and seeing the place that inspired Shakespeare to write such a beautiful story of young love. And for some reason, despite having this desire for many years, I never thought to plan a trip to go there during my term in Rome. And for an even stranger reason, when I saw Verona on the trip itinerary, I still did not put two and two together. It wasn't until I was sitting on the bus on the way there, and one of my classmates asked me what she should write in her letter to Juliet, did I realize exactly where we were headed. We were going to THAT Verona! I quickly researched Romeo and Juliet in Verona (and ignored the parts I read about it being a tourist trap, and the balcony being a fake addition to the house of the family that inspired Juliet's family in the story to boost tourism), and researched how to deliver my letter to Juliet. While in the Museum designed by Carlo Scarpa (an incredible piece of architecture) I thought about what to include. I finally decided to write about my current boyfriend Matt, and my hopes for us in the future, sealed the letter with a kiss and a rose, and put it in my pocket for later. My friends and I then explored the architecturally significant aspects of the town, and after lunch, we wandered down to Juliet's House. I found a spot among the locks to place my letter (I avoided the wall, because all of the used chewing gum stuck there freaked me out) and left it there. I can see why Shakespeare was inspired to write a story set in Verona, the place (outside of its touristy aspects) was quite a beautiful and inspiring city.

Verona Urban Armature

View from the Palazzo/Carlo Scarpa Museum

Juliet's (fake) Balcony

My Letter to Juliet

The Love Bench

The Verona Arena

Ninth Stop: Vicenza

Vicenza was a strange stop. Beautiful, but incredibly hard to find food. What kind of city has restaurants that are super difficult to find? I like food, and when I am hungry, I want it available. I don't like hunting for it! Anyways, I digress. This city had some very interesting aspects to it, but there was really only one standout building that captured my attention; The Basilica. In Italian cities, a basilica is not a church, but rather a public building. In Vicenza, this building was located in the centre of the city, surrounded by piazzas. The building is currently filled with stores, but has a captivating exhibition space on the third floor. This space was built by ship builders, and so when you look up at the ceiling, it feels as though you are looking at the bottom of a boat. Finally, the Basilica had a beautiful rooftop bar, with an incredibly long line, that looks out over the city at night.

Vicenza Urban Armature

Under The Basilica

The Basilica Ceiling

The Rooftop Bar

Tenth and Final Stop: Venice

Oh Venice. I love Venice! This is my second time here. Like Siena, I came to Venice with my family during the summer. It may be one of the most romantic places I have ever been. There's just something about the atmosphere there that feels like it was made for lovers. Because of this, I am going to bring my boyfriend back here at the end of my school term when he comes to visit and see if my philosophy about it being romantic is true. The city is also just an wonderful place to experience. The idea of being in a place with no cars is something I have only experienced once before, in Greenland. I love walking everywhere, although Venice poses a unique problem. Once you hit water, you can get stuck! There are not always paths for walking along water, so every once in a while, you will just hit a dead end. Also, the grand canal that runs through the city can only be crossed at 4 points, and does not have pedestrian walkways all the way along it. While in Venice, I spent a lot of time around the Rialto Bridge, because it is one of the simplest places to navigate. I also spent a bit of time in Piazza San Marco, feeding the famous pigeons (that you are not supposed to feed) and enjoying the view of some of the most expensive restaurants that I will never be able to afford to eat at. On this trip, I also had the pleasure of experiencing the Venice Biennale. Unfortunately, this year was the art exposition, not the architecture one. The exhibits were still interesting, but modern art has always perplexed me. I just don't quite get what people are usually trying to say, but I can appreciate beauty when I see it!

Venice Urban Armature

At the Venice Biennale

At the Venice Biennale

Dinner at Ponte Rialto

View from the Ponte Rialto at Night

Piazza San Marco at Night

The Bridge of Sighs

Ponte Rialto

Well, there you have it. Ten towns and cities in nine days. And when it was all done, it was back to Rome and back to work! We were headed full steam into November and our final projects.

Ciao for now!

Beyond the Walls of Rome: North Trip: Part 1

Over the course of our term in Rome, there are two major field trips that everyone looks forward to; the south trip for Rome and the Campagna and the north trip for Italian Urban History. Unlike the south field trip, where every day was fairly relaxing, with lectures during the day, and lounging on the beach in the afternoon and evening, the north trip was intense! The trip was full of switching cities and switching hotels, plus lots and lots of lectures. The lectures were all centered around the idea of the city as a theatre. A place for viewing, and a place to be viewed. During this trip, we also had to do a series of urban armature sketches, that showed the main armature or organizing principle of each city, from gate to gate.

First Stop: Pienza

Pienza was a small medieval town that was rebuilt and repopulated by one of the popes who was born there. The town is surrounded by nature on all sides, giving the people who live there these amazing views of the Tuscan countryside. In the centre of the town, there was a large piazza, with views opening on either side on the church towards the landscape. This square is also one of the brightest spaces in the city, drawing you from the one main road into the light that fills the space.

Urban Armature

The Outer Path of Pienza

The Back of The Piazza in Pienza

Against the Tuscan Landscape

Second Stop: Siena

Siena was the next beautiful town in the north that we visited. This was the second time I can here, having been once already with my family. (And yes, this is where the colour siena comes from, all the bricks in the city are that colour.) Siena was incredibly interesting because of the sqaure at the centre of the city. The square, called "Piazza del Campo" is a sloped piazza, sloping down toward the Palazzo (the cities former government building and current historical museum). This square has an history of horse racing, that continues to this day. Each year (possibly twice a year) each of the 17 districts of Siena choose a horse and rider to race one lap around the piazza. The winner gets bragging rights for a year until the next race is held. The Piazza has 11 entrances and exits that all point you in different directions out into the city. There is also an incredible church in the city called the Duomo, all clad in black and white marble stripes. It kind of looked like the Hamburgeler of churches, but I digress. Siena is a wonderful city that is definitely worth a visit (or two).

Siena Urban Armature

Siena from Above

The Duomo

The Palazzo

Third Stop: Gubbio

Gubbio was an odd third stop. After hours and hours spent on a bus because of torrential rain in Italy washing out part of the highway, we stopped in Gubbio for exactly 30 minutes just as the sun was about to set. Our prof lead the way as we rushed up a series of stairs to a hanging piazza, overlooking the landscape. The view was beautiful, the sky had cleared and the sunset was inspiring. I guess that's why Gubbio was worth a quick stop.

Gubbio Urban Armature

Sunset in Gubbio

Sunset in Gubbio

Fourth Stop: Urbino

Oh Urbino. What to say. Well, you couldn't go anywhere without going uphill. They somehow managed to build that town so that you are always walking uphill! I don't remember going downhill at any point. It was quite odd. The city is built on two peaks of a mini mountain with a main piazza in the valley (I guess I lied about going downhill, but the uphills took so much longer, and thus, get more emphasis).There is not a ton to say about Urbino. It seemed almost as though it was built as a Utopia. Nothing felt out of place there, and the city framed itself at every turn, creating these perfect viewing windows of different areas. No where did this better than the park at the top of one of the peaks. This park was the perfect place to sit and sketch, while appreciating the beauty of the townscape on the other peak. One other interesting thing about Urbino was our accommodation. We had our first ever University living experience! We stayed in dorms and ate cafeteria food. It was exactly as described. Small, cell-like, not exactly clean, and the food was pretty gross, but its cheapness made up for the taste.

Urbino Urban Armature

Urbino First Peak Piazza

View from the Park on the Second Peak

Urbino Through Framed Views

Urbino from the Park at Night

Fifth Stop: Parma

Parma was a city of frames. Frames of history, and literal frames made by the arches present in every single building. Parma, unfortunately, was one of the cities approved to be bombed by the allies in World War II. Luckily, much of the history of the city survived, including the Farnese Theatre. This was the first ever theatre to use a Proscenium. Part of the Palazzo that hosts this theatre was destroyed, but the area left open by it has become a beautiful park, through which people bike and walk to cross the city. The Duomo also survived the war, along with its piazza, forming a historical frame within the city.

Parma Urban Armature

Parma Palazzo

Farnese Theatre

Crossing the River in Parma

A Church in Parma

Wow, this post has gotten long! I will do the other half of the trip in another post sometime soon.

Ciao for now!

October in Rome: Part 2

At the end of our brief but amazing course with Rick, we celebrated Thanksgiving as a class. What an undertaking! We ordered 5 large turkeys, and it fell to member of the class who had an oven to cook them (luckily, my roommates and I only have a stove, so we were saved this stress). Everyone else had to bring a side dish. We made mashed potatoes and quinoa salad, both of which were delicious and disappeared before seconds were served! Eating dinner with our whole class (all 60 of us) squeezed into our lecture hall was quite an experience! Nobody could get up unless everyone got up, and no one could sit down until everyone was ready to sit down. It was very amusing.

We also had some lovely entertainment at our dinner. Some of my classmates rediscovered some never before heard scenes from our 2011 play Ilion. At the time, one of the guys writing the play had this incredible dry sense of humor, and could turn any sentence into a punch line, simply with how he delivered it. Although he is no longer in our class, some of the other writers did their best to read the scenes he wrote with the same delivery with which they was intended. The whole spectacle brought back wonderful memories of acting in the play, and the camaraderie it brought us. Not to mention it was so funny, they couldn't even finish reading the scenes, because of the uncontrollable laughter echoing off the walls.

And then, it was time to focus on the next project before the class field trip to the north of Italy. Like the first project, this one was located in the Via dis Fiori Imperiale and Colosseum area of the city. We were tasked with designing a new master plan for the area which proved to be quite a challenge! I've never been very astute at site planning, and really had to work in order to come up with something to present for this project.

I planned to redistribute the site into three different rings, a vehicular traffic ring, a park/green space ring, and a pure pedestrian ring primarily for the tourists. I imagined the park space a being a space of mediation between the city and the tourists. A place where the two worlds of Rome could meet in a relaxing environment. This area was designed on the principles of Socrates "Allegory of the Cave". This story tells us of prisoners who were held in a cave, and shown only the shadows of objects their whole lives. When one prisoner is released and begins to see the objects that once cast the shadows in their entirety, he cannot comprehend what they are. Through exposure he learns that the objects and their shadows are one in the same. I reinterpreted this story into a series of winding paths leading throughout the site, guiding people to the Roman Forum. Throughout the paths there would be small fractions of objects found throughout the Forum dispersed among the paths and trees. These would be the shadows for the visitors. Once in the forum, the people would be able to see these objects still in use on the ancient buildings that remain standing there.

I also designed a preliminary idea of my final project, a Museum of the Fora. I envisioned a building that floats over the site, using light and darkness as a means guiding people through the museum.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the first panel with the hand sketches I did, but I will do when I get them back... If I get them back. I'm not entirely sure if we do or not.

Ciao for now!

October in Rome: Part 1

October was a very busy month! As a class, we were all over the city all the time! For our Rome and the Campagna class we had 6 onsite lectures in the first two weeks of the month before Thanksgiving. The first of these was the mother load. Rick's famous lecture in the Roman Forum. 

From the time the Forum opened, until the time they found us hiding in a back corner and kicked us out, that man spoke. He told wonderful stories about the history of Rome and the importance of the space in which we were learning. He taught us that all tour guides lie, and what Roman life was like. He transported us for the land of the living, to the realm of the mythical and historic simply with his words. The experience was incredible, although it would have been slightly more enjoyable if it hadn't been so hot, with so little shade! Having spoken to people who had taken this class before, I knew that my most important tool for the day would be an umbrella, and boy was I right. At first, I probably looked silly sitting under an umbrella in the sun, but then my friend joined me, and then we were a group of 60 people, huddled under umbrellas without a cloud in the sky! 

Column of Focus

Temple of Castor and Pollux

Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius

The next two days of lectures were held at the Colosseum and San Clemente, and at the remains of Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. The Colosseum lecture was far too crowded! I heard almost none of it, because I had to stand far away from the professor, and he was trying not to disturb other people that were there. But the Colosseum itself is definitely worth a visit! It's very rare that you get to go and see somewhere with that much history. Unless you go to the next place on our list, San Clemente. San Clemente is a church, built on top of another church, built on top of the roman remains of a cult building and the Roman Mint. It is so interesting because you can actually walk through the levels and experience each one, walking through it and knowing that each was once at ground level. Amazing. Finally, we went to see the remains of Hadiran's Villa. Wow. How one man could have conceived of that, I don't know. He experimented with architectural themes no one had ever seen before. And it wasn't until years later that many of them would ever be seen again. This Villa is home to the famous Maritime theatre. It's purpose it unknown, and it isn't actually a theatre, but it was a wonderful space to sit and learn from our prof.

The Colosseum

San Clemente Bottom Church

View from the top of Hadrian's Villa

The Maritime Theatre

The next, and final three lectures, were held at the Trajan Markets, the Baths of Caracalla, and the Pantheon. Trajan's Markets were built as a part of Trajan's forum. To build this forum, they took out part of the hill, making it necessary to build something to hold up what was left of the hill, and hence, Trajan's Market was born! Next, we went to the Baths of Caracalla. I can't remember if these were the largest or second largest public bath complex built within the Roman Empire, but either way, the ruins were gigantic! These ruins were commissioned by Septamus Severus, during his reign as Roman Emperor. At the height of their use, the baths could house thousands of people. There were separate baths for men and women, as well as separate change rooms and running tracks. I don't know about you, but communal bathing doesn't really appeal to me... Finally, we ended our course with a lecture at the Pantheon. This lecture was by far the best one of the course. Hearing it really connected us with the building, and its importance in history. We also learned of the importance of the building to our professor and his family. The lecture really transcended the class through time and space, taking us to each time period of importance connected with the Pantheon. By far, the Rantheon is my favourite place in Rome, I have since been back many times, and anticipate going there again before I leave the city.

Trajan's Market

Trajan's Market

Baths of Caracalla

The Pantheon

Pantheon Dome

The Pantheon's Original Second Tier

The Pantheon Entrance

This is a very long post, and I am only halfway through the month.... I think I will end this here and continue October in the next post.

Ciao for now!