13.11.04
Peggy Guggenheim in Venice
nancy
Posted by dwd4f at 14:51 | TrackBack
On November 3: Today we visited Ghetto Nuovo and Ghetto Vecchio, San Giorgio di Greci, San Giorgio dei Schiavoni, and Chiesa della Pieta. It was all a welcome distraction from the election news in the US. Our tour guide through the Jewish synagogues was an absolute delight. Her dictatorship qualities kept us in line, “butweshouldnotbetooproudofthis, no?” We toured a Greek, French and a Sophardic synagogue. In the sophardic synagogue, I was impressed by the expression of the idea that since man is imperfect a single floor tile was purposely laid out of place. In the Ghetto Vecchio, the tour guide pointed out buildings that once collectively housed over 4,000 Jewish Venetians. Some of the apartments had 6 foot high ceilings. The ghetto was gated off at night to keep the Jewish community separate from the Venetians; as an aside, the Jews were forced to pay for this “service.” Also, it was striking that even today, women are separated from men in the temple both physically and visually. Screens covered women’s pews from view of the men. Similar to this, Alana presented the Greek orthodox church, San Girogio di Greci (on the bottom right) where women are still forced to sit way up in a separate level in the front of the church; also hidden behind a screen. Alana pointed out that the Greek immigrants maintained a better relationship with the Venetians than the Slavs. This idea is demonstrated by the difference between the two communities and the location of their churches. San Giorgio dei Schiavoni (which was closed that day) is hidden in the back corner of its neighborhood as opposed to where the Greek church stands, in the front and center of its community. Alana is interested in the representation of Saint George, the Patron of soldiers and the Dragon in both ethnic groups. Finally, Aliesha concluded the day with her presentation on the Pieta (image on the bottom left). The pieta like the Sophardic synagogue and the San Giorgio di Greci employs the use of screens. However, instead of shielding women from view, the screens were used to hide the choir of orphans. I believe the church once served as a foundling hospital for the area
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13 November 2004
Lessons in high-water-stepping
Today, I am writing an instructive lesson on high-water-stepping. For those of you out there who have read my past entries, you may see a trend forming with my interest in the wonder that is aqua alta (high water). Perhaps. It appeals to the landscape architect in me: an ephemeral phenomenon that directly impacts the daily life of Venetians.
They are highly attuned to any environmental changes in their city and lagoon. This is true. And now I understand why.
Ok, on to the lesson:
For water that is really just glorified puddles, you can usually walk normally, briskly striding through as if that puddle were nothing special.
If, however, you find that the puddle has swelled into a small lake, the scenario changes. For water heights anywhere from 3-6 inches, you will start high-stepping it. Your stride slows, your steps become calculated. You gingerly make your way. Each step produces a bit of backsplash, so at this point you have to watch your pant cuffs. You might even do a bit of a hike of the pants. This will ensure that they do not receive any wayward splashes.
Now, if you see that the water has moved beyond 6 inches, as it does from time to time in Venice, then you will have to change your strategy. No more high-water-stepping. Now, you will do a sort of cross-country skiing motion through the water. At this point, your pants are most definitely tucked safely inside your boots (whereas before they could still boldly hang out). To make your way you need to keep the strides low and even. At this moment, gliding is a better term. The more you glide through the water with your cross-country skiing motion, the less you splash. It is also easier to walk in this manner because high-stepping is really out of the question as an efficient means of getting from point A to point B in such conditions. Regular walking is definitely out. Gliding is in.
So, on the days of aqua altissima you might find yourself in more than a foot of water (!) It might be lapping hungrily at the tops of your boots, or it may swallow your legs whole. On these days, you wish for waders. The gliding is still in effect, but it really is not so helpful now. The best options for those of us who are wader-less:
Stay inside, if possible, until the water recedes.
Close your eyes, plug your nose and start a plunging gait (with your lowly rubber boots, of course) and hope for the best.
The most important thing to remember: if you find yourself in Venice on an aqua alta kind of day, DO NOT prance through the water with bare feet. We see tourists doing this all the time. Bad move. Venice does not have a sewer system, in the sense that we know it. Think: canals as flushing devices for partially treated wastewater which then travels out to the lagoon and eventually to sea. Better to buy the funny plastic foot ponchos they sell on such days, suck up the fashion faux pas, and happily make your way through the city with dry (and clean) feet.
I hope this lesson saves you a bit of splash if you make it to La Serinissima.
Posted by amk7b at 11:00 | TrackBack
10.11.04
wednesday. 10 november 2004. would-be padua trip.
first trip as a group outside of the city not on a bus into the veneto. our planned destination is padua. no new faculty members on this trip.
0600am. we wake finally after a crappy night of sleep due to high winds continuously rattling both our shutters and the windows that they ‘protect.’ i took this series to show how little all of these layers help to shield us from the cold, wind and noise that the impending acqua-alta [9am] brings.
0715am. the apartment heads out toward san zaccaria to catch the 0726am vaporetto to find that the water has already started to break the canals and that unfortunately, we will need boots in order to get off our island and to the vaporetto stop. the 70s that we were experiencing last week have finally turned in the normal november cold and the rain has started again. we turn and head back to the apartment for our rubber boots.
0720am. the apartment upstairs informs us that they’ve called the boys and are in the process of calling nicholas to see if the padua trip can be postponed due to inclement weather conditions.
0725am. the trip is cancelled [rescheduled for thursday] and we will meet instead at 0100pm in studio…
0100pm. studio. group desk crits with nicholas.
0800pm. apartment. we [floor 01 of the girl’s apartment building] meet back from group work to get ready to go out for julie’s birthday dinner. we head to the vaporetto stop at san zaccaria [high tide yet again] to travel up the grand canal to santa croce. first time that alicia is sporting her new crutches.
0915pm. reservations at the famed LA ZUCCA. good friends, good food, good conversation...
1130pm. boarding the vaporetto back to san zaccaria. we leave pleased and full. happy birthday julie!
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09.11.04
tuesday with mario
Our second day working on our initial projects for the city began with a pin-up Venice studio style. Rather than pinning work to the white walls of your typical architecture school, we loaded files onto one computer and projected our work onto the wall. [See the category titled IUAV_presentation 1 on the list of categories to the right of the weblog for the final versions of this work.]
Our visions for the city have been described by Nicholas as looking at the extreme conditions on the [gelato] cone of possibility. The extreme conditions, remember, are in fact possibilities and ours included an elevated rail system for the city, a manhattanizing of the city to allow for sprawl, a calendar year of festivals set on temporary structures in the city such as floating barges and scaffolding, and a floating soccer stadium. From the feedback received in studio this morning we will refine our schemes to present to a class at the IUAV.
In the afternoon we gathered at Campo Santa Margherita for hot drinks with Mario. Mario held court and graciously offered his insights and opinions into WWII era Venice as well as present-day and future Venice. I think I might be related to Mario. He looks like my grandmother. Also, one of the undergraduates took this picture this summer in Villa Valmarana in Vicenza. The woman looks like me, eh?
If you cannot imagine the Venice Studio, try out a vision of [boot]camp studio: adult men and women bunking a foot and a half from one another, eating together, and immersing themselves completely in their subject matter – Venice. Unfortunately, this boot camp did not come with a foot locker filled with resources [maps, books, boots, contacts], so we hope to leave here with a greater infrastructure in place for future UVA Venice Studios. We also hope to give something back to the city. With this goal, our designs are being informed. Please refer to the studio manifesto on the list of links to the right of the weblog. Email us or comment on its content.
Posted by nme5g at 18:16 | TrackBack
03.11.04
Moving Slowly, Eating Well, Knowing Place
The gruppo sniffing, swirling, drinking at Cantina Ornella Molon.
Links :: slowfood , agriturismo , cantina ornella molon traverso
The gruppo doing grappa, round three.
Yes, they play baseball in Italy. The pine allee makes a nice leftfield.
5-minute landscape progression. Don't let the plants fool you: every image from this series is constructed by the human hand.
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02.11.04
you can't get there from here on 10.22.04 nancy
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31.10.04
29.10.04
San Marco and Aqua Alta
The first real experience of aqua alta…we sloshed our way to San Marco for a meeting with Cammy, dodging soggy tourists as we went. It was exciting! We have heard so much about it but had not really experienced it yet.
Within 45 minutes of our arrival at the piazza, however, it had all drained away. It left us as quickly as it had arrived.
It was a fitting way to start our tour of San Marco, the renowned landmark of Venice. Aqua alta, or high water, is such a common occurrence here now that it just made sense for it to join us for our day.
The lapping water left us at the entryway, and we squished our way into the church. San Marco’s golden refuge from the water was remarkable yet somehow not fully sensed with all of the commotion around us. We had to fight through a continuous line of tourists while inside. No talking, keep moving, no touching, no pictures, etc. etc.
Cammy invited a colleague to lecture on San Marco’s history, and Laura and Tommy presented their research on related topics: John Ruskin’s writings and paintings of Venice, especially San Marco; and the intricate mosaic tiling and ceilings within the church.
We also had some time to sketch, which is becoming a daily ritual for us. How amazing! We climbed up and out onto the second level of the church, overlooking both the piazza and piazzetta, with San Giorgio Maggiore and the Giudecca in the distance and rooftops everywhere. It was an amazing bird’s eye view of the space. This is where I finally started to feel the magnitude of San Marco’s place in Venice and its place in history.
Angie
Posted by amk7b at 18:03 | TrackBack
Lido + Biennale
Lido Drawing Trip – On Tuesday we took the 1 East to the Lido. Once on the Lido, we hopped a bus and got out near the northern outskirts, near the beach. From there we walk out on the jetty, towards one of the lighthouses that marks the Lido inlet. This inlet was traditionally the primary entrance to the lagoon from the Adriatic. The walk along the jetty was much longer than anticipated [~2 miles each way!], but it gave us time to take in where we were. The waters on either side of the jetty react differently due to the ever-changing tides and currents, with the inlet-side waters moving faster and thus much choppier. The walk also introduced me to where Consorzio Venezia Nuovo (CVN) will build one of three controversial floodgates. These floodgates, more commonly referred to as the MOSE (Modulo Sperimentali Elettromeccanico), are supposed to block the aqua alta from the lagoon. As we have repeatedly been told, this system may or may not work, and will probably have a negative effect on the lagoon ecosystem. I agree with most of what the experts say, especially the ones who say they don’t know what the effects will be. What I believe is that for any unconscious system [‘unconscious’ rather than natural, as it seems the word ‘natural’ is taboo now in the realm of design and the environment], the more control exerted, the more negatively the system will react. I began this semester ready to solve all of Venice’s aqua alta problems. Now I realize there are many more-qualified people than myself working on the issue, and many more interesting issues on which to focus.
Biennale Giardini - On Thursday we went to the Giardini portion of the Biennale. This consisted of an international pavilion (Padiglione Italia) exhibiting installations of selected architects from around the world, and national pavilions scattered around the Giardini. The theme of the 2004 Architecture Biennale (the Biennale alternates between art and architecture every year) is METAMORPH. The national pavilions each encompass a chosen subtext related to the idea of metamorph(osis), particular to the of leading-edge architecture trend in the respective countries. The Arsenale portion of the Biennale, which we all visited a couple weeks ago, is more of an exhibition of recent work whereas the Padiglione Italia allows for the selected designers to more fully immerse visitors [almost entirely architects, designers, and architecture students] in the installations. I have never seen such an architectural exhibition of such scale or scope of work. With so many installations to experience, I found it fairly easy to find projects that I can relate to my own design interests, especially those applicable to my Venice projects. Conversely, I found many pavilions were poorly conceived, poorly executed, and/or poorly executed. Many of the interesting projects are featured in the images to the right. My favorite national pavilions were the Danish [7 unique problems; 7extreme solutions] Netherlands [hybridized landscapes], Russian [microcosm of studio atmosphere], and Israel [documented Tel-Aviv / Jaffa coastline]. My least favorite were Romania, USA, and Italy.
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30.10.04
One of Those Days
The Venice Studio does not limit itself to studio work. Along with the trials and tribulations of wellheads and the lagoon are weekly drawing exercises (we thumb wrestle to strenthen our drawing muscles), independent studies, and a course on the History of Venetian Architecture. Currently, Professoressa Cammy Brothers is here with us for two intensive weeks of architectural history.
and a little drawing music, please . . .
At the end of a drawing exercise, Venice students start to fade:
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29.10.04
a land of wet
FORMAL education: Day 4 of our historically focused week included visits to Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari church and the Scuola di San Rocco with a focus on the paintings of Titian, Bellini and Tintoretto. Titian’s work in the Frari is impressive as an example of painting’s ability to participate in and unify architecture and its intention. His dynamic altarpiece for the church, the Assumption, guides the viewer’s spatial movement, pulling him down the axial path to the apse through color and composition and then moving his gaze upwards to a heavenly glance. It’s refreshing to see “ornament” becoming so much more than just that. For a more detailed discussion of Titian’s role in the Frari, click the link below. The scuola’s artwork focuses on the plague, which hit Venice in some form every 2 to 20 years. The building houses the world’s largest oil painting, a work of Tintoretto.
GENERAL education: If the butcher asks you if you want the heart and other innards removed from your chicken, say yes. Unlike the US, where chicken organs are placed nicely in a bag inside the chicken for easy removal, here organs remain quite attached by various chicken veins, tendons and parts, presenting a difficult and disturbing removal process.
Posted by kara at 13:16 | TrackBack
26.10.04
tuesday. 26 october 2004. palladian trip.
third bus trip of the venice program and second time into the veneto. our destination is somewhere to the west of venice. first time we see cammy.
0645am. we catch [this time] the express vaperetto out of san zaccaria and by-pass the grand canal by route of the guidecca canal. it’s quiet. the sun is just rising. venice is at it’s best at dawn and dusk. water and sky merge and small, yellow lights are the only thing that marks the horizon.
0730am. we meet at piazza roma to board our [this time] large, somewhat pimpin’ bus [turquoise floor lights, floor-to-ceiling purple and yellow fabric, green lights above]. we head west.
0930am. villa barbaro. our second palladian villa. first presentation in our two-week long historic tour led by cammy and students. the sky is overcast. sallie describes the intentions of the barbaro brothers and palladio. we go inside to the piano nobile where we don green slippers over our shoes and check out the frescos by veronase. leaves are falling from the allee.
1130am. board the bus. we sleep to offset the motion sickness experienced as we continue to head west towards bassano.
1230pm. bassano del grappa. we arrive for a quick view of palladio’s wooden ponte degli alpini and a quick lunch of pizza. we start to see a little of the wealth that lies in the veneto with the type of cars that run up and down the narrow streets of the old city center. it starts to rain.
0215pm. back on the bus.
0300pm. villa rotunda. it has stopped raining by the time that we reach the villa. the interior is closed to the public for the day so we remain outside to sketch. i never expected to see how close to vicenza it was and the suburban setting in which it lies. there is another group of american students there from notre dame.
0415pm. vicenza. since the bus is scheduled to leave by 0530pm, cammy takes us on a quick run through of palladio’s work in vicenza and some comparable palazzos. the introduction is great and definitely leaves the interest there to go back for a weekend. it is nice to be in a city that seems to be thriving [or have some sort of inner life that you can feel].
0530pm. board the bus to venice.
0630pm. venice. some quick shopping done at coop and then back on the express vaparetto to san zaccaria for some dinner and drinks.
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19.10.04
Into the Lagoon
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18.10.04
pensieri
So what is Venice?
At this stage in the journey, the city is nothing that I expected or assumed it would be.
We have spent the past two weeks performing a variety of activities: trekking into the lagoon, going to mass in San Marco, traveling again to the lagoon, going to a UNESCO meeting, and walking more than you can possibly imagine. But we have been doing all of these things with a goal in mind – we are striving to achieve something that will help to save Venice, or at least attempt to make an impact in a city that has not changed basically since the Renaissance.
Maybe not such an easy assignment, but one which fascinates me to no end for there is a unique character to both the city and to the people who live and work here in Venice. Each and every trip or errand that I run allows me to see the difference between Venice and anywhere else I have ever encountered. On a simple trip home from checking my email yesterday, I found myself caught up in a sea of people which was swarming and in which I had no control over the direction. I usually attempt to avoid San Marco and the more touristed locations at all costs, but there was acqua alta and the planks had not yet been put up, so I was left no choice. However, that was just a part of Venetian life – essentially the price the city must pay for their primary source of income coming from the tourist trade – although the true Venetians know enough alternate routes so that they can thoroughly avoid the high water.
But I question whether we as a group are really going to be able to impact Venetian life – hearing the citizens of the city talk at the UNESCO meeting clearly showed the lack of tolerance that the Venetians have for new ideas. The speakers asking questions after the presentation gave the impression of being part of the old Venetian life – well-tailored suits, and with a certain dignity that is normally not seen in the United States. And together as a group, the Venetians seemed to be thoroughly against any type of change in their city.
So basically, where does that leave us as we are in the process of working with the idea of the lagoon park or the wellhead project? It certainly makes our tasks more difficult, but not impossible. At the moment, those of us with the wellhead project are working together to fully realize the different layers that exist in the campi and in the larger forum of the city with the hope that this research being able to help us understand what needs to be done, and what we might be capable of accomplishing.
On a lighter note, the city of Venice itself does not fail to surprise and entice with treasures of architecture and culture to be found around every corner – if you are willing to wander into the rabbit warren of streets that continuously lead to dead-ends. If you wander far enough, a different Venice, one where the clothes are hung out on the line and the children play in the streets with their parents and grandparents chatting nearby, appears. But this idyllic life does not appear to be real in Venice and certainly cannot exist without the millions of tourists who overtake the city day in and day out. Not that we can really call ourselves Venetians by any stretch of the imagination, but we are making an effort to adapt to the culture (we have no choice, we can’t find peanut butter or any cereal besides corn flakes or muesli), and to understand the city as best we can – basically we are playing a big game of pretend each and every day, hoping that we are at least fooling the tourists.
Can we be successful??
Posted by aks3j at 12:07 | TrackBack
14.10.04
Painful (drawing) lessons in life
Today we were off to visit Carlo Scarpas work at the Brion Vega and the Canova museum as well as visiting with Mario Valmarana and UVA Venice alumni...a good day in all...but the drawing was intense. Warren and Nicholas provided some helpful lessons, but it really comes down to the fact that drawing truthfully means knowing yourself well. What a great opportunity to explore our limits (and move beyond them) while here in Venice. Not trying to get philosophical here, but it is such a crazy process -- drawing...and drawing in a way that conveys your intentions. Certainly a work in progess. I think I will buy another sketchbook tomorrow...
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13.10.04
drawing with our feet
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11.10.04
monday. 11 october 2004. alpine trip.
first bus trip of the venice program and first time outside of venice and away from the lagoon. our destination is somewhere in the italian alps, the dolomites. first time we see warren.
645am. we catch the local vaperetto out of san zaccaria and hit every stop up the grand canal. it’s quiet. the sun is just rising. the vaperetto turns its light out after every stop. you can actually feel the onset of fall today.
730am. we meet at piazza roma to board our small bus. first time we see cars since we’ve arrived. we head out north to circle the lagoon, see the adriatic, walk on the beach, get a cappuccino, begin our sectional climb of the watershed that feeds venice.
courtesy of byurek
11am. longarone. it has started to rain. almost 41 years ago to this date, part of a local mountain caved into an artifical catchment basin causing a wave to flow over the dam that sits above this small mountain town. in less than 10 minutes, 1900 people were killed. a church was designed by giovanni michelucci as a memorial to that which was destroyed.
1130am. board the bus. kara shares her new purchase of sugar balls. we sleep to offset the motion sickness experienced as we continue to head north towards cortina.
-- imagine a 30 second video clip [sitting on bus/moving thru a tunnel] here --
1230pm. we arrive in cortina for a quick lunch of pizza. nicholas is adamant about us being back on the bus by 2pm.
0200pm. back on the bus. depart for novacello.
0430pm. novacello. now most of us are ill. we meet sandy and matteo [two local architects] at the augustinian abbey of neustift where we are led by an overly excited, older man on a tour through some of the compound and its baroque garden. his italian is translated to us through sandy and matteo. even though we are still in italy, the local population speaks mostly german which can be seen in any of the signs in the area. german to italian to english. [note the baroque garden begins on the right]
0630pm. head to our hostel in bressanone. its dark, cold and pouring.
0800pm. quite possibly the most interesting part of the day. we are bussed up a mountain [one in which are driver does not want to complete, repeating that we are going to die and at one point stops the bus on the side of a very narrow road and leaves us…mind you it’s still dark, cold, and pouring] to a farm house where our meal is prepared by the family who lives there. known as ‘torggelen,’ it is a tradition where local families will open their homes to serve parties local cuisine through vegetables and meat foraged from their garden and the ‘forest.’ had it not been dark, we might have seen little red riding hood skip by. since our driver. we ended up renting two taxis to get us back down the mountain.