Fall Break

I am pretty excited about Fall Break. I leave Friday morning for Pisa. I’m not bringing my laptop, so I won’t have any means of communication for a week. My fantasy football is all set for the week, should be the least of my concerns. I am filling my backpack and going to live out of that for ten days. Flights and hostels are all set. I have one day in Pisa, three days in Barcelona, one day in Bilbao, and five days in Paris! It's still somewhat surreal that I am going to see these places. I am traveling with Matt, my roommate who is an architect also. He is a pretty efficient traveler so there won’t be much down time.

A few other people (non-architects) want to meet up with us in the cities that I am going to, but we’ll see. When we say Bilbao or the Barcelona Pavilion, they look at us like we are crazy, they are probably right. My head will constantly be on a swivel looking at some of the best architecture in the world and hopefully relating a lot of what I see to my thesis.

The Bilbao Effect

“The Bilbao Effect - the idea that one building can transform the fortunes of an entire region - was today described as “bullshit” by the architect who pioneered it. Frank Gehry built the spectacular fish-scaled Guggenheim museum in Bilbao for less than $100 million 11 years ago.”

When I say that I am going to Bilbao, I am going to see Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum. It is a huge issue of architectural debate and whether or not it is good or bad.

This is easily the most contemporary, iconic piece of architecture in the world. Since I have been in Italy I have been skimming through ‘Architecture and the Aftermath’ by Terry Smith. In this book he explains the effect and symbolism of iconic architecture and its cultural effect.

The Simpson’s had an episode where Marge convinced Springfield to build a new concert hall. Marge wrote Gehry a letter and he crumpled it and threw it on the ground. Gehry looked at the crumpled up paper and it was the new design for Springfield’s concert hall. This episode is based on what has happened in Bilbao.

The reason Bilbao commissioned this is simply to bring tourists to the northern region of Spain. It worked, I am going. They bought a Frank Gehry symbol to improve the economic stability of the poor area. The Bilbao Museum completely rejects and does not work with the site. It is forced into the site. Neighboring buildings are being overheated because the reflectivity of the tin. They are complaining of glare. A lot of problems.

So why am I going to see this building? I am going because it has become the icon of ‘starchitecture.’ ‘Starchitects’ are being hired because local governments think that it will be helpful to the economy. The Bilbao Museum is massive. If Gehry wasn’t commissioned to build this project I think architecture would lose a sense of what it is. It is meant to test ideas and create a more interesting living environment. As bad as it is for the site, it does push some limits in materiality of a building and what a computer can do for architecture. It is advancing digital of architecture. Also, it gets people interested in architecture, whether or not it’s good or bad. A government commissioned Gehry to build this giant, alienated, overheating piece of architecture?

I'll never be in Spain again, so I figure while I am there I have to see this. I am excited to see it and how the surrounding environment has reacted to this architectural interloper in their town.

Palladio and Scarpa Tour

First, thanks for the questions and comments, they make it more interesting.

Yesterday, we took a studio field trip to two of the most important and beautiful pieces of architecture in the world. These two works are pieces that I marked out as an absolute MUST SEE, before flying here.

When I say a studio field trip, it means the 11 of us graduate architecture students and our professor, not the whole villa. Our professor planned the day and we didn’t have a break or a minute to spare all day. If we would have somehow screwed the timing up, it could have meant the loss of one of these sights. No eating on the bus, no bathroom breaks, eat and walk at the same time...

First, we visited Musee Canova by Scarpa. Second, we toured Villa Barbero by Palladio. Third, I personally had an enlightening experience with the Brion Cemetery by Scarpa. Fourth, we saw the Villa Rotonda by Palladio. Lastly, we toured a theatre and a few other works by Palladio in Vicenza, coined ‘the city of Palladio’.

All of these sites are spread out in the Veneto region of Italy, so we woke up at 5:30 and took a train north. Then we rented a bus driver that drove us around all day. The school pays for all of this through a fund they set up for us, the only thing I had to pay for was the 23 euro train ride back to the villa.

Scarpa’s work was unbelievable! Musee Canova was an addition he did to a sculpture museum. The detail, craft, light, and the way he forms interior spaces is all clear in his architecture. You just have to look and feel it. I could have stayed here all day, but we only had a half hour or so. Scarpa’s work is primarily all concrete; the forms he creates with concrete are breathtaking. The details in which he makes two materials meet is beautiful. No photos were allowed inside, but I have become pretty good at sneaking them in.

The next Scarpa piece we saw was the Brion-Vega Cemetery, in the middle of nowhere. This was truly, a pretty unbelievable experience. This is one of the works that I HAD to see while here. We have studied this in design classes numerous amounts of times. The reflection of the water is supposed to create a reflective moment on life. The materiality of the spaces was well crafted. Lily pads, concrete, water, grass, corn. The detail and craft in the concrete was unlike anything I have ever seen in any architectural design. The site is set in a corn field. The architecture then changes depending on seasons, whether or not the corn creates a void in space. So we were there at the perfect time of year, because the corn is tall and dead now. Dead correlating with the dead in the cemetery. Everything has a meaning. This experience has reconfirmed that he is top three on my favorite architect list.

Now on to Palladio, I know…this was the greatest day I could have asked for. Palladio was a stone mason in the 1500’s, then turned architect. Back then architects designed and built themselves. His work is world renowned and he may be the most famous architect world-wide; along with Brunelleschi, LeCorbusier and so on. He is about symmetry, and proportion of spaces. The proportion of spaces relates to the human body somehow.

The first work we saw of his was the Villa Barbero. This was essentially a farm house. We had to wear awkward foot socks so we wouldn’t dirty the floor. The neat thing about this villa is the painter that was commissioned and Palladio didn’t see eye to eye. So in many of the paintings and art work, the painter intentionally tried to make his work look bad, which in the end had the reverse effect and adds to the whole concept of the villa. If you look at the photo's I have posted you will notice an 'astronomical' clock on the front of the Villa Barbero. This is attributed to the painter.

The most important Palladian work is the Villa Rotonda, the second work I HAD to see. This is only open from 3 to 4 on Wednesday’s of each week. Our field trip was organized around this. We arrived at 3, thanks to Fabio, our bus driver. It was pretty amazing to see something I have read about so much.

Then we went to Vicenza, city of Palladio. We walked around for about an hour and tried to see as much as we could. It was interesting to see some of his other works that are not as world renowned as Villa Rotonda.

Then Fabio took us to the train station where we ate McDonalds and waited for the train to take us back to Florence. It was an exhausting day, but worth every second.

An interesting mosaic

I was in Florence Saturday night getting some great pizza with a couple friends. On the way back, I noticed that the Baptistry for the Duomo Church was open and we could go inside for 3 euros. So, we went in.

After looking around at these mosaics that date back 500-700 years I noticed one in particular that stood out. A scene of Adam and Eve. I noticed this because it was relative to one of Dirty Kurt's philosophies.

So here is the scene of that in the Baptistery, outside of the Duomo. A scene from the book of Genesis. The left mosaic is the two of them giving in to their temptations, the middle is Adam and Eve covering themselves with a fig leaf to hide their sin from God, and the right mosaic is them being banished from the Garden.

Assisi

Assisi was a nice, clean, little town built into the side of a hill. It is about two and a half hours south of Florence. The town is the home of St. Francis and all the Franciscans / Priors. Everything in the whole town was centered on him and St. Clare, a famous woman who was a follower of St. Francis. So, inevitably, there were some important pilgrimage churches in Assisi that we went to. It was also the most nuns and monks I have ever seen.

When we go on a villa trip like this, we have an art history professor, who talks, and talks, and talks, about the art and paintings of the church. I don’t care about brush technique. I have come to realize, when she is talking I am like Kurt at Ellis Island; cringing, complaining, and ruining it for others around me by messing with them.

I’m interested in other stuff. I am more interested in hearing the stories of Francis, not the style and brush techniques of the master painters. Also, I focus on the architecture and how the space feels. With my pessimism aside, I did have a great time through my own eyes. The churches are very different than the ones in the north; Milan, Venice, and Florence.

The house fellow (RA), yea I have an RA who takes her job serious and told me not to spill wine on the fresco's in our studio. What am I, going to shake it up and spray it like I just won the Daytona 500? Anyways, she told us we wouldn’t be able to find the castle that sits above the city. A buddy and I were wandering around when we had a couple hours to wander and found the small path that leads up to it. It was awesome! The view was great and seeing an ancient castle was awesome. The two of us and two others were the only ones to find it. Most people sat in front of the next church we were suppose to be at for the 2 hours, instead of exploring. They sat, while we saw the best view of Assisi and the area, and a really cool castle. It was a great day!

some trips are planned:

My flights for my trips have been booked. Europe supports European movement or integration, so they have a couple airline systems that have really cheap flights. The one we use is Ryanair. Some of their flights are 0.00 euros with a 15 euro tax. So many of these flights like, Barcelona to Paris, Pisa to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Stockholm, were 15-20 euros.

For fall break, which is October 24th through November 2:
- Train to Pisa for one day
- Fly to Barcelona for four days
- Fly to Bilbao for one day, return back to Barcelona the next day
- Paris for four days

On an upcoming weekend, after fall break a few of us want to drive up to Switzerland. There is a lot of great architecture there, and I heard the landscape was beautiful.

The weekend of November 20th to the 23rd a friend and I found very cheap tickets to Stockholm, Sweden. I have always said if I were to ever move out of the U.S. it would be to Sweden, so I am pretty excited about this. Does anyone else think like that or is it just me?

Any suggestions for any of these places?

-dale

Aldo Rossi

Friday, our studio took a trip to Modena, Italy. It is about a hour and a half away from Florence. We went there to specifically see Aldo Rossi's Cemetery. It was built in the early 80's. It was a pretty awesome experience. I did not know much about the cemetery before we went there, but walking through it and experiencing the spaces was pretty cool.
Rossi's (newer) cemetery is next to the existing cemetery. He plays off this a little bit through a variation of visual connections. Rossi's cemetery is all concrete, Grandpa would love it. The craftsmanship and form-work was unbelievable. The choice of concrete relates to the city and its emphasis on factory work. Modena's work force is predominately factory workers since it is home to a major Italian luxury automobile called 'Maserati'.
The site is outside of the city because when the cemetery was first created, Italians didn't believe in burying their dead inside the city. The city had different neighborhoods and the cemetery was laid out according to neighborhoods.
The most interesting aspect of the cemetery is it isn't done. Rossi planned this cemetery to be built over a 100 year span. You build as people die. So what exists right now is about half of the overall master plan, the rest is to come.

Pasta, Pasta, and more Pasta

The food continues to be awesome. I have never ate so many carbs in my life. Typically, we have a pasta dish every night, but once in a while the head lady (Helen) here will grill. So far she has grilled chicken once and Florentine steak once. The T-bone steak was grilled a couple days ago and it was real thick. It tasted amazing, people were cutting it with knifes and being polite. I couldn’t take it anymore so I picked it up and cleaned it down to the bone, then making sure everyone had one, I went and grabbed a second steak. Not too often we get beef, and I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy. My professor commended me; he’s an avid fan of good food too. After the steak, Helen grilled some bananas with chocolate in them for dessert, awesome!
Their lunches are their main meal for the day. For lunch we usually start out with a fresh-home-made soup and then they bring the second course out which usually contains chicken or pork with pasta. After the main course is when you can get your coffee and a fruit, which is always fresh. I noticed they do not eat snacks throughout the day like we do. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are what they eat, and they have an ethics as to what you eat first and how you eat it. At the grocery store they don’t have Doritos, Ho Ho’s, Twinkies, junk food is rare. So for my mid-day snacks for the last month I have been eating peanuts, because they don’t eat sunflower seeds. So my habits I am quitting: sunflower seeds, chew, junk food, and cutting down on coke.