Cornell in Rome

Colorful Tuscany

For the last weekend field trip, Cornell students left the big bustling city of Rome to explore the quiet hill towns of  Tuscany. While some of the previous excursions were understandably jam-packed in order to visit numerous sites, our past weekend was relaxed, with plenty of free time to explore and enjoy Tuscany’s many offerings.

Early Friday morning we arrived in Montepulciano and began to walk up the main street to the city square where we visited the Palazzo Comunale. Here we got our first panoramic view of the Tuscan countryside. Wishing to show some Cornell pride, students created a “CU” in the Piazza making for a great photo op.

After leaving our mark, we jumped to nearby Pienza. In front of the main church, we stumbled upon a movie set for a documentary film, complete with actors dressed in medieval clothes, donkeys, sheep, a horse drawn carriage, and frustrated directors trying to organize the scene, while keeping  the public out of the picture. We watched for several minutes till the action finally began. I personally was hoping to see the carriage race through the square, knocking over the wheel-barrel filled with fruits, while a sword fight took place on the steps of the church, but I had to settle for watching the actors simply walking from one side of the piazza to the other. Seeing the amount of preparation it took to shoot such a short clip resonated with me, as it takes architecture students hours upon hours of drawing and model making to prepare a short 10 minute presentation to our faculty.

Siena was one of the students’ favorite Tuscan hill towns, with its magnificent central piazza, winding streets, massive palaces, ornately decorated churches, and grand panoramic views. Rivals with Florence, Siena’s politicians and local religious figures spent extraordinary amounts of money and resources on their public buildings, namely the city’s Duomo. Covered in striped layers of black stone and white marble, the church’s facade is decorated with spiraling columns, mosaics, and numerous statues. The inside, however, is even more elaborate with fully engraved floors, deep blue painted ceilings, brilliant stain-glass windows, and stunning side libraries and chapels. There was a great feeling of individuality and grandeur in this church, which for me at least, has set it above all the others.

For Halloween, students took to the streets as plumbers, Italian bakers, vampires, and  cats, just to name a few. We were pleasantly surprised to see that many of the locals had dressed up as well, but with more traditional costumes, such as witches, zombies, and ghosts.

After a night of frights, we continued to San Gimignano, well known for its numerous stone towers. The wealthy families of this medieval town commissioned seventy two towers to be built to prove their strength and status to travelers and rivals. Through this massive construction effort, they created some of the first skyscrapers. Here, students enjoyed the panoramic views, the “worlds best” gelato, and fresh pressed olive oil.

The strong Tuscan sun warmed the cool air and brightened the changing leaves as we left for the country-side winery of Rocca di Frassinello. Designed by Renzo Piano, the winery could be described as a large box set into the landscape with a framed glass structure and tower that sat lightly on top. Students, enjoying a glass of world class wine, watched the clouds turn bright reds and deep purples as the Tuscan sun dipped behind the hills.

Now that we are back in Rome, there is a growing feeling of anxiety among the students. With no more field trips planned, projects and papers looming on the horizon, the semester is winding down. There is only one month left to enjoy this foreign land we now call home.

wEEK iN pICTURES

One of those days by the Colosseum

Architectural Midterm Reviews

Field Trip- to ancient Pompeii Italy

Digital Designing

As the field trips come to a close, the lecture series in Rome started again last week with a presentation by Brendan Macfarlane of Jakob+Macfarlane Architects based in Paris. Students gathered in our lecture hall to hear this up and coming architect speak of his current projects, design strategies, and views on architecture.

Photo: Julio Torres

Macfarlane talked about his interest in using “what is at hand” to aid his designs. For Macfarlane, it is digital technologies that allow him to create futuristic architecture that would be nearly impossible to realize without such technology. In addition, he is interested in modern materials such as plastics with long life spans and resistance to fading, which he uses to “wrap” his buildings.

Image from: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/paris/herold_apartments.htm

Students questioned Macfarlane about his use of digital designing techniques and their validity. Is something lost when you are able to create an object or building too quickly? What are the limitations of digital design? What is the next phase of digital design?

Image from: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/paris/docks_de_paris.htm

Cornell students too have to question how they want to use digital technologies in their designs. Architecture firms are increasingly interested in students who know as many programs as possible to help them make beautiful renderings and digital models of their buildings, yet Cornell still has a tradition of hand drawing and drafting that has for so long been a core design principle and technique. It will be interesting to see how we continue to move in the digital direction, I for one think that we should take it slowly.

For more, visit:

http://www.jakobmacfarlane.com/

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pALAZZO fARNESE, cAPRAROLA

A day at Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola.  CORNELL IN ROME FALL 2009.

fALL bREAK

LOOKING AROUND THE WORLD I NOTICE THAT WE ALL HAVE AN UNFORTUNATE COMMON ASPECT.

ROME

LJUBLJANA

BARCELONA

BILBAO

MADRID

pOMPIDOU – eIFFEL

FINAL STOP PARIS!!!!!!

I don’t think that when Cornell planned our arrival to Paris, France they knew that we were going to find ourselves in the middle of Paris’ largest Techno Parade, as soon as we came out the Subway station… As for the the picture, I really hope that Gustave Eiffel (Designer and Engineer) got to see one of these sunsets before his departure. This particular one is offered from the top floor of the Pompidou Center designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.

Historical Precedents

Every semester at Cornell, architecture professors emphasize the importance of looking at historical precedents for our design projects. Even though we may feel as if we are designing novel buildings, we are not, and historical examples show us different possibilities of what our current building could be, and sometimes what it should be.

During a recent weekend trip, we visited three very important historical sites that many of us have previously researched:  the Temple at Palestrina, Villa d’ Este in Tivoli, and Hadrian’s Villa.

The Temple of Palestrina looks out over the low valley below with a commanding presence. Originally a Roman Temple, the building complex was rebuilt as a Christian church, used as a foundation for medieval houses, and bombed during WWII. Today the temple is a museum which speaks to the importance of its design and long history. It was great to hear a classmate shout out “Sweet, it’s so cool to visit the site of my previous studio project!”

After a short bus ride, we arrived at Villa d’Este, which was just as impressive with it’s beautiful earth-toned frescos and gardens filled cascading fountains that have made the villa famous. We explored the garden’s many pathways admiring the various sculptures and imagining life as elite Italian individuals.

Lastly, we arrived at Hadrian’s Villa, my personal favorite of the three. Having studied the villa numerous times before, my classmates and I were eager to walk throughout the complex to understand the grand scale of this miniature city. We marveled at the bath houses’ marvelous architectural and engineering feats of the large domed spaces covering multiple baths each with different water temperatures to choose from, a dinning hall that overlooked an immense pond once surrounded by white statues, and how all of the brick walls were once covered with polished marble.  It was obvious that Emperor Hadrian knew how to live well.

While the three tours were eye opening, it was also clear that we had only begun to scratch the surface of the projects, and that much more individual investigation would be needed to fully understand them. However, the next time our professors ask us to research these sites, we will be able to tell them with excitement how we visited the sites and what it felt like to be there.

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Just One of Those Days in Venice

Luigi Barzini, a writer for The New York Times, described Venice as “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man”. I would like to quote him on that, but replace of the word “city” with “shopping mall”. Venice is in fact a beautiful place, especially when the sound of rain drops on the clay roofs takes over the city, and blurs out sounds from boats and tourists.

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Friday in Rome

For the first time in nearly a month, it rained in Rome.

I awoke this morning to a cool breeze and the smell that could only follow a rainstorm and was instantly reminded of childhood summers spent in India, where a day of rain brought a whole new sense to the world.

And so it was with Rome this Friday. In the living room around noon, I sat with my roommates as a cool breeze flowed through the apartment, each of us concerned with a separate activity (checking email, catching up on the news, and so on) and yet all of us enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. Headed to Italian class a bit later, I remarked how wonderful it was to not feel the Italian sun beating down on us.

Rome felt different today, as though the rain had cooled down everything, not just the weather. At four, headed back home from an appointment, I found myself lost in a park after taking a shortcut. And I chose just to wander, to get lost, as a (seemingly) gentle sun lit up the entire park and a light breeze followed me around. I sat for an hour under a palm tree, writing for no particular reason, lost in the calmness of the moment.

Arriving home, I found a roommate taking a nap on the couch as the day waned and I thought about how, even with Rome’s metropolitan nature, it was so easy to find serenity in the city.

How Obvious Can We Be?…

A tour around Rome with Prof. Jeffrey Blanchard.

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