Saint Peter's Cathedral

Museum

Spring Break 2009

Paris, France

I can sum up Paris in one word... Unbelievable! Paris is one of the most AMAZING cities ever! It is definitely one my top three favorites!

Paris. Wow. Where do I even begin? There was so much to see and do in Paris, we (myself Anna and Sheila) tried to do everything! Thankfully Sheila has been to Paris in the past so we were lucky to have some grasp on what to do and when. The architecture in Paris is gorgeous! It honestly reminded me of the movie Mary Poppins! The details in the façade and even the architecture of the buildings as a whole just screamed elegance and beauty. The three of us met up with a few friends from the Barcelona study abroad crew which was so great to have the chance to be able to meet up and hang out! Our first full day there we walked up the Eiffel tower (YES! walked up to the second floor observatory level. 680 STEPS!) The view from this level was amazing (thankfully we had amazing weather so it was a clear sunny day)! From here we had to take an elevator up to the tip of the Eiffel Tower, I honestly felt like I was on top of the world! It was pretty cool to see the urban fabric of the city from above, the streets pan out in a spider web affect!

Eiffel Tower

The View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

After the Eiffel Tower we continued to walk through the streets of Paris making our way to the Avenue des Champs Elysees, one of the most famous streets in Paris that connects the Arc de Triomphe to the Palace de la Concorde. Making our way down the Avenue des Champs Elysees we saw some familiar stores such as HAGAN DAZ (!) and STARBUCKS (!) woo! We stopped in the original Louis Vuitton store (the design of this store was AWESOME!) and some other stores along the way.

Arc de Triumphe

Notre Dame Cathedral was one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals I have ever seen! The detail that was evident on the exterior and the interior was amazing, must have taken forever to build something with such great detail in that time of day! Seeing architecture like this makes you appreciate it that much more. After the Notre Dame Cathedral we walked along the river stopping at these little side venders that sold hundreds of postcards and Art Nouveau posters. Following the river we found ourselves come to the Louvre! I never thought I would ever have gotten to see these places, especially not when I was 21 years old! It was incredible to see the structure designed by I.M Pei. As we made our way into the lobby to much of my surprise (I actually forgot about this!) was the famous spiral staircase. To me it was amazing to see because I had used this as a precedent for my ARCH 302 studio project Urban Townhouse for an Artist. Of course we saw Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (I think she’s smiling!), Madonna of the Rocks also by da Vinci, Raft of medusa, and the Wedding Feast at Cana. It was so interesting to see the pieces of art that I studied way back in high school and that have also played a great role in my love for art and architecture. After the Louvre we pass the Pompidou Center and made our way to Moulin Rouge to see the windmill.

Notre Dame Cathedral

The Louvre

The Pompidou Center

Moulin Rouge

Our last day in Paris we went to Versailles for the day to see the Palace and the gardens! The Palace was home to the famous Louis XVI and Marie Antoniette. We toured the Palace with cool (emphasis on the cool) hand held audio guides, seeing the king and queen’s chambers, the chapel, and the Hall of Mirrors. The gardens I am sure are gorgeous in the spring and summer time, however being the last week in February/first week in March, they weren’t as spectacular as they are known to be (the grounds of Versailles is MASSIVE though!!) After Versailles, we did not make it to see Villa Savoie, however we did stop to see one of the last standing famous Art Nouveau metro stops by Hector Guimard. It was adorable! It was small, unique and screamed Art Nouveau!

(!) TIPS: France is known for their crepes, get one a day ATLEAST or ten (like Anna), its really okay we don’t judge... but really, they are amazing!! Paris is a city of love, you will see many couples expressing it publicly! Chinese tourists never fail to go where you go, you will always see them!! Paris really is a great city, there is so much to see: the architecture is fantastic as well as the gardens dispersed throughout the city. Thankfully I do have the opportunity to travel back to Paris with Anna after the program is over. I hope to see a side of the city (in the spring time!) that we may not have really seen when we went in February!

Naples. Sorrento. Pompeii

On one of our free weekends, we took a trip down to southern Italy. We stayed at a hotel on the waterfront overlooking Bay of Naples, Mount Vesuvius and the Castle. The city of Naples is not as nice as we anticipated, however the waterfront was gorgeous. We walked around Naples and visited the Museo Nazionale, which holds many artifacts and intact mosaics actually from Pompeii. After this we decided to hike to the top of the hill to the Castel Nuovo. The views from the top of this hill were amazing! We each purchased a cameo here. The cameos were hand carved in Naples but the actual shell was imported from Africa. We zigzagged our way down the hill where we sat and watched the sunset over the Naples Bay.

Mount Versuvius, Naples

On Saturday we took a local train to Pompeii, an ancient city that was completely preserved after its burial from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii was incredible! It was like an enormous maze and you had to find your way out! It was actually a lot bigger than I thought. The views of the ancient architecture and the mountain ranges behind it were incredible! Being able to see the actual streets of the city and columns of the buildings was really great.

Pompeii

After Pompeii we took another local train down to Sorrento. It was a smaller quaint town on the hillside off the Bay of Naples. We walked around the small town, bought some limoncello (!) and went into a few authentic Italian shops. We walked down to the waters edge to take a few pictures, the views were amazing. From here you could see Mount Vesuvius in the distance and also the island of Capri. We settled ourselves on a bench overlooking the Bay of Naples and watched the sunset. It was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend!

Sorrento hillside cliffs

Sunset in Sorrento!

Piazza Navona Analysis (Project 1)

Project 1 for the Rome Study Abroad ARCH 301 studio was an analyasis of an urban square.

Piazza Navona.

Four A3 sheets; pencil


(!) I am having trouble loading my Project 1 onto the blog! I will keep trying!

Vicenza + Verona.

Our first stop was in the city of Vicenza where we were introduced to the works of Andrea Palladio including the well-known Villa Rotonda, the Basilica, Teatro Olimpico, Palazzo Chiericati, Palazzo Barbaran da Porta, Palazzo Valmarana Brago. We took a day trip to the countryside to get a different perspective on Italian architecture. We have already seen the different types and styles of architecture were present in the various cities (Florence, Pisa, Bologna, and Venice). We were now introduced to the countryside and the Italian villa. Here we saw two more Palladian villas, Villa Barbaro and Villa Emo as well as Carlo Scarpa’s Brion Cemetary (Tomba Brion). The last day of our field trip was spent in Verona where we saw the actual balcony from Romeo and Juliet and the wall of love (which is basically a wall where “Romeo and Juliette’s” sign their names and write notes!). We also saw Carlo Scarpa’s renovation at the Castel Vecchio. Here at the gorgeous old castle, we analyzed and sketched the unique details of Scarpa’s renovation that added a modern twist to the architecture but still respected the old structure of the castle.

Italian Countryside (!) Small town we stopped in for coffee!

Villa Rotonda, Andrea Palladio

Villa Emo, Andrea Palladio

Villa Barbaro, Andrea Palladio

Venice.

On a gorgeous sunny day, Venice is absolutely beautiful! No cars, buses, or mopeds are allowed in Venice, you either walk everywhere or hop on the water taxis. The architecture in Venice is amazing and is said to be where artists have gotten their influence and color palattes. First we went to see Caltrava’s new bridge that was just built in Venice. We got to take an elevator (we took a break from the stairs) to the top of the Campanile in Piazza San Marco, the view was amazing despite the overcast sky. Once we got down from the tower we walked around the square and went into the Basilica. We sketched the unique details of a museum that was designed by Carlo Scarpa. After visiting a few more places and riding the water taxi, we were on our own. It was surely an interesting adventure trying to navigate our way back without a map (the boys refused to use one!). To our surprise we actually made it back to our hotel! There is a lot to do in Venice (specially on a sunny day!). The view of the reflection of the sun off the canal with the architecture as a backdrop is absolutely breathtaking!

Venice architecture

Venice!

Santiago Caltrava's New Bridge in Venice

Piazza San Marco

Top of the Basilica of San Marco

Basilica of San Marco

Venice at sunset! Gorgeous!

Pisa + Bologna

PISA

While still in Florence, we took a day trip to the small town of Pisa. We got to climb to the top of the leaning tower of Pisa! It was definately interesting and sort of odd walking up the spiral marble staircase of the tower. It was almost as if you were on a ride at a carnival! As you made your way up, one side would get steeper and more uneven and then alternate as you made it to the other side. After making it to the top, we got a great view of the cathedral, the baptistry and the town. We all took turns taking the infamous tourist picture of 'holding up the leaning tower' (good laugh!) We also got to see a modern apartment building in Pisa but to our surprise it had been abandoned for some time.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Looking up at the Tower of Pisa.

(!) Travel tip: Do not visit Pisa on a rainy Sunday! No opened shops, no people in the streets! Always bring a good umbrella (not one from the umbrelli guy), you will definately need it during the rainy season!

BOLOGNA

Bologna is a beautiful small town known for its arcaded streets. We started our journey in the outskirts of the town to see a reconstruction of Le Corbusier's installment at the L'Espirit Nouveau (1925, reconstructed in Bologna in 1977). As we walked further into the center of town, the more beautiful the architecture got! The richness in the classical facade's of the buildings were simply breathtaking. Our sketching assignment was to further analyze the different arcades that lined the streets in the town center. A bunch of us decided to climb up one of the two Towers in Bologona. After climbing the Duomo in Florence and the Leaning Tower in Pisa, we decided the 498 old wooden stepped tower would be nothing! Little did we know what kind of adventure it turned out to be! (we were so high up, it was actually snowing!) From the top we got a great view of the urban fabric of Bologna and the surrounding landscapes (mountain ranges were beautiful!!)

Le Corbusier's installment at the L'Espirit Nouveau

The arcaded streets of Bologna.

Heights of the tallest towers in Italy

Climbing up the 498 wooden stepped tower!

Firenze

The first stop on our week long trip was to Florence, Italy. Being in Rome for about a month now, it was definately amazing to see another side of Italian architecture and culture. Such a beautiful city, wedged between the river and mountains, Florence is definately worth going back to visit. The San Lorenzo Market was located right outside our hotel (how convenient, right?) loaded with 5 dollar scarves and authentic italian leather purses (Florence is known for their leather), we simply couldnt resist the temptation. Our professors took us all over Florence to view and sketch the noteable buildings designed by men such as Michelangelo and Brunelleschi. Florentine architecture is much different than the typical Classical Roman architecture, moving into a more harmonious and proportional style. We climbed to the top of the Duomo (being slightly afraid of heights made it all the more interesting), but being a perfectly sunny, clear day, the view was completely breathtaking as you can see all of Florence and miles beyond to the mountains.

Here's some of the places we got to visit:

• Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo by Brunelleschi)
• Baptistry ("Gates of Paradise" by Ghiberti)
• Biblioteca Medecia-Laurenziana (Michelangelo's stairway and design for the library)
• Piazza della Signoria (with Palazzo Vecchio)
• Santa Maria Novella (by Alberty)
• The Uffizi Gallery
• Basilica di San Lorenzo (by Brunelleschi) and the Sacristia Nuovo (by Michelangelo)
• Galleria dell'Accademia (with Michelangelo's Statue of David)
• Spedale degli Innocenti (The Foundling's Hospital by Brunelleschi)
• Ponte Vecchio Bridge (so beautiful!)

Campo di Fiore

This is where we are staying in Rome.. Our studio is located just off of the main square Campo di Fiore at the University of Washington Rome Center. My apartment is just a two minute walk past our studio, through a little tunnel (so Italian) and around the corner.

When In Rome!

People say Rome is the place to be to study architecture, well they are definately right. We've been here for a few weeks now and it's certainly opened all our eyes to a different outlook on architecture. The first week in Rome was insane, a little overwhelming actually seeing the churches, temples and ruins we've all learned about in art and history classes. As we stood in front of these famous old buildings we remained breathless and wide eyed, simply taking in the surreal factor of it all. Classes over here should be fun and exciting. Our studio, sketching class, and history all take place out in the city, really allowing us to learn the history surrounding us. The unfortunate side of that is, we attend class rain or shine. Umbrellas have become our best friends. Hint: do not buy an umbrella from the 'umbrelli, umbrelli?' guy, they break within 5 minutes of opening. Adjusting to the new life over here in Rome was interesting. Laundry must be done in SMALL amounts, this means only one pair of jeans, like 4 shirts, and a sweater. It also takes about a good 2.5 hours to finish, then must be hung to dry (dryers don't exist over here, not cool). We have no idea how to use our stove, the dials are weird symbols and the instruction manual is in Italian (go figure). It should be an adventure!