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Blog X: reduX

How is Venice, Venice and not anywhere else?

Venezia is truly a unique city. As an island city, it has preserved much of its magic, mystery and splendor that only the privileged get to experience. The canals coursing throughout the sestieri are the very essence of the city. While the paved walkways steer the visitors towards what is showcased as “Venezia” everything from people, produce, mail and construction materials are transported along the maze of canals. These canals are what make the Invisible City, invisible.

The dichotomy of the canals is explicit, almost as if it tells the tourist “look but don’t touch”. While every visitor certainly experiences the canals in one form or another, few will ever experience the canals in the ways Venetians do. These main routes of circulation are a highly visible “locals only” system, routes that tourist can use, for a high price, and only in certain areas. This adds to the mystique of the city, a place where tourists are racing to find the “true Venezia” as the city slowly falls back into the sea.

Blog XIII

A wall to watch the day pass/A dome to watch the heaven's move.

How have the past fifteen weeks changed my outlook on architecture?

Architecture is not a backdrop, but rather Architecture is the stage. The sets are constantly changing; some are taken down, while others are kept up. The cast changes with each passing generation; the actors come and go, each finding their role within the massive production of life. The richest architectural moments are those that fit into the context of everyday life, instead of being inserted into the fabric of past performances. These last fifteen weeks have reinforced my belief that an architectural project should not be viewed as an isolated entity, but as an interactive stage that can be experienced in relation to its context.  My time in Rome has been a memorable experience, filled with daily interactions with architectural details of all sizes and types. Regardless of scale, the most intriguing architectural works can frame and be framed by others. Rome, with all of its dynamic interactions; spanning across time, “styles,” and senses is what has made my time in here a “hinge”-as Marc has best defined it-in my outlook on architecture.

“This is not a pond”

On our trip through the Veneto, we stumbled through the fog upon a mysterious little place named Venice. Nothing in Venice is as it seems, actually I should correct myself. Everything in Veneto is as it seems, and then some…A canal is not just water, but roads, and piazzas can be both a place for people to gather, and during certain times of the day, a place for water to gather. This image presents another example of how architecture can become more than just what it seems. Here a door is both threshold and a collector of water. This marble frame was actually apart of the former entry door at the Univ. of Venice’s architecture school. Commissioned with the task of designing a new entry to the school, the architect Carlo Scarpa saw the potentials of the old frame, regenerating it into something “other.” The frame now acts as a threshold between solid and fluid, permanence and movement.

Happiness is…

(jumping for joy at the Tempieto)

Flood Gates

Blog XII

What works behind the scenes to make a city perform as such?

In order for it to truly remain La Citta Eterna, Rome relies on an array of invisible systems, whose functions are critical to the performance of the city as a stage for history, art, and culture. None of these duties are more critical than that of trash collection. This aspect of daily life is portrayed around the clock, in this “Tale of Two-Cities”. Rome’s AMA Corporation, responsible for cleaning up this historic city, plays lead part. The company’s employees can be thought of as the supporting cast, janitors, set designers, and “roadies” of the city-stage. Performances run around the clock, regardless of time of day, or weather. Each act involves a fleet of small trash trucks ferrying an army of workers throughout the city, in a well-choreographed, and often repeated performance. The collection system always plays a big part in this life-tale. As there are no apparent set pick-up times or locations, the success of our near-daily acts of depositing our recyclables always remains a mystery, as a good play should be. While many of the duties are rarely seen, like any good cast and crew, the AMA workers sweep, spray, haul, and clean away the day’s trash, with little complaint and even less recognition.

Blog XI

Tell the Tail of a Detail….

The builder was mad with rage. He tried to erase the thought from his mind but could not. He boiled with anger every time the thought crept back into his head. Tools were thrown across the studio, and pieces of marble were shattered against the wall.

“Him! Of all people, why him?!” The master shouted towards his unfinished work. He continued, “Of all people, why should his work, so unworthy, and ripe with brutal geometries, be located so close to my masterpiece?!”

“Francesco Borromini does not operate in the same realm as I do, yet the Pope still grants him commissions!” The anger would not subside. Then a thought crept into Bernini’s mind, “I will build against what others cannot see, so that all ages may gaze upon my beautiful fountain, and see his church as I do, a heavy beast of erratic form!”  Bernini set upon one of the figures, representing one of the four main rivers known at the time, that would be situated around the Fontani dei Quattro Fiumi, working the form into a position that would directly respond to the façade of St. Agnese in Agony when completed….

“His work will collapse within a decade…” he reassured himself as he feverishly chiseled,  “…the horror it will surely be!”

Blog X

How is Venice, Venice and not anywhere else?

Venezia is truly a unique city. As an island city, it has preserved much of its magic, mystery and splendor that only the privileged get to experience. The canals coursing throughout the sestieri are the very essence of the city. While the paved walkways steer the visitors towards what is showcased as “Venezia” everything from people, produce, mail and construction materials are transported along the maze of canals. These canals are what make the Invisible City, invisible.

The dichotomy of the canals is explicit, almost as if it tells the tourist “look but don’t touch”. While every visitor certainly experiences the canals in one form or another, few will ever experience the canals in the ways Venetians do. These main routes of circulation are a highly visible “locals only” system, routes that tourist can use, for a high price, and only in certain areas. This adds to the mystique of the city, a place where tourists are racing to find the “true Venezia” as the city slowly falls back into the sea.

Blog IX

How is Siena, Siena and not anywhere else?

Looking down onto Piazza del Campo from the tower of the Palazzo Pubblico, the difference becomes readily apparent. As the largest open space in Siena, the Piazza del Campo was intended as a place of gathering during the daily routines of its citizens, not the church. The space was created at a location where the paths from threes main hills converged at the city center. The fan shaped piazza terminates at a point, where the Palazzo Pubblico would later be built. The function of the open space, sharply contrasts with that of Piazza S. Pietro here in Rome.  As Rome’s largest piazza, the design of the open space, and adjacent buildings intentionally frames the viewer’s gaze towards the church of St. Peter, a place long recognized as the most important building in Rome, and some would argue, the world. Civic life in Siena took precedence over the church, as noted by the location of the “palace of the people” at the center of the largest, and most heavily used open space of the city.

Siena, and its most important space, cannot be found anywhere else because the topography, cultural history, and civic identity allowed its most cherished space to become both an emblem of its city and a source of civic pride.

Blog VIII (redux)


What makes a good architectural Translation?

Throughout history, architects have looked back into history for inspiration, and in some cases translated past designs into contemporary times. An example of a good intrasystemic architectural translation can be found in Rome. The Column of Marcus Aurelius, built between 180-193 AD, was designed to model in height, form, and performance, the Column of Trajan built less than 100 years earlier (built 110-113 AD). Like Trajan, Marcus Aurelius used architecture to provide a visual narrative of his conquests as emperor. A relief depicting the chronology of various campaigns wraps around the entire column. However one key difference in the performance of the column is the fact that Trajan’s was also used as a burial tower, while the latter was not.

The Column of Marcus Aurelius is a good translation because it adapts the essence of the original column to a new purpose, but within the same capacity as that of a visual narrator. Such a translation is both effective and respectful because it does not diminish the quality of the original piece, and it situates a story within a physical context already understood by the viewers.