Hello all -
So as you have probably realized, I'm about two months behind on blog posting. Since things continue to get busier and busier here in Rome, I'm thinking of temporarily discontinuing this blog stream. I feel I should give a brief summary of the rest of my summer adventures and then refer you to the webpage for my class in Rome. There, I'll post occasional pictures of my adventures, respond to a weekly blog question, and collect all of my projects digitally. So I'll say au revoir to this blog for now. But fear not, the future of the blog continues on through the Rome program page:
didascalo.com
Okay, I'll give you an update on my travels:
After the site visit, we went on our ten-day field trip around Switzerland. We spent our first day in Zurich and managed to see work from major architects like Santiago Calatrava and Le Corbusier. The next day, we headed west to Luzern and Bern. Luzern was beautiful, but Bern held an even more stunning marvel - the Paul Klee Museum by Renzo Piano. Only one of my favorite buildings by one of my favorite architects, housing one of my favorite artists (refering to Picasso, who had an exhibit), the trip blew my mind. The next day we traveled even further west to Lausanne and Montreaux. I was excited for this trip because, unlike Scudellate where I struggled with italian and Zurich, Bern, and Luzern where I was completly lost with german, I could actually communicate with the french-speaking swiss! Yay! After seeing the new Rolex center at the Polytechnic University of Lausanne, we headed to Montreaux to enjoy some music and a refreshing dip in the lake. Ronchamp was the goal of our next day. Though to get there we needed to take four trains through two countries and hike up a steep hill, the journey was worth it. Ronchamp is this amazing chapel designed by Le Corbusier. We had all day to sketch his masterful use of light and materials. The fifth day we took another train-jumping journey into the alps to check out a couple works of the swiss architect Olgiati. The buildings were interesting, but not nearly as engaging as the stunning landscape around. Definitely worth the trek.
The sixth day was a bit different, as we went from the Alps up north just over the German border to the Vitra Design Museum. A bit like an architect's disneyland, Vitra is a bizzare and eclectic collection of architectural jems designed by starchitects such as Zaha Haddid, Tado Ando, and Herzog & De Meuron. We spent that night in a hostel in Basel where one of my colleagues managed to save some money by convincing one of my intended roomates to crowd 6 people into his room instead of 5 and 5, like planned. Neadless to say paying almost 20 franci for the night did not make me like spending the next day together in the group very easy. However, between seeing another Renzo Piano museum in Basel and experiencing my first Richard Serra sculpture, I was able to forget the conflict a little.
That night, to make up for the extra charge from the night before, one of my classmates and I decided to spend the night on the trains, which are usually comfortable, warm, and free because of our swiss passes. After going for a swim in the river at Bern and not able to meet up with our other classmates staying there, we decided to start our night on a train heading to Zurich. Assuming that because of it's size, Zurich would have plenty of trains late at night, we didn't worry about our night until we got off in Zurich into an empty train station. We had taken the last train in or out of Zurich and we were stuck. We searched out a bench in the station to sleep on, only to be awoken half an hour later by a guard telling us the station was closing. Kicked out into the streets of Zurich, we befriended a Hungarian, eastern Orthodox christian composer who was about our age and in our same predicament. We all made our way near the river to find three empty benches. Each of us pick our luxurious bed and managed to get an hour or two of sleep before returning to the train station for its opening and grabbing a train back to Basel to meet up with our class for our trip into Austria to see the Kuntshaus museum by the god-architect Peter Zumthor. After our fill of the museum, we made our way towards the swiss architectural mecca - Therme Vals - also by Zumthor, managing to also see his archeological museum in Chur on the way.
Let me tell you now, the two days we spent rejuvenating in Vals made up for any of the other hardships of the trip. Between enjoying the baths and amazing breakfast buffet, I spent my time just soaking in the surrounding Alpen landscape. Green hills, dotted with small abandoned sheep huts, filled my mind with wonder and spoke deeply to me. Vals was amazing and two days in the baths felt sooooo good! On our way out of Vals, we took another small sidetrack to see a beautiful small Zumthor chapel. This one involved quite a hike, especially because I had our teacher's fiver year old daughter on my back the whole way. But that made getting to the top and seeing the chapel all the more rewarding. It was absolutely spectacular and had views out into the alps. Amazing!
When we finally made it home, it was design crunch time. We had lots of work to do for our projects and on top of that had watercolor classes, Italian lessons, a couple metal sculpting workshops (which were really cool!), and a hand full of other day trips. One of the day trips was to Como, were we saw some interesting fascist architecture and took a boat to the real Bellagio, which is actually a quaint little lake town. Another trip was to Locarno for Swiss independence day, a fun night of fireworks and wine which ended with us sleeping in a park...good times. The last trip we took was to two Botta projects up in the hills around Ticino. Now, normally Botta projects are kinda...well bad. He uses very strict geometries and often repeats (inappropriatly so) many of his designs. But these two projects were something very special. They were both chapels, though very different. The first was of beautiful red stone and had a long ramp that stretched out towards the horizon off of the mountain side. With great billowy clouds and misty conditions, the scene was spectacular. The other chapel was a little further out of the way (you know, one of those train to a bus to another bus sorta places). But it was worth it. At one of our stops, we had enough time to go for a dip in the river, which was cold and super fresh and delicious. The chapel was the original (and most fitting) botta truncated cylinder and was equally amazing to the first. After almost missing the bus (as in I, alone, distracted by the landscape, had to run after the bus everyone else was already in, oops) we made home and continued to crank out our project.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Catch up time!
Alright folks, its story time!
So, leaving off from our one short, relaxing week in Scudellate, we journeyed into Ticino that weekend, seeing our site for the first time and finally getting a full introduction to our project. We journeyed into Locarno, a near by (relatively close, only four train/bus transfers...haha) city that boasts an active cultural scene fueled by the city's music festival and cinema festival that take place each summer. Before leaving, we were given two things - one was the floor plans for our site, which turn out to be quite minimal and very confusing, and the other was the general vision that this was to become some sort of cultural/art center. Arriving in Locarno, it was hard to know what to expect, so when we approached the site and saw the castello (castle), we got really excited and started snapping photos, following the crumbling wall under an nearby underpass and into a grand circular plaza. It turned out as we finally gathered from our photo splurge that what we'd just photographed, the main castello, the old wall, the underpass, and the big circular piazza, we not part of our site at all. Go figure.
Our site was, as a matter of fact, much more complex regardless of its smaller scale. The owners, two affluent intellectuals, brothers from Locarno, owned three buildings on the block next to the castle. To give you some perspective, the piece of the castle they owned is a small triangular, underground chunk that used to be an old battlement against invaders and used to be completely above ground before the city grew around it. So standing on the top of it to begin with was very misleading. From the top, you can see the courtyard below where the gabled building that they own (which at first seems to be one story) goes four stories down to meet the cobblestones of the courtyard. They also owned another building, fairly plain from the courtyard side, that actually has a decorative, curved, and historical street facade. The actual castle chunk, named Il Rivellino, was supposedly designed by Leonardo Da Vinci and was commissioned by the Duke of Milano back in the early 16th century. Access into the large stone walls that rise to a sharp point on the corner is from the courtyard below. Inside is a series of cave-like chambers, which appears a little bizarre when so surrounded by an eclectic mix of bland-looking buildings around, almost a secret urban grotto. Going inside was like stepping into another time and place, dark, gloomy, damp, and thrilling. After our brief site visit through the courtyard, the Rivellino, and the gabled building, called The Vernacular, we met with our clients again, but this time over risotto, to discuss what they envisioned. The brothers were very excited to have us working on this project, a dream they've had for some time now. Currently they'd been using the largest room in the Rivellino and three of the stories in the Vernacular as Gallery space for both local and famous artists (one of whom, Peter Greenway, a famous cinematographer, we would latter meet). So they wanted to expand the project they'd begun to include some sort of student studio and housing complex, preferably with the use of the existing built infrastructure. It turns out this program was actually geared towards supporting a group of architecture students, like use, to use the site as a home base to study abroad. The tables had turned, making use the end users - a very unique possibility indeed. Along with viewing the site, we got a brief overview of what issues Locarno faced, including social class divide and a cultural monopoly so to speak by the cinema festival.
After our visit, the brothers turned over the Vernacular building to use as a place to crash so that we could stay in Locarno for the night and get a taste of the culture firsthand. And, of course, as proper American college student, Locarno Culture meant finding cheap wine, and lots of it. Which we did. Quite successfully actually. Its amazing to think that for about 4 franci (about 3.75 ish dollars) we could buy a bottle of Italian wine that actually tasted good - even better than two-buck chuck (not hard to do I guess). The group of 23 of us split into a few fractions, two groups on a quest to find a good bar to watch the world cup match that was on, a group bent on finding a good meal, and then my group, three lone students stuck back at the Vernacular watch the bags. Good times. Soon though, we were relieved to go get dinner, which included of such exquisite fare as a cheap block of cheese, a loaf of bread, and bargain bologna. Yum (don't worry, i was getting quite used to it after our Italy trip). But at any rate, one of the groups soon returned to the vernacular and we joined forces and bottles of wine to find a good place on the lake (Locarno is along the bank of Lago Maggorie) to go skinny dipping. Wine in hand and gathered together, we set forth, leaving our valubles in the hands of a few more timid classmates. After an adventurous walk (aka semi-drunken stubble), we found a good spot and all hopped into the cool water sans clothes. It was great fun! Of course, returning to the vernacular wet as the buzz of the wine and cold water wore off wasn't as much fun and I soon was very much ready for bed. Getting back to the building, I managed to pull together my bag and a random drop cloth for a bed over the hard tile and fell asleep right away.
The next morning, I woke around four, to find myself sore from the tile, surrounded by people sleeping away - on mattresses none the less (where they found them was in the next room I found out later) - and urgently craving a way to get comfortable. After several positions and re-layering of the drop cloth, the most comfortable position I managed to find was sitting up against the wall. But by that point I was too sore and too awake to fall asleep again, so pulling myself up, I wandered about the town, managed to scrounge some breakfast up from a near by convenience store, and return to the Vernacular a little loosened up. We were asked to help set up for the Peter Greenway exhibit that was going on the following week, so the morning meant painting, lifting, moving, ect. After which we got another healthy dose of risotto and were sent off back to Scudellate.
So, leaving off from our one short, relaxing week in Scudellate, we journeyed into Ticino that weekend, seeing our site for the first time and finally getting a full introduction to our project. We journeyed into Locarno, a near by (relatively close, only four train/bus transfers...haha) city that boasts an active cultural scene fueled by the city's music festival and cinema festival that take place each summer. Before leaving, we were given two things - one was the floor plans for our site, which turn out to be quite minimal and very confusing, and the other was the general vision that this was to become some sort of cultural/art center. Arriving in Locarno, it was hard to know what to expect, so when we approached the site and saw the castello (castle), we got really excited and started snapping photos, following the crumbling wall under an nearby underpass and into a grand circular plaza. It turned out as we finally gathered from our photo splurge that what we'd just photographed, the main castello, the old wall, the underpass, and the big circular piazza, we not part of our site at all. Go figure.
Our site was, as a matter of fact, much more complex regardless of its smaller scale. The owners, two affluent intellectuals, brothers from Locarno, owned three buildings on the block next to the castle. To give you some perspective, the piece of the castle they owned is a small triangular, underground chunk that used to be an old battlement against invaders and used to be completely above ground before the city grew around it. So standing on the top of it to begin with was very misleading. From the top, you can see the courtyard below where the gabled building that they own (which at first seems to be one story) goes four stories down to meet the cobblestones of the courtyard. They also owned another building, fairly plain from the courtyard side, that actually has a decorative, curved, and historical street facade. The actual castle chunk, named Il Rivellino, was supposedly designed by Leonardo Da Vinci and was commissioned by the Duke of Milano back in the early 16th century. Access into the large stone walls that rise to a sharp point on the corner is from the courtyard below. Inside is a series of cave-like chambers, which appears a little bizarre when so surrounded by an eclectic mix of bland-looking buildings around, almost a secret urban grotto. Going inside was like stepping into another time and place, dark, gloomy, damp, and thrilling. After our brief site visit through the courtyard, the Rivellino, and the gabled building, called The Vernacular, we met with our clients again, but this time over risotto, to discuss what they envisioned. The brothers were very excited to have us working on this project, a dream they've had for some time now. Currently they'd been using the largest room in the Rivellino and three of the stories in the Vernacular as Gallery space for both local and famous artists (one of whom, Peter Greenway, a famous cinematographer, we would latter meet). So they wanted to expand the project they'd begun to include some sort of student studio and housing complex, preferably with the use of the existing built infrastructure. It turns out this program was actually geared towards supporting a group of architecture students, like use, to use the site as a home base to study abroad. The tables had turned, making use the end users - a very unique possibility indeed. Along with viewing the site, we got a brief overview of what issues Locarno faced, including social class divide and a cultural monopoly so to speak by the cinema festival.
After our visit, the brothers turned over the Vernacular building to use as a place to crash so that we could stay in Locarno for the night and get a taste of the culture firsthand. And, of course, as proper American college student, Locarno Culture meant finding cheap wine, and lots of it. Which we did. Quite successfully actually. Its amazing to think that for about 4 franci (about 3.75 ish dollars) we could buy a bottle of Italian wine that actually tasted good - even better than two-buck chuck (not hard to do I guess). The group of 23 of us split into a few fractions, two groups on a quest to find a good bar to watch the world cup match that was on, a group bent on finding a good meal, and then my group, three lone students stuck back at the Vernacular watch the bags. Good times. Soon though, we were relieved to go get dinner, which included of such exquisite fare as a cheap block of cheese, a loaf of bread, and bargain bologna. Yum (don't worry, i was getting quite used to it after our Italy trip). But at any rate, one of the groups soon returned to the vernacular and we joined forces and bottles of wine to find a good place on the lake (Locarno is along the bank of Lago Maggorie) to go skinny dipping. Wine in hand and gathered together, we set forth, leaving our valubles in the hands of a few more timid classmates. After an adventurous walk (aka semi-drunken stubble), we found a good spot and all hopped into the cool water sans clothes. It was great fun! Of course, returning to the vernacular wet as the buzz of the wine and cold water wore off wasn't as much fun and I soon was very much ready for bed. Getting back to the building, I managed to pull together my bag and a random drop cloth for a bed over the hard tile and fell asleep right away.
The next morning, I woke around four, to find myself sore from the tile, surrounded by people sleeping away - on mattresses none the less (where they found them was in the next room I found out later) - and urgently craving a way to get comfortable. After several positions and re-layering of the drop cloth, the most comfortable position I managed to find was sitting up against the wall. But by that point I was too sore and too awake to fall asleep again, so pulling myself up, I wandered about the town, managed to scrounge some breakfast up from a near by convenience store, and return to the Vernacular a little loosened up. We were asked to help set up for the Peter Greenway exhibit that was going on the following week, so the morning meant painting, lifting, moving, ect. After which we got another healthy dose of risotto and were sent off back to Scudellate.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Okay...Its Been Awhile
Alright, so I know I've been MIA, but lets just quick recap what's happened since my last post - I went on a ten-day field trip of Switzerland with my class, details to come, I returned to Scudellate for three weeks of intensive work on our design project, which was an addition/reuse of an old stone battlement of a castle and the buildings around, again, more details to come, then after presented to our clients + famous architects of the Ticino region, we traveled for a week in northern Italy, seeing the Palio in Siena, Florence, and Cinque Terre. Now I'm in Lyon with my french cousin Neyla and just finished seeing some amazing work from the architect Le Corbusier. Tomorrow I'll be heading back down to Italy, first to Turin for a few hours, then back to Ticino, Lugano to be exact, to stay the night in the same hostel as a few of my friends from the Swiss program. Then Wed. I head out from Milano in the evening to Berlin to meet up with my Godmother, Hannah and her family. On Monday the 30th, I fly in the morning down to Rome where I'll attempt to find both my apartment to throw my stuff in and also my class, because supposedly we start the same day. Okay, whew.
Sorry for the speed, but I felt I needed to give you something for your patience! Anywho...I promise to give details soon, including more pictures and a synopsis of my project. For now, I need some sleep before my trip on the TGV tomorrow - woot high speed!
Ciao - er, Au Revoir!
Sorry for the speed, but I felt I needed to give you something for your patience! Anywho...I promise to give details soon, including more pictures and a synopsis of my project. For now, I need some sleep before my trip on the TGV tomorrow - woot high speed!
Ciao - er, Au Revoir!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Relaxing in the Scood
Returning to Scudellate for three days was like returning back to bed after a long day - much needed and well appreciated. Though it was a great five day trip through northern Italy, I was beat and ready to be home. Back in Scood, I was able to return to some familiar pastimes, like going for runs and hikes, relaxing in the main room, enjoying some food lazily out on the front porch, practicing some watercolors, and filling in my sketchbook. We began to really start classwork, with a watercolor workshop and design critiques for our Rivellino redesign.
Let me take this opportunity to explain a little about where we live, because its quite unique. Scudellate is a very small town with an average population of 13. Its a border town, with the path behind the church leading through the mountains to Italy, which is only a 20 minute jog away. The town in perched high up the Vale di Muggio (a large valley facing south towards Milano). We're the second to last town up the road, with tight switchbacks and steep trails between it and the next town down, Muggio. Our ostello, Ostello Scudellate, is right in the middle of the small cluster of buildings, facing down the valley with a perfect view of the series of church spires, denoting towns dotting the hillsides. To get to the nearest city, Chiasso, we have to take a small bus that fits 14 down to Muggio to catch a bigger bus down to Chiasso. Now, this doesn't sound too bad, but the catch is that the small bus only runs 5 times a day on weekdays and three times on weekends, making any traveling very difficult. None the less, we still manage to make the trek down the valley for fieldtrips or to visit the local Coop in Chiasso for cheap snacks or booze (the nearest big grocery store, the only one besides the tiny Dispensa in Muggio). Being near the top of our valley, we're a hour hike or so from the peak of Mt. Generoso, from which you can see both Lago (lake in Italian) Lugano and Lago Como. The green hills stretch down from the rocky peak in all directions before ending abruptly at the water's edge. Needless to say, we're in quite a magical little spot.
Let me take this opportunity to explain a little about where we live, because its quite unique. Scudellate is a very small town with an average population of 13. Its a border town, with the path behind the church leading through the mountains to Italy, which is only a 20 minute jog away. The town in perched high up the Vale di Muggio (a large valley facing south towards Milano). We're the second to last town up the road, with tight switchbacks and steep trails between it and the next town down, Muggio. Our ostello, Ostello Scudellate, is right in the middle of the small cluster of buildings, facing down the valley with a perfect view of the series of church spires, denoting towns dotting the hillsides. To get to the nearest city, Chiasso, we have to take a small bus that fits 14 down to Muggio to catch a bigger bus down to Chiasso. Now, this doesn't sound too bad, but the catch is that the small bus only runs 5 times a day on weekdays and three times on weekends, making any traveling very difficult. None the less, we still manage to make the trek down the valley for fieldtrips or to visit the local Coop in Chiasso for cheap snacks or booze (the nearest big grocery store, the only one besides the tiny Dispensa in Muggio). Being near the top of our valley, we're a hour hike or so from the peak of Mt. Generoso, from which you can see both Lago (lake in Italian) Lugano and Lago Como. The green hills stretch down from the rocky peak in all directions before ending abruptly at the water's edge. Needless to say, we're in quite a magical little spot.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Brion Family Tombs and Vicenza
Hopping on a water bus without a ticket, the day of travel started a little sketchy, aka worried I was going to get thrown off the boat. But it turned out luck was in my favor and the group and I arrived at the Venezia train station with all 23 students still dry. The goal of the day was to venture out to the distant little town of San Vito in Northern Italy to visit one of Scarpa's greatest works, which also happened to be his resting grounds. Any architecture student who's spent more than a quarter in any modern design studio know the grace, elegance, and seeming perfection of Scarpa's Brion Tombs. So though the day was full of train transfers, catchings buses, and traveling from small towns to smaller towns, it was well worth it when we finally passed a corn field and stumbled upon the carefully detailed gate to the tombs. What a treat it was to walk around and enjoy the craftsmanship, the careful layout, and the peaceful stillness that was so calming after a day of travel and the busyness of Venice the day before. After thoroughly photographing every square inch of the complex before my camera finally died, I just sat and took my time steching interesting details and pieces of the building that were the most interesting. If you haven't checked out my pictures yet, I would definitely advise checking out the Brion album. Its pretty stunning even though my pictures didn't do it justice.
After the amazing hour or so soaking up the Scarpa-ness, we regrouped at the bus to decide what our next move would be. I thought it would be a great idea to, instead of go back to Venice and stay up all night, to go to Vicenza and find a cheap room to stay. 14 or so of my classmates agreed with the idea and we headed off. Getting there was an easy train ride, and finding a hotel was just as successful. We broke off into a couple groups to search for hostels, groceries, and maps and all went with out a hitch. We got our hotel rooms, dropped off our stuff, and went to the local Coop (one of two chain grocery stores in Italy and Switzerland, but its the one that sells alcohol too). Each of us emerged from the store with a bag full of picnic supplies in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. Wandering down to the park, we found a spot and proceeded to destroy the fine spread of breads, cheeses, meats, olives and other such goodies laid out in front of us. Needless to say, I did my fine bit of damage to the feast and sat back quite content.
We went for a round-about walk after dinner and returned to the hotel to take showers and gather together to play another round of drinking games, without the speed or amount of wine as in Venice though. The night ended with a good round of truth or dare, which of course meant one of my male classmates wearing a beautiful dress and scarf and being paraded down the street. Luckly, I wasn't as drunk as the night before and after a block or two of laughing, took my cue to head back and crash.
The next morning we had some time to kill before catching the bus back home, so we wandered around, exploring some of the Palladio that dotted the town. If you know much about art or architectural history, you'll know about Palladio. His writings and buildings revolutionized architecture and the evidence was quite clear in Vicenza. However, by the time we covered most of the Palladio, we were starving. My friend and I decided that the fried fish stand in the middle of the near by piazza smelled too good to pass up and for 5 euro purchased a kilo and a half of the best fried fish I've had in years (well, I was really hungry, which might have altered by taste buds a bit). Washing our hands and grabbing our bags, we rushed off to the train station to make it back to Muggio in time to catch the last bus up to Scudellate.
After the amazing hour or so soaking up the Scarpa-ness, we regrouped at the bus to decide what our next move would be. I thought it would be a great idea to, instead of go back to Venice and stay up all night, to go to Vicenza and find a cheap room to stay. 14 or so of my classmates agreed with the idea and we headed off. Getting there was an easy train ride, and finding a hotel was just as successful. We broke off into a couple groups to search for hostels, groceries, and maps and all went with out a hitch. We got our hotel rooms, dropped off our stuff, and went to the local Coop (one of two chain grocery stores in Italy and Switzerland, but its the one that sells alcohol too). Each of us emerged from the store with a bag full of picnic supplies in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. Wandering down to the park, we found a spot and proceeded to destroy the fine spread of breads, cheeses, meats, olives and other such goodies laid out in front of us. Needless to say, I did my fine bit of damage to the feast and sat back quite content.
We went for a round-about walk after dinner and returned to the hotel to take showers and gather together to play another round of drinking games, without the speed or amount of wine as in Venice though. The night ended with a good round of truth or dare, which of course meant one of my male classmates wearing a beautiful dress and scarf and being paraded down the street. Luckly, I wasn't as drunk as the night before and after a block or two of laughing, took my cue to head back and crash.
The next morning we had some time to kill before catching the bus back home, so we wandered around, exploring some of the Palladio that dotted the town. If you know much about art or architectural history, you'll know about Palladio. His writings and buildings revolutionized architecture and the evidence was quite clear in Vicenza. However, by the time we covered most of the Palladio, we were starving. My friend and I decided that the fried fish stand in the middle of the near by piazza smelled too good to pass up and for 5 euro purchased a kilo and a half of the best fried fish I've had in years (well, I was really hungry, which might have altered by taste buds a bit). Washing our hands and grabbing our bags, we rushed off to the train station to make it back to Muggio in time to catch the last bus up to Scudellate.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Through the Canals
Once again, apologies for the delay - this time it isn't travel that is holding me up - its work! We have less than three weeks left to crank out our project before displaying it for artsy folks, our clients, the city officials, Peter Greenaway (a famous film director), and many local architects. If time permits, I'll blog more about that under the project section.
But back to the story - Venice!
So we get to Venezia in the morning by train. Luckly, our hostel was already booked and close by San Marco. Grabbing tickets for the water bus, we headed around the island to our stop, passing by multi-colored boats, rows of houses, warehouses, and two huge cruise ships. Arriving back on land, we wound our way through a series of alleyways and small roads to the address for the hostel, only to find ourselves in front of a worn, old, and kinda sketchy building. A small sign next to the door first caught our eyes, saying that the key was in a hotel back down the road. Trekking back through the maze, we found the hotel up a very narrow and steep staircase, and found that some of us would be staying there, while the other half of the group would head back to the other building. I was one of the group staying there, so I dropped my stuff off, collected my camera, my pencil, and my sketchbook and head across the nearest canal in the direction of of Piazza San Marco where we would meet Tom, our professor. Meeting up with him after a short detour for panini and gelato, we proceeded to wander, sketching San Marco, then headed off to find the holiest of the holys - a Scarpa project. Scarpa taught a school in Venice and redesign the schools' entrance. After gawking and sketching for a hour around the school's entrance, we crossed a Calatrava bridge, another architectural beauty. We had a hour or so break on our own, so I took advantage of that time to get completely lost in a series of small alleyways and arched bridges over canals. My friend who'd accompanied me and I were so successful in this endeavor that we had some trouble finding our way back to the Piazza - only to bump into the group on our back. We then all traveled to another Scarpa project down another series of alleyways, however, this one wasn't as impressive, since it was closed. But we did have some fun taking pictures of the bridge to the project. I'll be excited to go back with the Rome program when, hopefully, the actual space will be open.
After our exciting time with the bridge, the group split up, with some of us going on another water taxi around the island, others going back to San Marco. I decided to go with a handful of others on an adventure to find cheap wine and our way back to the hostel. It had cooled off that afternoon and by that time dark clouds spoke ominously of rain. We ended up meeting half of the group back at the canal in front of the hostel, only to find that they had similar success with finding vino. Did I mention it was fourth of July and thus a proper excuse to drink excessively? Oh, well we certainly proceeded to fulfill our American duties. With three bottles passed around about 10 of us, we stood on the bride, looking down the canal to the horizon, where a great thundering storm cloud slow grew and approached us. Before we knew it the lighting was upon us and wine in hand, thunder clashing, we patriotically began singing the national anthem. Fireworks for the fourth? Try a thunderstorm in Venice. Just after completing our beautiful tribute to our home country and looking like stupid tourists for the local on-lookers, the rain hit, and hit hard, with a group of us running back to the hostel, while others when for a walk in the rain. Now, typically I would be more than ready for a good run in the rain, but being the end of our trip, I was out of clean close and on top of that, my shoes just broke that day, so rain + big hole in shoes = soggy shoes for the next two days. But at least I wasn't the only one to stay in. About five of us cracked open another bottle of wine and played a few drinking games, turning the one bottle into about four by the time the rest of the group arrived. Needless to say, I wasn't in the most coherent mindset at that point, but I was getting tired and was walked home by a two of my roommates. No doubt I slept well that night and was lucky enough to wake up the next day without a hangover and ready for our epic pilgrimage to Scarpa's ultimate project - the Brion Family Tombs.
But back to the story - Venice!
So we get to Venezia in the morning by train. Luckly, our hostel was already booked and close by San Marco. Grabbing tickets for the water bus, we headed around the island to our stop, passing by multi-colored boats, rows of houses, warehouses, and two huge cruise ships. Arriving back on land, we wound our way through a series of alleyways and small roads to the address for the hostel, only to find ourselves in front of a worn, old, and kinda sketchy building. A small sign next to the door first caught our eyes, saying that the key was in a hotel back down the road. Trekking back through the maze, we found the hotel up a very narrow and steep staircase, and found that some of us would be staying there, while the other half of the group would head back to the other building. I was one of the group staying there, so I dropped my stuff off, collected my camera, my pencil, and my sketchbook and head across the nearest canal in the direction of of Piazza San Marco where we would meet Tom, our professor. Meeting up with him after a short detour for panini and gelato, we proceeded to wander, sketching San Marco, then headed off to find the holiest of the holys - a Scarpa project. Scarpa taught a school in Venice and redesign the schools' entrance. After gawking and sketching for a hour around the school's entrance, we crossed a Calatrava bridge, another architectural beauty. We had a hour or so break on our own, so I took advantage of that time to get completely lost in a series of small alleyways and arched bridges over canals. My friend who'd accompanied me and I were so successful in this endeavor that we had some trouble finding our way back to the Piazza - only to bump into the group on our back. We then all traveled to another Scarpa project down another series of alleyways, however, this one wasn't as impressive, since it was closed. But we did have some fun taking pictures of the bridge to the project. I'll be excited to go back with the Rome program when, hopefully, the actual space will be open.
After our exciting time with the bridge, the group split up, with some of us going on another water taxi around the island, others going back to San Marco. I decided to go with a handful of others on an adventure to find cheap wine and our way back to the hostel. It had cooled off that afternoon and by that time dark clouds spoke ominously of rain. We ended up meeting half of the group back at the canal in front of the hostel, only to find that they had similar success with finding vino. Did I mention it was fourth of July and thus a proper excuse to drink excessively? Oh, well we certainly proceeded to fulfill our American duties. With three bottles passed around about 10 of us, we stood on the bride, looking down the canal to the horizon, where a great thundering storm cloud slow grew and approached us. Before we knew it the lighting was upon us and wine in hand, thunder clashing, we patriotically began singing the national anthem. Fireworks for the fourth? Try a thunderstorm in Venice. Just after completing our beautiful tribute to our home country and looking like stupid tourists for the local on-lookers, the rain hit, and hit hard, with a group of us running back to the hostel, while others when for a walk in the rain. Now, typically I would be more than ready for a good run in the rain, but being the end of our trip, I was out of clean close and on top of that, my shoes just broke that day, so rain + big hole in shoes = soggy shoes for the next two days. But at least I wasn't the only one to stay in. About five of us cracked open another bottle of wine and played a few drinking games, turning the one bottle into about four by the time the rest of the group arrived. Needless to say, I wasn't in the most coherent mindset at that point, but I was getting tired and was walked home by a two of my roommates. No doubt I slept well that night and was lucky enough to wake up the next day without a hangover and ready for our epic pilgrimage to Scarpa's ultimate project - the Brion Family Tombs.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Verona - Continued
As the crowd along the outer rim of the arena shuffled restlessly waiting for more news about the weather, another announcement came on saying the weather was looking hopeful, but they needed more info from the weather station. The crowd busted into cheers. Then the most American thing happened - people all around the ancient stone arena began doing the wave. After about 5 times circling around the old oval stadium, the wave died down, but the image of the event was firmly planted in my head. Laughing to myself, I settled back just in time to hear the announcement that the show would continue. The first act finished rather quickly, with a ten minute intermission (seemingly pointless) following. The second act, sadly, put me to sleep, as it was already almost midnight. Waking up each time to clap before falling back asleep, the second act didn't really penetrate my closed eyelids. By the time the intermission after the second act rolled around, I was definitely ready to head back to the room to sleep. Yet from the insistence of one of my classmates who needed my key to get into the apartment, I stayed. In the end, I was glad to stay and see that last act. The conductor of the pit orchestra was very exciting to watch, with his exuberance almost greater than the actors. Finally, I was able to get to bed around 1 o'clock, ready for Venezia (Venice) the following day.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Back to Storytime
Hello all again -
Sorry its taken me so long to continue my story of our last trip - I've been super busy on all of the trips we've been going on now! We spent the weekend exploring Ticino, the Italian region of Switzerland. We saw some cool Botta houses and my new favorite castle, which had an intervention by Swiss architect Galfetti. Good times. But, before I get ahead of myself, back to Verona!
Verona -
We arrived in Verona early in the morning from Milano as a small group of seven, all of us needing a place to stay for the night. Heading straight for the info booth, we were able to not only find a place for our group to stay the night, but it was cheap, beautiful, and right in the center of town less than a block from the grand piazza. Awesome! Its was definitely our easiest and best Ostello story. After getting to the apartment, dropping our stuff off, and paying up, we grabbed a bit to eat at the near by pizzeria. I had the best pizza with anchovies and capers. Perfecto!
But the pizza didn't even compare to where we went next - Castelvecchio. Only one of the holyest meccas for modern archtiects, this masterpiece was my first Scarpa. Carlo Scarpa, for those of you non-architecture nerds, is one of the greatest designers to live in the 20th century. His total design approach creates spaces that are hand crafted down to the smallest details, like a doorhandle, with each turn opening up to a different, unique glimpse of something beautiful and spectacular. What makes Castelvecchio so amazing is that it is a intervention of a 14th century (or before) castle. By carefully and delicately placing a new architectural language through the castle, the lines between old and new, modern and classical, detailed and master-planned, become skewed, creating a total experience that both accents the castle, the art it contains, and the intervention that facilitates its uses. Just jaw-dropping. One life tip - go see Castelvecchio. Its well worth it.
Hell, just go to Verona! Its an amazing town. After seeing Castelvecchio, we broke down the big group into smaller groups, generally based on which hostel each group was staying in. However, this breaking of the group lead to chaos. One of our professors, Enrico Como, wanted to take us to another Scarpa Project, Banque Populare, but my friend Kyle and I were behind the group and managed to walk all around Verona without finding the group or the bank. We did manage to find Juliette's house (from Romeo and Juliette), but of course it was closed by the time we got there. After walking the senic route back to our Ostello, we realized that we would need to hurry to get into the long line to pick up tickets for the opera that night. Quickly racing back to our Ostello, we bumped into a few other companions who teamed up with us in our quest to get tickets before it was too late.
We managed to get our tickets with little problem, but the next challenge was to find dinner that would be fast enough to still give us time to get to the performance. With only 45 minutes remaining, we were cutting it pretty short (remember, Italians don't eat fast, or cook fast for that matter). We managed to find not only our professors at a local bar, but also the bank we had missed before. After a few minutes of gawking, we ordered some pasta, ate, and left just as swiftly as we had arrived.
Let me describe Verona and the Opera a little before I go on. Verona is a fairly small town that was originally surrounded by walls and though most of the wall is gone, the city still fits primarily within its boundaries. The small town is centered around a grand piazza and the giant opera stadium contained within it. An old colosseum, the Opera is a stunning piece of architecture as well as an amazing venue for the opera. On the opposite end of the piazza, a large row of restaurants open out into the public space, behind which shops and gelatorias flourish. Our Ostello was along one of the smaller roads branching off from the piazza, only a two minute walk from the center of the action.
The Opera we witnessed was Aida, a tragic lovestory between an ethopian slave princess and an egyptian commander. But the story was not really my reason for being in the opera. The space itself was. Between the shifting weather around and the people watching, I was more entertained by what was going around the stage than on it. As the last rays of light drained from the sky, the opera proceeded into a full cast number, which suddenly caused the audience to become a sea of flashing lights as cameras went off with great gusto. It was quite a sight to see. However, it didn't last long, because before the lead got even half way through her next solo, rain halted the entire show as the orchestra ran indoors before their precious instruments got wet. Another interesting people watch experience as the entire crowd rose in a loud grumble and began flushing out of the oval space. Hope was not completely crushed, however, as a voice came over the loud speaker, saying that weather reports we being analyzed as a break in rain would mean the continuation of the show.
Sorry its taken me so long to continue my story of our last trip - I've been super busy on all of the trips we've been going on now! We spent the weekend exploring Ticino, the Italian region of Switzerland. We saw some cool Botta houses and my new favorite castle, which had an intervention by Swiss architect Galfetti. Good times. But, before I get ahead of myself, back to Verona!
Verona -
We arrived in Verona early in the morning from Milano as a small group of seven, all of us needing a place to stay for the night. Heading straight for the info booth, we were able to not only find a place for our group to stay the night, but it was cheap, beautiful, and right in the center of town less than a block from the grand piazza. Awesome! Its was definitely our easiest and best Ostello story. After getting to the apartment, dropping our stuff off, and paying up, we grabbed a bit to eat at the near by pizzeria. I had the best pizza with anchovies and capers. Perfecto!
But the pizza didn't even compare to where we went next - Castelvecchio. Only one of the holyest meccas for modern archtiects, this masterpiece was my first Scarpa. Carlo Scarpa, for those of you non-architecture nerds, is one of the greatest designers to live in the 20th century. His total design approach creates spaces that are hand crafted down to the smallest details, like a doorhandle, with each turn opening up to a different, unique glimpse of something beautiful and spectacular. What makes Castelvecchio so amazing is that it is a intervention of a 14th century (or before) castle. By carefully and delicately placing a new architectural language through the castle, the lines between old and new, modern and classical, detailed and master-planned, become skewed, creating a total experience that both accents the castle, the art it contains, and the intervention that facilitates its uses. Just jaw-dropping. One life tip - go see Castelvecchio. Its well worth it.
Hell, just go to Verona! Its an amazing town. After seeing Castelvecchio, we broke down the big group into smaller groups, generally based on which hostel each group was staying in. However, this breaking of the group lead to chaos. One of our professors, Enrico Como, wanted to take us to another Scarpa Project, Banque Populare, but my friend Kyle and I were behind the group and managed to walk all around Verona without finding the group or the bank. We did manage to find Juliette's house (from Romeo and Juliette), but of course it was closed by the time we got there. After walking the senic route back to our Ostello, we realized that we would need to hurry to get into the long line to pick up tickets for the opera that night. Quickly racing back to our Ostello, we bumped into a few other companions who teamed up with us in our quest to get tickets before it was too late.
We managed to get our tickets with little problem, but the next challenge was to find dinner that would be fast enough to still give us time to get to the performance. With only 45 minutes remaining, we were cutting it pretty short (remember, Italians don't eat fast, or cook fast for that matter). We managed to find not only our professors at a local bar, but also the bank we had missed before. After a few minutes of gawking, we ordered some pasta, ate, and left just as swiftly as we had arrived.
Let me describe Verona and the Opera a little before I go on. Verona is a fairly small town that was originally surrounded by walls and though most of the wall is gone, the city still fits primarily within its boundaries. The small town is centered around a grand piazza and the giant opera stadium contained within it. An old colosseum, the Opera is a stunning piece of architecture as well as an amazing venue for the opera. On the opposite end of the piazza, a large row of restaurants open out into the public space, behind which shops and gelatorias flourish. Our Ostello was along one of the smaller roads branching off from the piazza, only a two minute walk from the center of the action.
The Opera we witnessed was Aida, a tragic lovestory between an ethopian slave princess and an egyptian commander. But the story was not really my reason for being in the opera. The space itself was. Between the shifting weather around and the people watching, I was more entertained by what was going around the stage than on it. As the last rays of light drained from the sky, the opera proceeded into a full cast number, which suddenly caused the audience to become a sea of flashing lights as cameras went off with great gusto. It was quite a sight to see. However, it didn't last long, because before the lead got even half way through her next solo, rain halted the entire show as the orchestra ran indoors before their precious instruments got wet. Another interesting people watch experience as the entire crowd rose in a loud grumble and began flushing out of the oval space. Hope was not completely crushed, however, as a voice came over the loud speaker, saying that weather reports we being analyzed as a break in rain would mean the continuation of the show.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Ciao Tutti
Hello all -
Sorry to take so long to blog again, we've been traveling around northern Italy for five days now and just returned to our peaceful hill town in Switzerland. I haven't appreciated the tranquility of our small ostello as much as I do now. I've very tired to say the least and also very excited to share my adventures with all of you. The towns we hit this long weekend were: Milano, Verona, Venice, and Vicenza.
Milano -
To sum up Milano - hot, humid, sweaty, and way too much walking. Don't get me wrong, Milano is a great city. However, the pace of the day combined with the humidity and a few complications made the day too long and painful to really appreciate the city. We saw an amazing old castle - Castello Sforzesco - which was partially designed by Leonardo Da Vinci during his stay in Milano. Then we went to Il Duomo. This Gothic cathedral seemed almost like a Gaudi, with ornamentation literally dripping from the building. Clad completely in white marble, it was really quite a sight. Inside wasn't as structurally elaborate as the other catherdals I've seen, like Wren's St. Paul or St. Eustache in Paris. However, Il Duomo di Milano was quite dramatic and theatrical, with elaborate alter frames and huge paintings and frescos of past cardinals and biblical stories. To me it weakened the space, but I'm sure it held quite an important teaching potential from the massive amount of images. Next to Il Duomo, we stepped into La Galleria - the first glass covered shopping plaza in history. The elaborate ironwork in the trusses combined with the early industrial ornamentation in the space made the place breath-taking. After seeing an exhibit about Leonardo, I got the chance to see one of his best known works - The Last Supper. House in a temperature controlled vaulted space, the painting lay on the far wall and seemed almost alive as the reverberation of the tourguide's voice covered the space in a blanket of noise. What a eerie experience - eerie in a good way though. Then to a bar for dinner. They have the coolest system in the Milano bars! For 8 euro, I got a beer and as much food as I'd like from the best Italian buffet ever. They had everything from bruccetta to paella, cut fruit to fried chicken and potatoes. What a meal! We ended up sitting aroung for hours, just chatting and enjoying the first breeze all day.
The tour de force of the Milano experience happened after dinner as we tried to find our hostel. We had gone along one of the small canals in town to watch the world cup game in a floating bar (in an old tug boat docked to the canal wall). Before we knew it, Ghana was up and we only had half an hour to get all the way across town to get to our hostel before the 11 o'clock curfew. We quickly booked it over to the nearest metro station and tried miseribly to find a tram that would take us into the northern part of town called Greco. After finally finding the tram stop and making our way up the tracks, it slowly dawned on us that the Greco wasn't the prettiest part of town and soon, became a little sketchy. At this point, our group was only 6 out of the 23, as everyone had split at different times to the osetllo. Our group had received directions from another classmate, however, the directions were lacking between when we got off the tram and when we arrived to the ostello. After walking about a mile in the wrong direction, we decided to stop and turn around. At this point, it was half past midnight and after starting at 7 in the morning we were all exhausted and walked out. Yet we pushed on, finally getting one of our groupmates to find a map on his blackberry. After taking a left, a right, another two lefts and a right, we wondered down the alley only to find our entire group sitting out in front of the ostello. Picture it - 23 Cal Poly students, completely covering the front door steps of this tucked away hostel in the bad part of town, sweaty, dirty, dying for a shower and a bed, and all ready to be done with Milano. It turns out, the people staying in the room we were assigned the night before had completely destroyed the place, leaving us without a place to stay. Luckily, the ostello owner had a brother who had a hotel on the other side of town that had enough room for all of us. So at 1 in the morning, all 23 of us made our way back to the tram to get back across town. With some classmates passed out in tram seat, others drinking cheap wine (which in Italy is DELICIOUS by the way) and saying they want to go home, and others of us too tired and sweaty to do either, we made are way to the other hotel. We finally got our rooms around 2 in the morning and luckily, this hotel was quite an upgrade - for only 11 euro! And they had a shower - never has a shower felt so good. Ever. Period. The next morning we were off to Verona and unfortunately (well actually forntunatly, but I'll talk about that next), since I was in the group without a pre-planned place to stay, I had to catch an 8:30 train to find a place to stay. But I was too tired to think of how early the next morning would start - it was time for bed.
Verona -
To be continued...
Sorry to take so long to blog again, we've been traveling around northern Italy for five days now and just returned to our peaceful hill town in Switzerland. I haven't appreciated the tranquility of our small ostello as much as I do now. I've very tired to say the least and also very excited to share my adventures with all of you. The towns we hit this long weekend were: Milano, Verona, Venice, and Vicenza.
Milano -
To sum up Milano - hot, humid, sweaty, and way too much walking. Don't get me wrong, Milano is a great city. However, the pace of the day combined with the humidity and a few complications made the day too long and painful to really appreciate the city. We saw an amazing old castle - Castello Sforzesco - which was partially designed by Leonardo Da Vinci during his stay in Milano. Then we went to Il Duomo. This Gothic cathedral seemed almost like a Gaudi, with ornamentation literally dripping from the building. Clad completely in white marble, it was really quite a sight. Inside wasn't as structurally elaborate as the other catherdals I've seen, like Wren's St. Paul or St. Eustache in Paris. However, Il Duomo di Milano was quite dramatic and theatrical, with elaborate alter frames and huge paintings and frescos of past cardinals and biblical stories. To me it weakened the space, but I'm sure it held quite an important teaching potential from the massive amount of images. Next to Il Duomo, we stepped into La Galleria - the first glass covered shopping plaza in history. The elaborate ironwork in the trusses combined with the early industrial ornamentation in the space made the place breath-taking. After seeing an exhibit about Leonardo, I got the chance to see one of his best known works - The Last Supper. House in a temperature controlled vaulted space, the painting lay on the far wall and seemed almost alive as the reverberation of the tourguide's voice covered the space in a blanket of noise. What a eerie experience - eerie in a good way though. Then to a bar for dinner. They have the coolest system in the Milano bars! For 8 euro, I got a beer and as much food as I'd like from the best Italian buffet ever. They had everything from bruccetta to paella, cut fruit to fried chicken and potatoes. What a meal! We ended up sitting aroung for hours, just chatting and enjoying the first breeze all day.
The tour de force of the Milano experience happened after dinner as we tried to find our hostel. We had gone along one of the small canals in town to watch the world cup game in a floating bar (in an old tug boat docked to the canal wall). Before we knew it, Ghana was up and we only had half an hour to get all the way across town to get to our hostel before the 11 o'clock curfew. We quickly booked it over to the nearest metro station and tried miseribly to find a tram that would take us into the northern part of town called Greco. After finally finding the tram stop and making our way up the tracks, it slowly dawned on us that the Greco wasn't the prettiest part of town and soon, became a little sketchy. At this point, our group was only 6 out of the 23, as everyone had split at different times to the osetllo. Our group had received directions from another classmate, however, the directions were lacking between when we got off the tram and when we arrived to the ostello. After walking about a mile in the wrong direction, we decided to stop and turn around. At this point, it was half past midnight and after starting at 7 in the morning we were all exhausted and walked out. Yet we pushed on, finally getting one of our groupmates to find a map on his blackberry. After taking a left, a right, another two lefts and a right, we wondered down the alley only to find our entire group sitting out in front of the ostello. Picture it - 23 Cal Poly students, completely covering the front door steps of this tucked away hostel in the bad part of town, sweaty, dirty, dying for a shower and a bed, and all ready to be done with Milano. It turns out, the people staying in the room we were assigned the night before had completely destroyed the place, leaving us without a place to stay. Luckily, the ostello owner had a brother who had a hotel on the other side of town that had enough room for all of us. So at 1 in the morning, all 23 of us made our way back to the tram to get back across town. With some classmates passed out in tram seat, others drinking cheap wine (which in Italy is DELICIOUS by the way) and saying they want to go home, and others of us too tired and sweaty to do either, we made are way to the other hotel. We finally got our rooms around 2 in the morning and luckily, this hotel was quite an upgrade - for only 11 euro! And they had a shower - never has a shower felt so good. Ever. Period. The next morning we were off to Verona and unfortunately (well actually forntunatly, but I'll talk about that next), since I was in the group without a pre-planned place to stay, I had to catch an 8:30 train to find a place to stay. But I was too tired to think of how early the next morning would start - it was time for bed.
Verona -
To be continued...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Through Milano, Made it to Scudellate!
What a whizzing day. After waking up at 4:30am to catch a 5:10am train to make the 7:10 plane to Milano, you might be surprised that I'm pretty beat right now...And of course none of the traveling was absolutely smooth, however, I lucked out that none of the trains, planes, buses, or tubes cased disastrous effects for the rest of the trip.
First, Paddington Station. I managed to get there before 5:00...also before the main gates opened. After finding an open entrance, I made my way to a ticket machine to pick up the tickets I had bought the night before. Should be easy, right? Wrong. To get the tickets out from the machine, you must put in your credit card...which happens to have a chip and pin system in the UK, so my poor American card wouldn't work. So I tried the ticket office - which of course appeared closed. After trying another three or so machines and wandering around frantically for 5 minutes, I finally found somebody who worked there. Of course he had the magical touch, or at least the smarts to push open the automatic sliding door, which in England apparently works...I talked to the Lady behind the counter to get my tickets, which it turns out wasn't for the right train. Another 10 pounds and 5 minutes later, I was left 2 minutes to quickly sprint over to the 5:10am Heathrowe Express.
Then, after a fairly smooth flight (which I slept through), I arrived in Milano. Oh Milan was absolutely stunning. Compared to eclectic London and planned Paris, Milan was a perfect balance of historical and modern, tall with short, and green with buildings. The modern architecture in Milan did the best job at incorporating both the vernacular forms and materiality with the fascist modernism of simple geometries and sleek lines. Just beautiful. Unfortunately, my attempt at navigating the city was less than beautiful, thus lending no time to take pictures. I started my journey through the city by thinking 'Oh, I have a small map with few details and no road names. I can navigate with no troubles at all! Besides, the train station looks so close to the one I arrived at on the map.' Well, both assumptions were soon to prove VERY false. After taking the wrong direction for about a dozen blocks, I finally conceited to ask directions. Luckily, the hotel I stopped at had more detailed maps, however, the man at the counter suggested I take the metro. Take the metro? And miss the beautiful city? Of course I wouldn't do that because I had just inherited super powers of navigation and was going to walk. Another terrible, terrible idea. Lesson #342 of Europe - Always follow the locals' suggestions. After getting lost for half an hour and asking directions twice more, I managed to get around the huge construction project going on right in the middle of the city and finally find my way into the train station. And then had to pay .60 euros to use the bathroom. What a freaking cherry on top. I was sweating and panting so bad, I didn't care about forking over another Euro and went straight for the cold water tap (which was still luke warm...gahhhh).
I managed to get on the train and sleep/enjoy the countryside and still get to Chiasso with half an hour to catch the bus up to Muggio. After meeting up with one classmate, Colby, by chance at the bus station, we made our way up to Muggio, where by another chance, four more classmates got on the bus. We went up as far as the bus would take us, but were still about 30minutes downhill from Scudellate. A few classmates met us there and we all waited the hour and a half for the next small bus to take us the rest of the way. We managed to catch the beginning of the world cup match between England and Germany...which ended sadly with a huge loss by England. Very disappointing.
Now I've unpacked my things and settled into my top bunk and small locker. The landscape is to die for! I'm enjoying it so much. Pictures and more to come!
Ciao
First, Paddington Station. I managed to get there before 5:00...also before the main gates opened. After finding an open entrance, I made my way to a ticket machine to pick up the tickets I had bought the night before. Should be easy, right? Wrong. To get the tickets out from the machine, you must put in your credit card...which happens to have a chip and pin system in the UK, so my poor American card wouldn't work. So I tried the ticket office - which of course appeared closed. After trying another three or so machines and wandering around frantically for 5 minutes, I finally found somebody who worked there. Of course he had the magical touch, or at least the smarts to push open the automatic sliding door, which in England apparently works...I talked to the Lady behind the counter to get my tickets, which it turns out wasn't for the right train. Another 10 pounds and 5 minutes later, I was left 2 minutes to quickly sprint over to the 5:10am Heathrowe Express.
Then, after a fairly smooth flight (which I slept through), I arrived in Milano. Oh Milan was absolutely stunning. Compared to eclectic London and planned Paris, Milan was a perfect balance of historical and modern, tall with short, and green with buildings. The modern architecture in Milan did the best job at incorporating both the vernacular forms and materiality with the fascist modernism of simple geometries and sleek lines. Just beautiful. Unfortunately, my attempt at navigating the city was less than beautiful, thus lending no time to take pictures. I started my journey through the city by thinking 'Oh, I have a small map with few details and no road names. I can navigate with no troubles at all! Besides, the train station looks so close to the one I arrived at on the map.' Well, both assumptions were soon to prove VERY false. After taking the wrong direction for about a dozen blocks, I finally conceited to ask directions. Luckily, the hotel I stopped at had more detailed maps, however, the man at the counter suggested I take the metro. Take the metro? And miss the beautiful city? Of course I wouldn't do that because I had just inherited super powers of navigation and was going to walk. Another terrible, terrible idea. Lesson #342 of Europe - Always follow the locals' suggestions. After getting lost for half an hour and asking directions twice more, I managed to get around the huge construction project going on right in the middle of the city and finally find my way into the train station. And then had to pay .60 euros to use the bathroom. What a freaking cherry on top. I was sweating and panting so bad, I didn't care about forking over another Euro and went straight for the cold water tap (which was still luke warm...gahhhh).
I managed to get on the train and sleep/enjoy the countryside and still get to Chiasso with half an hour to catch the bus up to Muggio. After meeting up with one classmate, Colby, by chance at the bus station, we made our way up to Muggio, where by another chance, four more classmates got on the bus. We went up as far as the bus would take us, but were still about 30minutes downhill from Scudellate. A few classmates met us there and we all waited the hour and a half for the next small bus to take us the rest of the way. We managed to catch the beginning of the world cup match between England and Germany...which ended sadly with a huge loss by England. Very disappointing.
Now I've unpacked my things and settled into my top bunk and small locker. The landscape is to die for! I'm enjoying it so much. Pictures and more to come!
Ciao
Friday, June 25, 2010
Journey through London
I managed to see some wonderful architecture yestyrday as I wondered both above and below London. I'm finally getting comfortable with being in an urban environment. Its always been a bit nerve racking traveling in cities because of the vast amounts of people, the feeling of being a pesky toursit that doesn't belong, and the fear of getting robbed. But after travel over a dozen times on the tube and even being asked directions, I've become much more at ease. Suddenly where fear once lingered, courage and confidence has taken its place. There was a huge difference between arriving at Charles De Gaule on my first day in Europe -antsy, frantic, and scared - and arriving in St. Pancras just yesterday - calm, collected, and confident. I've been able to change tubes, buy my own oyster card (like a metro card, for the tubes), and walk around the city taking pictures without feeling out of place. I even was able to manage all of my bags through the city with little trouble (the only trouble was from my backpack taking up so much space behind me - I often had to put it between my feet on crowed tubes). Did I mention how crowded the tube has been? On at least half of my trips, I haven't been able to even turn in a circle its been so crowded.
I took another 408 pictures yesterday, for a grand total of over 1800 pictures. Already. And I haven't even arrived in Switzerland yet...oh well. I've had a blast taking them. Yesterday I captured at least 6 Wren churches, Swiss Re by Foster, Lloyd's by Rogers, City Hall (Foster again), Millennium Bridge (Calatrava), and the Globe Theatre to name a few. All the walking has left my feet very sore, but it's been worth every ache.
Last night I had my first couchsurfing experience. It was a blast meeting my host, Ali, and many of his artists friends and counterculture companions. Most excitingly/differently (and probably what boosted my confidence most) was going to Shunt, an underground art gallery/performance space/gay hang out/bar among the supporting structure of London Bridge Station. What a rush! It was the most amazing space/set of spaces, with each space between the brick structure filled with abstract sculptures, installations, projected movies, paintings, and pictures. I met a very attractive younger man my age who was a trapeze artist and circus teacher who had spent some time in San Fran teaching at a local circus school. In the back was a bar hosted by a glorious group of friendly Londoners where I met one of the organizers of the space who had a movie displaying among on of the more intimate and enclosed alcoves. It was a deeply moving film that seemed to bring to life a series of photographs from the holocaust paired with journal entries of people from the time. The way the film was shot - as a light being shined and slowly moved over the surface of picture collages - gave the images life, making you feel in touch with the loss shown on people's faces and on collapsed buildings. Very moving.
After leaving Shunt, I traveled with Ali on the Overground (a train connecting through the suburbs) to his beautiful home in South Norwood, about 20-30 minutes south of the city. He showed me his lovely garden, cooked a delicious dinner, and shared some wonderful concersation. Though I enjoyed stayin g with Ali very much, I'm rooming with one of my uncle's friends for the next two nights beause her flat is a bit closer to town & a lot closer to Hethrowe where I fly out of Sunday Morning.
Today has been a little lazy since my jet lag just seet in. I was doing so well until around 10:30 when my head went all fuzy. But I did manage to get a cell phone finally! For £20 (courtesy of my uncle, Charles. Thanks again!) we were able to find a nice phone that works very well (and comes with £10 of free credit). The number is: 00 44 7502 1123 70.
Overall, London has been a much dofferent experience than Paris, and just one look at the sky line could make that clear. Unlike Paris - uniform building heights and widths, a classic french baroque style throughout, and a planned axial boulevard pattern that frames views and guides people in an almost militaristic way - London is mcuh more elclectic - varied building hieghts, styles, ages, a muddled web of person-scaled alleys, and a feeling of personal liberation of self-expression. Unlike Paris that seems to make one feel uniform (one reason why stopping to take a picture feels more out-of-place), London's variety, though a bit muddled, expresses a variety of ideas from a span of peoples, places and times. Instead of replacing old buildings destroyed by WW2 like in Paris, London allowed new architectural icons to take over the cities infastructure and take over the skyline. Part of me would like to see more of the original historic infastructure have more leverage, but the other part of me enjoys the craziness.
Pictures of London are still being uploaded, so keep your eyes peeled for those and take a look at some of the Paris Pics.
Ciao!
I took another 408 pictures yesterday, for a grand total of over 1800 pictures. Already. And I haven't even arrived in Switzerland yet...oh well. I've had a blast taking them. Yesterday I captured at least 6 Wren churches, Swiss Re by Foster, Lloyd's by Rogers, City Hall (Foster again), Millennium Bridge (Calatrava), and the Globe Theatre to name a few. All the walking has left my feet very sore, but it's been worth every ache.
Last night I had my first couchsurfing experience. It was a blast meeting my host, Ali, and many of his artists friends and counterculture companions. Most excitingly/differently (and probably what boosted my confidence most) was going to Shunt, an underground art gallery/performance space/gay hang out/bar among the supporting structure of London Bridge Station. What a rush! It was the most amazing space/set of spaces, with each space between the brick structure filled with abstract sculptures, installations, projected movies, paintings, and pictures. I met a very attractive younger man my age who was a trapeze artist and circus teacher who had spent some time in San Fran teaching at a local circus school. In the back was a bar hosted by a glorious group of friendly Londoners where I met one of the organizers of the space who had a movie displaying among on of the more intimate and enclosed alcoves. It was a deeply moving film that seemed to bring to life a series of photographs from the holocaust paired with journal entries of people from the time. The way the film was shot - as a light being shined and slowly moved over the surface of picture collages - gave the images life, making you feel in touch with the loss shown on people's faces and on collapsed buildings. Very moving.
After leaving Shunt, I traveled with Ali on the Overground (a train connecting through the suburbs) to his beautiful home in South Norwood, about 20-30 minutes south of the city. He showed me his lovely garden, cooked a delicious dinner, and shared some wonderful concersation. Though I enjoyed stayin g with Ali very much, I'm rooming with one of my uncle's friends for the next two nights beause her flat is a bit closer to town & a lot closer to Hethrowe where I fly out of Sunday Morning.
Today has been a little lazy since my jet lag just seet in. I was doing so well until around 10:30 when my head went all fuzy. But I did manage to get a cell phone finally! For £20 (courtesy of my uncle, Charles. Thanks again!) we were able to find a nice phone that works very well (and comes with £10 of free credit). The number is: 00 44 7502 1123 70.
Overall, London has been a much dofferent experience than Paris, and just one look at the sky line could make that clear. Unlike Paris - uniform building heights and widths, a classic french baroque style throughout, and a planned axial boulevard pattern that frames views and guides people in an almost militaristic way - London is mcuh more elclectic - varied building hieghts, styles, ages, a muddled web of person-scaled alleys, and a feeling of personal liberation of self-expression. Unlike Paris that seems to make one feel uniform (one reason why stopping to take a picture feels more out-of-place), London's variety, though a bit muddled, expresses a variety of ideas from a span of peoples, places and times. Instead of replacing old buildings destroyed by WW2 like in Paris, London allowed new architectural icons to take over the cities infastructure and take over the skyline. Part of me would like to see more of the original historic infastructure have more leverage, but the other part of me enjoys the craziness.
Pictures of London are still being uploaded, so keep your eyes peeled for those and take a look at some of the Paris Pics.
Ciao!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Hello from London -
Just arrived in London from Paris. Paris was amazing! Sorry for not commenting en route, after two 9-hour days walking around town, I'm beat! If you haven't checked out the pictures on my picassa album yet (and not all the pictures are uploaded, sorry) you should. I've taken over 1300 in Paris alone!!! There are some great ones from L'Institue de Monde Arabe (novel), Ste. Chapelle (damn, forgot my arch history already...), La Villete Park (Tschumi et all), and many more. Check it, there's quite a variety.
This morning I took the Eurostar across the channel - what a nice ride! Well, minus the whole wake up at 5.30hr thing. Anyways, St Pancras Station is probably my new favorite reuse building. Between the old brick, the oxidized original trusses, and a beautiful array of new spider-mullion glazing, this building is SO awesome! The semi-venetian ( or perhaps moorish?) arches are just beautiful. After taking two SUPER crowded tube rides (the piccidily line was partially closed due to a worker strike, gotta love Europe) I made it to my uncle and my grandmother's flat across from Kensington Gardens. I'll be headed to St. Pauls for lunch with my uncle, so plenty of Wren pictures to come. Perhaps some Indigo Jones as well?
This morning I took the Eurostar across the channel - what a nice ride! Well, minus the whole wake up at 5.30hr thing. Anyways, St Pancras Station is probably my new favorite reuse building. Between the old brick, the oxidized original trusses, and a beautiful array of new spider-mullion glazing, this building is SO awesome! The semi-venetian ( or perhaps moorish?) arches are just beautiful. After taking two SUPER crowded tube rides (the piccidily line was partially closed due to a worker strike, gotta love Europe) I made it to my uncle and my grandmother's flat across from Kensington Gardens. I'll be headed to St. Pauls for lunch with my uncle, so plenty of Wren pictures to come. Perhaps some Indigo Jones as well?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
J'Arrive!
Well, I made it one piece after an entire day of traveling. After two delayed flights (which lucky didn't effect each other. Thanks tailwinds.) I made it to Charles DeGaule in Paris. There was a strange difference between leaving and arriving. When saying goodbye, I felt surprisingly numb to the emotions I should have been feeling (sorrow at saying goodbye, anxiety, excitement), which I can probably relate to the lack of sleep preceding the flight. But what was more surprising was the tidal rush of emotions I felt arriving in Paris. All of the emotions I had missed before came flooding all at once - regret, fear, denial, anxiety, and of course, nausea. It took all my effort not to loose the airplane food I had eaten the night before. And then getting to the exit and not finding Chakib sent my adrenaline skyrocketing to add to everything else. Still, I was able to get cash from an ATM, by a phone card, call chakib, find chakib, and get to his apartment all in one piece. Excitement has finally won out over the other emotions now that I've had a chance to shower and relax for a few minutes. Still a little anxious, but hopefully that should pass soon. Check out the pictures from the apartment! So Europe...
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Excitment Building!
I just got a handful of emails from my summer studio professor, Tom Di Santo. He sent us a bunch of pictures and now I can barely sit still. I just realized - I'm going to be there in two weeks! I feel so appreciative that I get this awesome opportunity!
Also - I finally figured out how to post pictures. Its complicated to do it on the blog, so I've set up a Picassa album where I'll put all of my pictures and captions. I'll try to put a few and a brief description on the photos tab so that you know to check out the rest on Picassa.
Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/avincentcp
Enjoy!
PS. Is it too early to count down hours? 3 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes until Paris!
Also - I finally figured out how to post pictures. Its complicated to do it on the blog, so I've set up a Picassa album where I'll put all of my pictures and captions. I'll try to put a few and a brief description on the photos tab so that you know to check out the rest on Picassa.
Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/avincentcp
Enjoy!
PS. Is it too early to count down hours? 3 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes until Paris!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Starting the Tour
This year marks my fourth year of architectural studies and is the beginning of a year-long adventure around the world. My journey commences June 2010 with a studio in Switzerland and will take me through Rome, Brisbane, and San Francisco. The goal for 'Le Grand Tour' is a three fold experiential analysis combining observations of culture, society, and architecture in a variety of places, settings, and peoples. The purpose of this blog is to record my progress abroad and keep in touch with those back home. Stay tunned for pictures, texts, and sample projects from my various trips around Europe, Australia, and the Bay Area. Thanks to everyone who's supporting my journey and allowing me the wonderful opportunities ahead.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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