bldgs

Sunday, November 25, 2007

I'll see ya in Venezia

Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!

As for the students of the American University of Rome, our thansgiving was provided by the school. It was nothing close to home-cooking (specifically my aunt donna's artichoke dip) but it would do. AUR brought in an Italian priest to say grace for us. Which was elegantly stated as:

"God is great,
God is good,
Let us thank him,
for this food."

also hillarious.

We had our fill of Italiano-American style potatoes, turkey, stuffing, etc. and headed towards the transtation, hopped on the 11:00 night train towards Venice and were on our way. We were afraid that there would'nt be able to get any sleep seeing as how we would be moving. BUT as it turns out you can flatten out your seats and between Joanne, Jen and myself, we all had our own seperate..we'll call them beds for a lack of a better word.

We got into the city of water at 5:30 in the morning. I want to take this time to say that I LOVED Venice, but I do have one problem with it. No bathrooms. Seriously. The bathroom on the train was really gross and the bathroom in the trainstation did'nt open for another hour. Putting your bladder in check is a serious constraint on a weary traveler. Believing we would have better luck towards the more touristy areas, we made our way through the winding streets.

Venice dosen't really have city planning, I mean it's like the urban planners were talking and said:

"Hey Guisseppe, where should we build this building?"
"umm...where there is'nt water?"

So it took us a long time to find St. Mark's Square. We tried using the map, which eventually became more hindrancce than help and started to follow signs. Some of them looked offical, others did not. After many wrong turns we came across the most beautiful piazza.

http://members.cox.net/mkpl3/italvac/066-venice-st-marks-sq.jpg

I'm really glad I went to Venice when I did, I had been to Venice before, In fact I had my 13th birthday there. But Summer Venice and Winter Venice are very very different. Think of it as the bi-polar city.

Since the Renaissance, Venice had been praised for it's Summer lighting and artists like Da Vinci, Bellini and Titian sought to capture that specific light. It is the light that inspired chiaroscuro shading.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Leonardo_da_Vinci_025.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Bellini_mirror.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Tizian_085.jpg

However inwinter, It's a light that is moody, dark and much like the time between waking and dreaming. Disorienting but also intriguing. However at 5:30 in the morning, tired, needing to pee, it's not as romantic as it sounds. Eventually we found a cafe that had the most delicious croissants. They were like, bread, chocolate and the stuff of my dreams all inside a neat little package. There was also in this cafe, even more importantly a bathroom. It's amazing how much the little things matter when you're traveling. The world can be brand new after a cup of coffee. We then made our way to the Doge's Palace.

The Doges were essentially "Dukes" that ruled for life in Venice. Pretty much kings, they were usually considered to be the shrewdest minds in Venice. The palace was pretty reflective of that. In Rome, to show power you show as much gold , silver and fresco as possible. Because surely, more is more. But at this palace, it's not so much how much you show, it's what you choose to show.

There is a understated quality to the structure. You get the feeling that they have money, but they have so much money they don't need to flash it around. It's in the detail; spectacular carving, materials, fine brush work. Roman grandure is meant to impress, Venician grandure is meant to intimidate.

We also went to the bell-tower in St. Marks, by the time we got there the entire Piazza was completely flooded. There were people walking around in plastic bags as shoes, also lots and lots of rubber boots. Finally an entire city that understands and appreciates the glory of Wellington Boots.
Back to the bell-tower, we were there while the bells started ringing at noon. At first we thought that maybe the bells were for show, but then we found out otherwise first hand. I should be getting my hearing back any-day now.

After that we went on a walking tour of the city and got to see the Canals, the Piazzas, The Churches and the beautiful glass they have there. Venice is maybe one of my favorite cities because it is so unique. I mean a lot of cities have canals, Amsterdam being the one that comes to mind. But in cities like Amsterdam there is at least an order, a reasoning. Venician canals seem like the kind of place where dark stories are born and bread, here the element of water is king and the city's mood depends on it. It seems like the kind of place you would have in a dream, like, "We were living in this city, but all the streets were water and I could'nt find anything, it was so wierd." There is an eerieness that is unavoidable and very very beautiful.

We took the train back to rome around 5 in the afternoon and got back around 10. Away from the water, towards the hills. All and all It was a wonderful trip.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Brief History on Vegetables

Dear Carlo Mentha Trattoria,

You have a plate-sized pizza for 2 euros..and it is amazing. By the logic of your menu, my food will cost as much as the drink I get to go along with it. This is an act of genius unparalleled.

Bless you Trattoria, may your Marinara continue to outshine all around it.

Sincerely,

Molly McCormick

P.S. Did you know that the Tomato was only introduced to Italy in the 16th century? It originally comes from the Americas...fancy that.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

I want to be beside her, She wants to be admired.

Ok so, there is now officially less than a month left until my return to the states that happen to be united. I'm torn, I'm in love with Rome, in all her caramel-colored golden glory but I'm also pining for the crisp starchy white of a picket fence and christmas in the Old-Line State. I wish I could have both, but I can't. At least circumstance has made the choice easier since I need to be in Philadelphia mid-way though January. This week Richard came down from England and met up with his Mom here. I showed them around some of the important sites and I know it sounds wierd but showing other people the sites of Rome re-invigorates my passion for them. It's just a nice reminder of how spectacular they are.

Being in Rome is a lot like learning how to drive, the first time you get behind the wheel you're apprehensive and regardless of how prepared you think you are, you're going to mess something up. But eventually you get to know how to move about, things that were so intimidating before are now common place. Before you know it, you're eating while you go around, listening to the radio too loud. You get into the motions of an action and it takes someone sitting in the passanger side saying "Hey, what's that?" to remind you that the Trevi Fountain is intoxicating.

Mrs. Mckey took me out to dinner a few times and it was really generous of her, to pay her back i'm going to cook them Lasagna from scratch ( they showed us how to do that on the Tuscan wine trip I went on last week, though I have yet to fly solo on that one) when we get back.

* I can't remember if I talked about that trip or not, so just to be safe I'm going to talk about it again*

That trip was the BEAST. We drove out into the countryside in the morning and got to the Vineyard around eleven. They showed us the vines, as well as the cellar with the barrels, our tour guide commented that this particular area of Tuscany is where a lot of people come to film movies.

" That hill over there is where they filmed Gladiator, I don't know why they did'nt film it on our hill, our hill is just as nice as their hill."

It was really film-worthy. The day we were there it was on the cold side but the strong winter sunlight just made the whole place look even more enchanting. I was there with Doug, Tabitha, Andy (all of us Architecture majors) and we all ackowledged our dorkdom when we had a long talk about how old the house might be, where and when the additions were added. The strangest element was the doorway located at the end of an arch, which structurally should'nt work, but did. We then got to have a huge meal, when I say huge, I mean five courses. five. five courses of food. and wine, let's not forget the wine. the wine was VERY important...also delicious. At the end of the meal we walked around and found some gardens and silliness ensued.

However, silliness is always tempered with tradgedy. Such was the case here at least. On the trip there were two busses, on one bus there was a kid who had drank and ate too much and had thown-up. I was glad I was on my bus until we pulled over and our battery died. So here are your options : gross puke bus that goes OR clean freezing non-moving bus. I chose the non-puke bus, which was the best choice because then they bought us food (as if I needed more) while we waited for the next bus to come. I got the kids meal, it came with a really sweet pen.

* Back to Rome*

This weekend I went to the ARA PACIS MUSEUM designed by Richard Meier.

http://www.europaconcorsi.com/db/pub/images/7218/1539424218.jpg

Which stands out from (we'll call it.. ) Cannon Rome, but the scale is referencing the buildings around it, in an attempt to fit in. I liked the stairs on the exterior, I thought they were pretty interesting. Now I had read some reviews of this buildings that were not...kind. Aside from the problems with having too much glass (this is apparently bad for the marble because it has to expand and contract due to moisure) the interior is incredibly distracting from the altar itself.

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/rome/arapacis/0079.jpg

The materiality and geometric use of "coffers?" is challenging the ara pacis for visual suppremecy but at the same time trying to honor the antiquity of the object. Basically, this building is being two-faced. Making the motions as to honor the Ara, but secretly fighting it. However I found the other areas of the museum to be very interesting.

I don't know if it deserves it's terrible reputation, but it certainley dose'nt deserve a good reputation.

The Ara Pacis itself was pretty cool, the reliefs had people who were alive at the time, young and old. It's almost like an Augustan snap-shot of Roman Nobles. The floral motifs were pretty neat as well, they almost seemed to bloom.

Also this morning, I went to the Trastevere market, that place is so cool. I bought a few little things, the best find being a pair of wool gloves for a euro. They're in the washing machine right now, because...well just because. And tonight I'm heading out for chinese food, something that I have been in serious lack of....oh man... I just remembered, Chipotle in a month. snap.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

things I like....

http://blogs.chron.com/handstamp/archives/bears.JPG

I know it's dark, but I was bumbleing around on the computer today and I remembered how much I love Edward Gorey.

Also I watched some sweet Simon Schama action the otherday online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/powerofart/ if you want to see something really awesome check it out!

because todays the kind of day where you have to blog twice.

maybe you should just drink a lot less coffee.

Pictures + geek out today

Renzo Piano is amazing. You might now him from his imfamous Centre Georges Pompidou. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Georges_Pompidou ) Which is what it is, innovative but perhaps a little presumptious. However I went to his concert hall the other day and I was completely blown away. COLOR! He uses Color! No one ever uses color in their buildings! Finally someone who was not afraid to be snubbed by the neo-modernist crap that says "white is the only color you need".

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-5-69713278
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-13-69714029
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-10-69713793
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-12-69713982

Materiality here is amazing, he only uses lead, rubber, cherry wood and steel but it's perfect in the enviornment.

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-11-69713881
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-4-69713210
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-7-69713504

While we were there, a classmate Bryan and I got into a fight about what the roof was made out of. He said metal, I said rubber.

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-3-69713148

we were both right. lead for the structure, rubber for the acoustics. but still, there was more rubber than lead so I was crazy right. This picture dosent really show it but I was soooo crazy right.

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-6-69713454

There's also this sweetness where the three "beatles" rotate around a big courtyard that doubles as a fourth stage...genius.

The cool thing about all this is that it was originally organized differently, however when they discovered the remains of a ancient roman villa Piano built it into the program. Now they have a mini-museum dedicated to the villa INSIDE the concert hall, he never touched the villa and made it really easy for archeologists to excavate.

and then for fun I took pictures of leaves and busses,

http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-1-69712953
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-2-69713042
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-8-69713603
http://chillicheesefries.deviantart.com/art/piano-9-69713714

you may notice that they're all the same color scheme...that was not intentional but it was delightful, delicious AND delovely.

On a sadder note,

The city of Rome is in a bit of an uproar today. It turns out that two days ago there was a fight north of Rome when two rival groups of soccer fans ran into each other at a bar. The cops came in and broke it up, but the respective fans were still fighting until both groups got back into their cars and drove off. Apparently there was an accidental shot fired and one of the fans was killed. The Roma soccer fans were so outraged at the police that they cancelled the soccer game and started vandalizing government buildings, cop cars and the former olympic buildings in the area. I thought about going to the game that night, but when it came down to it, the tickets were sold out. A lucky break I feel.

However it's a very strange occurance because Rome dosent really ever have violent crime, petty crime all the time, but when it comes to people getting killed, it's not very common. They take killing, even accidental killing very, very seriously. It makes me wonder if there would have been the same reaction back home, or would we have just continued with the game with no more than a "how unfortunate". We'll never know.

On a more cheerful note, I need ideas for a drawing series. I think i'm going to do the anagram Roma e Amore and do a series of Venus statues around Rome. The Vatican Museum , Borghese Museum, the like. Because, despite it's problems, I do love Rome.

Friday, November 9, 2007

i'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says "shenannigans"

"Hey Farva, what's the name of that restaurant you like? You know the one with all the goofy crap on the walls?"
"Shenannigans? are you talking about shenannigans?"

Shennanigans indeed. That's what this afternoon was. An explanation you say? So be it.

So for my Mythology class there are three required field trips for the semester, the first one was to a museum near the Pyramid (yeah that's right Rome's got one of those things too). We are on the second one now, at the Roman Forum. Now I knew that the field trip was scheduled to leave from Piazza Venezia at 12 noon so I figured why not take the morning easy. When 11 rolled around I called Brian's apartment (he's in my class, I figured we would go together) only to discover from his roomate, Doug that he had left 30 min prior to my call. Intrigued, I looked down at Joanne's computer clock only to discover that it was already 11:55 am. So...i'm supposed to be 30 min away in 5. The conversation I had with Doug at that point was:

"wait what time is...ugh...I.oh..crap...jesus....noon.. crap.crapp.CRAP..."

*click*

Turns out while the rest of the world's satalite-linked electronic devices re-set their time when the hours changed my cell phone did not. awesome. So then I jumped the hell out of my apartment and started double-timing towards the Forum, with no specific plan on how to find my class but only the vague notion that they would be somewhere in the Forum.

Who should be on stike today? Transportation. All of it. There was only one tram running, going the oppostite direction I needed. So I moved up to triple time. I arrived at Piazza Venezia at 12:35 to be greeted by an entire mob of people marching down Via del Corso. All wearing the exact same burgandy and orange jumpsuits. I think that's where the transporation workers got to.

Eventually I got to the Forum and scouted out from the Tabularium where the class might be. I saw a group of 20 kids wearing backpacks and thought my troubles were over...false. After running down the cobblestones to reach what I thought was them, it turned out to be a pack of japanese teenagers. After this I started huffing all over the Forum for my class. I discovered that my professor looks like maybe...20 different German people. pfft...blondes.

As it turns out one of my classmates Josh was at the Forum that day with his parents. We talked for a few and I told them of my troubles, they told me good luck, and I pressed on. After about 30 min of trying to get up higher to see people and getting nowhere I was beginning to become disheartened. At this point I just sat next to something that looked important (which turned out to be the Temple of Vesta) and waited.

I learned more about the Temple of Vesta that day then I thought I could ever learn, that can happen when about 5 different tour groups come where you choose to sit. Most of them not in english. As a side note, I should probably start working on my conversational Cantonese.

After about 30 min of waiting, I had pretty much given up hope and decided to make my way back to my apartment to call my mom and frump. I was about to leave through the steps when who should walk by but my Professor , engrosed in a map and the rest of the class in his wake. Shocked and seizing an opportunity, I hid behind a collumn and jumped in the back. Andy noticed I had arrived late and I muttered my numerous mistakes. He laughed and shared his hand-out.

The first moral of the story:

It's not very educational to show up and hour and a half late to a 2 hour lecture.

The second moral:

You'd think it was "never give up" but I only found them after I had given up...so maybe...I don't know. Keep fighting? Had I given up earlier I never would have found them. yeah. I think "Keep Fighting" works.

On the side note of "keep fighting" my brother Tim is a bad-ass.

http://philau.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30816008&id=53100493