Our 7th Day Trip: Lucca

After about an hour long bus ride, our first stop of the day began at the beautiful, Villa Reale Di Marlia and the surrounding garden spaces.  The quant Villa dates back as early as the 16^th century and is surrounded by lush green gardens, open green lawns, water features and statues.  Being the only two landscape architecture students of the group, Drew Cheatham and I were especially excited about this visit.  

Pictures of the Villa: 

Pictures of the surrounding garden spaces:

This picture is of the “garden theatre,” which was my favorite part of the landscape.   In this space, yew hedges were used to mock the curtains, seating, foot lights and stage of a theatre. 

More pictures of the surrounding garden spaces: 

We spent the entire morning here because there was so much to see! 
Here are a few sketches:

Sketch by Graham Sinclair

Sketch by Heather Nelson

Sketch by Heather Nelson 

Afterwards, we hopped on the bus again and made are way to our second and final stop: the historical district of Lucca.  Compared to the highly populated cities of Rome and Florence, Lucca was a very quiet town.  It was a unique place, full of old churches, little piazzas, towers and family businesses.    

We were able to explore the city a good bit and see the following places:

Duomo San Martino 

Piazza e Chiesa di San Michele

Torre Guinigi

Piazza Anfiteatro

Independent Travel, Part 2

Buses, Trains, and Planes...Oh My!

Since Kyle gave a great overview of everyone’s Independent Travel, I will be giving a personal account of my travels to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. I traveled with Graham and Brandon, and we met a friend of ours, Katie Beth, in London.

We started the trip with a flight to London on Friday, March 13, and then went to Bexleyheath, the little suburban neighborhood where our hotel was, about 45 minutes from downtown London. Saturday morning we caught a double-decker bus to the train station and made our journey into town. The first thing on our agenda was to buy tickets for a show at the West End that night. We got a great deal on some tickets to Roger and Hammerstein’s Carousel at the Savoy Theatre. Then we went to the British Museum, an incredible collection of cultural exhibits with a central glass roof structure designed by Norman Foster--a man we became quite familiar with during our stay in London. We went on to see London Bridge, Big Ben and Westminster Abby, then called it a night after seeing an impressive performance of Carousel. 

Our second day started with Norman Foster’s London City Hall in Southwark, a nice development with modern architecture and a great park right on the Thames River. After doing some sketches and taking way too many pictures, we crossed the Tower Bridge and went in search of more architecture, including Foster’s Gherkin, which we had seen from afar throughout our time in London. Next, we went to The Monument, an obelisk that we weren’t quite sure the purpose of. (We know now that it’s a Monument to the Great Fire of London.) At sunset that day, we went to the London Eye and saw a beautiful view of London, both from the top of the Eye and from the river. 

The next day after lunch in a beautiful park, we went to Buckingham Palace, Green Park, and then to Canary Wharf, the business and shopping development with underground malls, large modern art structures and several skyscrapers. After a little photography and shopping, we went to Tate Modern  and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and then crossed Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

That evening we caught an overnight bus to Paris. On our first day, we saw Centre Pompidou and then climbed the Eiffel Tower, an incredible structure that exceeded my expectations in both size and splendor. On our way from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre, we passed Place de la Concorde, the Arch de Triumph, and Charles Garnier’s Paris Opéra. The Louvre was closed that day, but we went back the next morning and spent the entire day viewing the incredible range of art. The history of the place and the vastness of the exhibits were overwhelming. We were completely exhausted by the end of this day! 

On our last day in Paris, we visited the Grand Arche de la Défense, a modern, orthogonal arch on axis with the Arch de Triumph. We took a glass elevator to the top, where we had a great view of the city. That afternoon we went to Notre Dame, one of the most beautiful churches we’ve seen all semester, and then headed to Amsterdam. 

The first morning in Amsterdam we walked to Java Island in search of breakfast and some cool architecture. We found a wide range of sleek corporate buildings, colorful apartments, and unique footbridges. We then toured the Van Gogh Museum and the Heineken Brewery and Museum. The following day we rented bikes and rode around the beautiful city. Amsterdam has by far the best biking system of any city I’ve ever been to—clearly marked bike lanes integrated into vehicular and pedestrian  traffic, and entire parking garages for bicycles. 

 
Our next stop was Brussels, which was essentially just a stop on the way back to Genoa. We had one day here, during which we visited Atomium, a monument that Professor Sill taught us about during our studies of vertical structures. We moved between the nine steel spheres, each with different functions or exhibits. (We bought Belgian waffles in the middle sphere!) 

That evening we went to Charleroi, and then in the morning flew to Milan, where we caught a train back home to Genoa. We had an incredible trip – full of history, culture and architecture, but it was great to get back to the villa!

Independent Travel, Part 1

Buses, Trains, and Planes...Oh My!

The students of the Charles E Daniel Center tackle Europe for their spring break.  Just to name a few of the cities visited:  Berlin, Cortina, Portifino, Bellno, Feltre, Cugnan, Santa Margherita, San Fruttuoso, Nevegal, Munich, Heidelburg, Reutlingen, Amsterdam, Paris, Windsor, Cinque Terre, Oxford, Landen, Wiltshire, Brussels, Malhide, Dublin, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, Milan, Zurich, Bern, Vals, Lucerne, Bellagio, Como, Barcelona, Granada, Sevilla, Bilbao, Madrid, Athens, Chios, Cesme, Izmir, Istanbul, Efes, and Jerusalem.  

The spread of our travels throughout Europe (home is Genoa, Italy)

Sketchbooks fear for their lives, with the rapid drawings on site of architectural and landscape wonders.  Each student had little room to pack for the week, but the sketchbook was the most essential tool for our travels.  Regardless of culture shock, the sketches can speak the same language in any country.  Some are detailed, capture lighting, architectural elements, and tell a story that cannot be captured by a photograph.  

Sketching on the site under the Dolomites..."The hills are alive with the sound of music!"

Frank O. Ghery's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain

Stones of Nice, France...beware of Nudists!

Stonehenge (enough said)

Sectional study of Massimo Fuksas's Milan Fair

Frei Otto's Olympic Stadium Munich, Germany

Now, it is time to focus on a few photographs.  The following photographs allow our viewers to see how much of Europe is available to us, and the opportunities that the CAF gives its architecture students.  But, most importantly these photographs are intended to make our viewers jealous of our big European adventure!

Athens, Greece...solid orange

Malahide Castle, Ireland...A.K.A Castelleto Pizzeria near our villa (we found the logo)

Glasgow, Scotland Armadillo building on the Clyde River...or Alabama?

Jerusalem, Israel...the holy city

Urquhart Castle, Scotland (Braveheart?)

Thermal Baths in Vals, Switzerland...one of the most amazing plays on lighting and water temperature

Vernazza, part of the Cinque Terre...not far from our villa (yes we live in the Italian Riviera)

After our first few weeks in Italy, many of us were slightly homesick.  The conversations focused on what American food and cultures we missed the most.  However, upon our return from spring break we referred to Genoa and the Villa as “home.”  We have now adjusted to this wonderful lifestyle and the effortless means of travel to amazing cities and landscapes across Europe.  I believe I speak for all of us when I say to our families and friends:  “You will be making a trip to Italy soon, not to vacation…but to drag us home!" 

Our 6th Day Trip: Como

You probably know Como as a famous retreat for the wealthy who sip wine in the gardens of their private villas (wow this is starting to sound a little like us in Genova) and ride around the lake in their yachts. So after hanging out with good old Clooney, we spent the rest of the day experiencing the rest of what you don’t know about Como, the architecture of Giuseppe Terragni an important Italian Rationalist. 

Our first stop was Villa Bianca, a house that Terragni designed for his cousin. The building itself was, well, white and had a neat rooftop terrace, but besides that what was most interesting was the sculpture surrounding it. Contrasting greatly with the linear modern architecture was the modern sculpture which was slightly creepy but automatically provided our pictures with scaled figures, so that’s good. 

Moving onward and upward, we next visited the War Memorial by Terragni.

 

Although Terragni won the competition for this memorial, he was forced to change his design to replicate a sketch drawn by Antonio Sant’Elia--- the leader of futurism--- before he died in the war. So this monument is interesting because it is both futurist and rationalist, and thus greatly shows the very close correlation between these two movements. This monument has a very heavy and oppressive presence right on the edge of Lake Como, which actually suits its intended function perfectly- to serve as a constant reminder of all those who died during World War I.  

Next we went to what is considered the first modern building in Italy (disregarding the Ca' Brutta which no one really cares about), the Novocomum apartment building. Although this building is modern in many ways (its daring cantilever, curved corner condition, extensive glazing, etc.) what I thought made it seem more modern was its jarring contrast with the highly decorated building right beside it. Seeing this contrast even today exaggerates the simplicity of the Novocomum, and how it was highly innovative for its time, and still is. We followed this building with a little bit of fascism, my favorite part…. 

The Casa Del Fascio is a building in the center of Como which was meant to be a house for fascism, exactly as the title implies. Thus the architecture is full of propaganda to reflect the "clarity and honesty" of the fascist party. The architecture is simple and utilizes a lot of glazing and natural lighting so that you can literally see right through the bottom level of the structure, and you "know" what is going on at all times. However, this is a skewed perception, because if you count the column grid, there are a lot of rooms hidden from this, not to mention the other levels and rooms where they housed all the people who disagreed with the fascist party. 

Thus this building is an insane paradox, and actually works perfectly with its function, because the fascist party was the exact same thing--- a presented facade with an entirely different thing happening under the surface. The Casa Del Fascio thus perfectly reflects the contradictions of Fascism as well as serving as a model for how easily people could fall into Fascism's trap--- they were really rather good at propaganda. So maybe the architecture is not the best for architecture's sake, but it is one of the best correlations of form follows function that I have ever seen- even on levels that were not intended. 

We also saw a Nursery School in the Sant'Elia Quarter in which Terragni designed everything on the scale of an elementary school kid. Everything was so cute and tiny including the handrails, bathrooms, tables and chairs. It was also interesting how he took a city setting and added as much green space and natural lighting as possible to give the kids a great rural experience while in school. Actually the whole place is devoted to creating the perfect environment for kids to live and learn in, which I believe Terragni successfully achieved. All in all, it was a cool place. 

Our 5th Day Trip: Torino

We left bright and early this morning for the train station with tickets to Torino, home of the 2006 Winter Olympics. For many of us, this was our second trip to the city. A group of us went earlier in the semester for a ski trip at nearby Bardonecchia. This time, however, the visit was architecture related and, with our trusty guide Judy, we spent the entire day seeing some of Turin's best.

We began the tour as soon as we stepped out of the Porta Nuova train station. We traveled up Via Roma (which was on axis with the train station) to Piazza San Carlo. This piazza was designed by Castellamonte in 1621. There were several iconic buildings overlooking the piazza including the twin churches: San Carlo and Santo Christina (pictured below).

As we made our way through the city, we saw many historic buildings and learned about their history and significance with Torino, including the castle and monument below:

The Palazzo Carignano (Guarini, 1679) boasted one of the more interesting facades we have seen. The entire building, including columns and decorations, was made of sculpted brick (as opposed to the typical marble or stone that had become used to). I took some time during our lunch break to draw the building because it was so unique:

The next building we learned about was the Palazzo Madama (Juvarra, 118-1721). The interior was especially interesting because the floor was removed to reveal the remnants of the Roman roads and infrastructure that had long since been covered by the layers of time (and therefore lost) throughout the rest of the city. The image below is a glimpse of what Torino used to look like:

The following sketch is a detail of one of the windows of the Palazzo Madama by a classmate (Amy Leong):

After leaving the Piazza Castello, where the Palazzo Madama was located, we continued on to a beautiful church by Guarini: San Lorenzo (1668-1687). As we approached the entrance, judging by the very unassuming exterior, our expectations for the interior were not very high. However, much to our suprise, the church was beautifully decorated on the inside. The quality of the light pouring in from the drum of the cupola brought the space to life:

Another Amy Leong sketch of the underside of the lantern:

In plan, the rotunda boasted eight beautifully decorated radiating chapels as depicted in the panoramic image below:

Our next stop was the iconic Mole Antonelliana e Museo del Cinema (Antonelli, 1863). Here we learned about the history of the building, the architect ran the original clients off -he refused to budge in his design intent- so the town government had to buy the project in order to allow the work to continue. Today, the dome and steeple atop this building has become a symbol of Torino. Inside, we were able to take the elevator -suspended from cables and hoisted in the center of the dome...not very comforting for those afraid of heights- to the top and had a great view of the city.

After leaving the Mole (pictured above), we moved on to a more modern building: the Fiat Lingotto (Matte Trucco, 1914-1926). This was an interesting factory-turned-office complex that holds a significant place in automotive manufacturing history. It was modeled after the Ford factories in America (complete with the newfangled concept of something called "the assembly line") with some improvements. The raw materials arrived on the lowest floor and the cars were assembled as they rose. Once they reached the top, the roof had a test track that the cars could be driven on before they descended the spiral ramp to the ground below. Although the building is no longer used for testing cars, the test track -with its banked turns- still exists, and we were lucky enough to get a private tour:

While we were on top, a promotional company was selling rides in exotic cars in the plaza below, and the route included driving up the ramp for a spin on top of the building. (Some of us, including me, almost took more pictures of the cars than we did of the building!)

Recent additions to the roof included an upscale conference room by Renzo Piano. The new additions added another iconic element to the building as seen in the center of the images below:

(photo by Derrick Simpson)

The conference room (1982-1991) bubble (see image above) came complete with a helicopter landing pad for the executives that wanted to fly in. On the inside, great efforts had to be taken to reduce the amount of harsh sunlight (the greenhouse effect from all the glazing) on the conference table (see below).

On our way down, we took the ramp (just like the cars did during the factory days) which sported a concrete structural support system resembling the spokes of a tire's rim.

(photo by Derrick Simpson)

It is said that this aesthetic inspired many architects and engineers of its day, including architect Le Corbusier and engineer P.L. Nervi.

After leaving this factory, we had to hurry back to the station to catch our train for Genoa. Our 5th day trip ended with a short bus ride from Genova Principe Station back to the villa, and a tired but enlightened group of architecture students trudging up the steps to hit the sack.