Italy

On February 19th, 2012, THE ABRUZZIAN KITCHEN…

kitchen at the Museum of the People of Abruzzo

…on display at the the Museum of the People of Abruzzo – and historically found in the farmhouses dotting the local hills – will be of keen interest for the first edition (produced at Pollinaria in the spring) of a new series of projects dealing with the domestic interior.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 19, 2012 | home
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On February 18th, 2012, LEAPINE APICOLTURA BIOLOGICA…

LeApine Miele with a key resource book, the front door box where you can pick up a jar & leave your €, and Tulio with his hives

…is the homemade honey operation of Tulio who we visited this morning – a first possible collaborator in our as yet somewhat undefined but clearer by the day spring project – at his suburban Pescara residence located on the land where his father and grandfather cultivated the land, and raised cows, where he as a child worked in the fields, where now he lives with his wife Danila and five year old daughter Ema (who was prompted to greet me with ‘hello’), in a new house built over the cellar where the cows used to live, which is now home to the equipment, vats, hives, jars for his honey in many colors and consistencies, sold to local residents, neighbors, and those who can conveniently leave their Euro and pick up their jars from a box out the front door when he is away.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 18, 2012 | food
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On February 17th, 2012, PESCARA’S MUSEO DELLA GENTI D’ABRUZZO…

a typical Abruzzian agrarian scene from a museum diorama, and the snowy farm of Pollinaria today

…(the Museum of the People of Abruzzo) which engagingly presents the rich essence of Abruzzian domestic culture, the stories and related materials of how people have survived and created in this region for centuries, where I was especially captivated by the production of quotidian baskets, ricotta, olive oil, wheat, linens, clothing, and bread, made it the perfect first stop on my first day in town hosted by Pollinaria‘s Gaetano Carboni, while starting to get a sense of what form my spring project here might take – currently with the words ‘domestic landscapes’ in my head.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 17, 2012 | agriculture
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On February 16th, 2012, BUS FROM ROME TO PESCARA…

Montagne Maella viewed from the bus from Rome to Pescara

…took me from Tiburtina station (after landing at Fiumicino – followed by a quick detour to Piramide where I met with friends and collaborators about the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book from Nero still in the editing process) – through the white mountains to this city on the Adriatic under a fluffy white blanket after weeks of record snow, which will be my home base for the next few days while snooping around for my upcoming spring residency and project at the nearby Pollinaria farm.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 16, 2012 | Italy
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On September 5th, 2011, NIGHTLIFE IN OSTUNI…

late night dance and puppet shows on the streets of Ostuni

…which seems to be a very tranquil town during the day, surprised me last night when the very designy chic bars and lounges spilled out on the the ancient whitewashed pedestrian streets, and the whole town (crying babies, rambunctious kids, cool teens, strolling couples, shuffling elderly) turned out to fill the Piazza San Oronzo and surrounding streets which were punctuated by a range of performances and activities like puppet shows, break-dancing, cooking presentations, and a peculiar panel discussion up on a stage hosted by the local TV news anchor woman that featured a sparkling-costumed horse and rider and a group of folk dancers lead by a young man we later found out was the local meteorologist – whom after finishing his dance gave us the weather outlook for the rest of the week.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 5, 2011 | Italy
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On September 4th, 2011, TRULLI THEN OSTUNI…

the white hilltop town of Ostuni (where I lucked out with a cozy last minute mini-apartment rental with a view of the sea from a tiny window seen here on the upper right) and nearby trulli

…was the order of the day, as I finally departed Lecce, continuing my Puglian journeys gradually making my way west then north on the slow side roads through countryside and small towns with no final destination in mind, stopping off in the ceramics center of Grottaglie, the pretty hilltop town of Locorotondo, the trulli village of Alberobello, but especially interested in the shift in landscape to soft rolling hills, rows of vineyards, layers of lovely farm structures into the distance, and finally arriving towards the end of the day in Ostuni, the most enchanting place yet, (which I had first glimpsed from a speeding train to Brindisi ten days ago) where the view from the whitewashed hilltop historic center to the plains and Adriatic has been preserved thanks to the isolation of it’s sprawl to it’s back and south.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 4, 2011 | Italy
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On September 3rd, 2011, LECCE DECORATIONS…

Lecce baroque: graffitti alley and San Giovanni Battista, 1691

…in super baroque style are intricately carved into local honey Lecce limestone covering every available square millimeter of each billboard-like neighborhood church facade, and parts of almost all of the pallazzi, announcing the style, taste and riches of the local sponsoring noble family – is the visual pleasure of the city to be enjoyed at every turn – but the sharp turn I took off Piazza San Oronzo this morning on a wandering derive brought me to a narrow isolated otherwise forgotten passage covered entirely in brightly colored amateur graffiti, and what would seem reckless elsewhere, here feels like a gorgeous collective contemporary baroque decoration where modern residents can announce their own messages.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 3, 2011 | cities
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On September 2nd, 2011, PUGLIA’S TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL BUILDING TYPES…

suburban housing blocks surrounding a paiara framed by four stone pines outside of Nardo'

…are what have drawn me to this place more than anything, such as the dry-stone conical domes of the trulli, modest shelters or residences found mostly in the central Valle D’Itria (around Locorotondo, Alberbello, Martina Franca, Ceglie Messapica); the fortified farmhouse complexes of the masserie; and the primitive storehouses and temporary shelters dotting the landscape known as paiara (though locals here call them something else which escapes my memory at the moment) built with mortar-less stone construction (just like the walls that divide up the countryside all over the region) which are slightly domed but with flat roofs you can often access with a stair or two wrapping around the perimeter – though what I was most unprepared for here in Puglia was the vivid contrast between the evidence of a picturesque primitive agrarian past, and beautiful historic town centers surrounded – and at times strangled by – more recent sprawling development, much of it the legacy of a 1960′s housing and building boom (the most egregious of which were built with no official approvals and against any codes, known all over Italy as ‘abusivismo’) – but after getting my eyes re-adjusted to this first impression of an ugly mess, I started to feel like there was a meaningful ‘edge’ here – a reality of 21st century life and conflict (not seen in Umbria or Tuscany where restrictive building codes and wealthy foreigners have mostly frozen the place in time) which actually reminded me a bit of L.A. – stimulating me in similar ways.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 2, 2011 | architecture
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On September 1st, 2011, A MASSERIA (WITH FRANTOIO IPOGEO)…

Masseria courtyard over a massive ancient subterranean olive mill (frantoio ipogeo)

…is something I have had an intense architectural crush on since first reading about them last year (a fortified farmhouse unique to Puglia, often with a series of connecting vaulted spaces made of local stone on the ground level for animals and farm workers around a central protected courtyard overseen by more comfortable castle-like quarters on an upper level for the noble landowners, some featuring their own chapel and underground mill – frantoio ipogeo – for processing olive oil) – and today I went to visit a dreamy abandoned masseria from the 1600′s – with a massive 800 year old frantoio beneath the courtyard, a chapel at the front gate, and extensive local dry stone walls enclosing fruit orchards and gardens – for sale just north of Lecce where I was entertaining fantasies of retreating with friends who could come and go to a quiet life in the country, living and working and creating and gardening on ancient land – so I am now realizing that my unexplained deep interest is in part related to their village-like nature, originally created to protect it’s community of inhabitants from invading warriors, but maybe today offering protection from invasions of other sorts – like the toxic aspects of contemporary society which could use an oppositional model – the courtyard becoming the possible focus for a group of people turning in to create their own community, a place that is consciously quieter and slower, being connected to centuries of the past might change your perception of the future, and now I’m thinking about what my ideal life in one of these ancient ready-made villages might look like today?

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By Fritz Haeg on September 1, 2011 | Italy
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On August 31st, 2011, GALLIPOLI FISHERMEN AT SUNSET…

returning fisherman set up shop at the docks

…this evening were just pulling back into the docks where crowds of locals were waiting to receive them…and why I wondered, was it their families? was it a ritual? had they been away for weeks? but no, they were just waiting to inspect the day’s catch and pick up something fresh for dinner.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 31, 2011 | food
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On August 30th, 2011, A TOWER FOR PIGEONS…

a 'dovecote tower' for roosting pigeons, vic. Nardo'

…at the masseria I visited late this afternoon near Nardo’ must be the coolest thing I have seen on my Puglia adventures so far – an Animal Estate of the most sophisticated and monumental sort, which from the outside seems to be a fortified castle tower, only to reveal a surprising very contemporary-seeming interior lined entirely in a gridded pattern of cubical cavities for pigeons (a variety known as ‘colombi’ in Italian – before the pesky  sort we are familiar with today whose eggs would make us sick from all of the toxic urban crap they eat) to make themselves at home (up to 1000 couples!) and lay eggs to be harvested by humans by way of cleverly designed stairs wrapping the perimeter at various intervals.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 30, 2011 | animals, architecture
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On August 28th, 2011, B&B AT PORTO SELVAGGIO…

neo-classical masseria near Porto Selvaggio now home to B&B Santa Chiara

…the beautiful beach cove, I had read about and dreamt about while researching Puglia last winter, which is isolated in a nature preserve just north of Galipoli and west of Nardo’ – is where I just happened upon a small B&B sign (Villa Chiara) that was the happy serendipitous answer to the 3pm question ‘where will I stay tonight?’ – and more lucky still was a cancellation that day in their nicest though really inexpensive room (an austere vaulted space, furnished in a matching set of super fancy dark stained baroque furniture, with a view out to the olive groves and picturesquely abandoned vintage farm equipment) of this neoclassical masseria presided over by the a Roman family: the proprietress born and raised in the house, in whose family it has been for generations, along with her marmalade-making husband who also fills a big container of freshly picked Villa Chiara fruit (grapes, melons, ficchi di India, and figs, which I eat off the trees on my way in and out of the property) each morning to get me through the day after a big family breakfast feast in the courtyard of coffees and teas; said marmalades and fruits; and fresh-baked breads and torts I don’t eat but enjoy smelling and watching others enjoy, all presided over by a big dog and a tiny puppy they just found on the street. (watch their cute video)

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By Fritz Haeg on August 28, 2011 | Italy
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On August 27th, 2011, THE SALENTO WATERMELON HARVEST…

masseria surrounded by unharvested watermelons

…never happened this year since it would cost the farmers more to harvest them than they could then sell them for – leading to some sad but beautiful fields of rotting watermelons as far as you can see – one of many local agricultural anecdotes, aspects, stories, visions which have brought me here to the Salento region of Puglia.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 27, 2011 | food
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On August 26th, 2011, GENOVA CENTRAL MARKET…

a taste of Liguria at the market

…is a pleasure the way all Italian markets are, where you are given an instant taste of the precise season, climate, weather, landscape, culture, economy, history, habits, and personalities of the region, and this morning it was mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms – all gorgeous varieties – being cleaned and prepared by expert knife-wielding hands at my favorite stand where I chose to gather huge dark grapes and tiny light figs for the upcoming 10 hour train ride south to Puglia.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 26, 2011 | food
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On August 25th, 2011, PALAZZO SAN GIORGIO IN GENOVA…

Palazzo San Giorgio, Genova, 1260

…the Italian town I have been curious about and yet to visit was conveniently on my way from Aix-en-Provence to Brindisi, so after a long windy scenic train ride along the French Riviera with front row seats to the late August bikini-clad bathing French masses, I arrived in this pretty but rough around the edges port town last night which is full of elaborately painted building facades – typical of Liguria – which comes to a crecscendo in the port at this great 1260 palazzo – now a neighbor of the new Eataly shop where I stocked up on some delicious supplies for tomorrow’s train ride south – like some amazing polenta bread and rich olive pate’.(wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on August 25, 2011 | architecture, Italy
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On July 28th, 2011, CIAO ROMA, CIAO, CIAO, CIAO…

leaving Fiumicino and flying up the Lazian coast

…was sad to say this morning at 10:15am as we took off from Fiumicino, USA bound for a couple of weeks before returning to bounce around Europe for projects, talks, research, and even a little recreation for most of the rest of the year.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 28, 2011 | Rome, travel
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On July 20th, 2011, TREVIGNANO ROMANO…

the old rambling structures of Agriturismo Acquaranda

…is the village overlooking Lake Bracciano north of Rome where we traveled this afternoon to interview Massimo at Agriturismo Acquaranda, for the Roma Mangia Roma book, to hear about his experiences with food, in particular with making cheese on the land where his father made cheese (which it turns out that he doesn’t even eat), his recent shift from cows to sheep, his discovery of traditional processes to make artisanal cheeses no longer found, leading him to the slow food movement, kilometer zero, and other ways of approaching food production he had not previously considered.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 20, 2011 | agriculture
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On July 19th, 2011, SCANDRIGLIA…

road trip with Gilda and Lorenzo to Scangrilia, Lazio for a special lunch with Oretta at her country house

…in the Sabina of Lazio was the destination of our morning road trip to visit Oretta Zanini de Vita (the font of inspiration and information regarding cucina Italiana and staunch advocate for taking food seriously as culture at the highest level) at her house in the country – built in the 70′s with found windows of all sizes, salvaged wood beams, medieval stone fireplace mantels, and other assembled pre-used materials – for a special lunch straight from her garden, a continuation of our March 14th interview for the Roma Mangia Roma book (coming out in the fall in English and Italian from Nero Publications with editor Lorenzo Gigotti), and the opportunity for Gilda Aloisi to take some casual analog photos of Oretta at home and in the kitchen to accompany the story.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 19, 2011 | books, food
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On July 17th, 2011, SPERLONGA…

circuitous white-washed passageways of Sperlonga

…was my last minute destination of choice this morning to escape the city for a day, biking to Termini and hopping on a train to take me to the ancient and current Roman beach resort town, and yes there are picturesque beaches, and yes there are Roman ruins, but most enchanting is the historic hill town itself seeming like a singular organism of white-washed construction and cavernous stepped passageways festooned with colorful laundry following the topography of the promontory cliff over looking the sea – all very intoxicating until the harsh reality of a packed standing room only weekend train delivering sun-burnt Romans back to their city sets in.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 17, 2011 | architecture, travel
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On July 16th, 2011, ITALIAN DEBT…

protests in Rome at Palazzo di Montecitorio

…and financial woes are making international news, with austerity plans in the works (here is an Guardian editorial by my political hero from Puglia, Nichi Vendola), and this afternoon as I’m biking by Palazzo di Montecitorio – the Italian Chamber of Deputies – I pay special attention to the usual modest assemblage of protests and encampments out front.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 16, 2011 | Italy
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On July 10th, 2011, LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA…

Elad Lassry at the Arsenale with "Untitled (Ghost)", 2011. 35 mm color film (1.33 full frame), 18', silent.

…is mostly my reason for stopping off on my way north to Germany – to my old island home (from 1990-91 while studying at I.U.A.V. – though it sure has changed in that short time – with the tourist mobs now seeming to run the place) since I avoided the stresses and crowds of the June opening in favor of a later viewing con calma – and despite some rather pessimistic informal anecdotal reviews from friends, I was happy to have some time spent with a few personal highlights, such as Mike Nelson’s dream-like Istanbul-like other-world-within-a-British-Pavilion-world installation, Gelitin’s Gelitin Pavillion which seemed like the only place in the Biennial where I’d really like to spend some time and hang out, though I’m really sorry to have missed the glass-blowing, performances, music, fire-tending, and requisite public nudity from the opening; Urs Fischer’s really cool half-melted baroque sculpture candles boasting their own full time Vigili del Fuoce attendants in case something goes wrong; the mountian of houseplants in front of the Dutch pavilion; the amazing crowds of black tadpoles trying to find shade in the stagnent giardini reflecting pools (but I don’t think that was ‘art’); but especially Elad Lassry’s silent dance film”Untitled (Ghost)” which had me transfixed and truly happy for the first time that day – one of many great folks representin’ L.A. like Shannon Ebner and Frances Stark. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on July 10, 2011 | art
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On July 7th, 2011, WALKING AND BIKING THROUGH CLIFFS…

Levanto biking and walking paths

…along the stunning coastline of the Italian Riviera in Levanto just north of Cinque Terre is made possible thanks to the re-routing of the train line inland, which made it’s previous path through a series of cool grotto-like cavernous tunnels available for dedicated paths for people moving on foot or two wheels.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 7, 2011 | Italy
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On July 6th, 2011, CINQUE TERRE…

the view over Vernazza, Cinque Terre from the top of its medieval tower

…or ‘five lands’ are the colorful Ligurian villages hugging the rugged coastline of the Italian Riviera which have maintained their precious antiquated state, partially due to their inaccessibility by cars, prompting a 1997 UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, which resulted in recent ramped up tourist activity – evidenced by our Italian friend and host who grew up near by and remembers not too long ago when you had to sneak through a fence to get to the path connecting the five towns – but today we paid our 5 Euro and enjoyed a hike from Vernazza to Corniglia.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 6, 2011 | Italy
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On July 5th, 2011, LEVANTO…

a common painted Levanto street facade

…is the Ligurian beach town where my friend, and before that her her mother, grew up spending summers in a cute yellow house on the main street of town which her grandparents bought decades ago, and here is what we like about this place: almost all of the buildings have elaborate hand-painted trompe-l’oeil architectural details covering the street facades; the place is a hot sunny ghost town during the afternoon siesta from about 1-4pm when people smartly retreat to interior shade or cool sea water; the global tourists are distracted by the drama of nearby Cinque Terre and don’t seem to make it this far so you only tend to hear Italian spoken in these parts; the beach is a scene for all ages from the babies, to the teenagers, to the parents, and the elderly, though they mostly seem content to gather on benches in the park and watch the people walk by; there is a new walking path on the old train line which allows you to walk to actually walk through tunnels to the neighboring towns through a rugged coastal landscape; and hey, the Agnelli family has a villa (and fancy gardens which can be viewed through gates) here just on the edge of town, so I guess that says something. (more on wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on July 5, 2011 | Italy
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On June 24th, 2011, ROMA MANGIA ROMA INTERVIEW #15…

Baruchello in his studio surrounded by framed photos and drawings, including a portrait with his old friend and hero Marcel Duchamp

…conducted yesterday just blocks from my studio on the top floor of a modern Monteverde apartment building was with Gianfranco Baruchello (b. 1924) – the Roman artist whose book “How to Imagine” and 1970′s farm as art project Agricola Cornelia have been a recent inspiration – and we got comfortable in the living area of his studio while unraveling tales of his youth, war years, counter-cultural bohemian days, early art works (time lapse images of a pizza the shape of Italy slowly being devoured) and up to his present daily life as described through food.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 24, 2011 | art, books
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On June 19th, 2011, CAPRAROLA…

Palazzo Farnese (left) overlooking the village of Caprola (right)

…is the most idyllic and purely conceived of hilltop Lazian towns which we have made a Sunday pilgrimage to, around Monti Cimini and dominated by the great pentagonal Renaissance genius of Villa Farnese (where upon entry into its hollow cylindrical central courtyard we were drawn by sounds of  Mozart into the first great painted room of many where a chamber ensemble was playing, and later into room after chamber after room after anti-chamber of intimate though grand purely geometric rooms – paul tested out the cubic room with rhythmic sounds brought back to our ears with shocking delayed effect – each painted entirely in awesome golden, azure and green scenes of people and animals, paganism and Catholicism, power and domination, myth and allegory, and a drop-dead map room that would made you feel really in charge of things, and finally out to the formal gardens fed by the quintessential grotto of my dreams cooling us with simulated rain on a warm afternoon – all which making us ask ourselves what happened to people with lots and lots of money at least knowing what to do with it? thinking about the future? building for the ages? giving us something we can at least enjoy today, hundreds of years later? what about Berlusconi pleasure palaces? will we ever visit those in 500 years?) at the head of the one main road, making no mistake of who was in charge, leading to it’s pair of symmetrical curving ramps – today delightfully framing the local Boy Scout Troops temporary camping quarters of a tent hoisted up surprisingly high on timbers, where just inside I discover a vast vaulted subterranean hall where the former Caprarola Boy Scouts of previous generations are watching vintage footage of themselves Boy Scouting in town decades ago.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 19, 2011 | Italy
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On June 16th, 2011, STALKING PUGLIA…

Puglia's common agricultural buidling types of the Trullo and Masseria for which I hunt daily on real estate websites

…is what I have been up to (as any Italian friend who I have bored with endless Puglia talk and questions over the past six months knows well), becoming increasingly fascinated by and fixated on this most southeastern region of Italy (heel of the boot) the more I learn – like their gay green anti-mafia president Nichi Vendola who writes poetry, did his dissertation on Pasolini, seeming to be the best and most unlikely hope for unseating the Berlusconi monster – like their mortar-less local stone domed Trulli, and fortified farmhouse Masserie, mystical and pragmatic rural agricultural building types unique to the region – like all of the cool young kids from the region who seem to be sticking around to do their thing – like the fact that it is still cheap and not quite as tourist-laden as the rest of the country – leading me to daily hunts on real estate websites for my dream piece of Puglia land with trullo or masseria to cultivate, to gradually ease into, hands in the land, a new project, living experiment, open door policy sort of place where all are welcome to spend any amount of time – and I can’t wait to head south for a visit.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on June 16, 2011 | Puglia
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On June 5th, 2011, PERUGIA’s COMPLESSO DI FONTIVEGGE …

Aldo Rossi's La Nuova Piazza, Fontivegge, Perugia, 1988

…the sad deserted wastelandish no-mans-land 1988 iconic civic center with town hall, theater, housing project, and modern piazza elevated on a parking podium by renowned Italian architect Aldo Rossi (with whom I did my thesis project at the I.U.A.V. in 1991) is what I happened upon on my way out of town today – while contemplating two shockingly out-of-touch and retrograde lectures (that really stood out in an otherwise sophisticated series of Festarch talks and conversations comfortably hosted in this lovely Umbrian hill town) by Peter Eisenman (whose only interest seems to be in making his mark – that tired old ‘architect-against-the-world’ sort of thing – complaining about sustainability, apparently resenting the pressure on architects to pay attention to the health and well-being of the people, places, animals, plants, land, air and water they impact because it prevents him from sharing his full creative genius with the world – instead of understanding the possible enrichment of his work by attention to all of that lively complexity) and his wife Cynthia Davidson (who actually said “…sustainability doesn’t need to be done, it needs to be theorized…” and “…to give in to it is to capitulate to the marketplace…” huh?), both of whom seem to be realizing that the narrow territory – namely style and theory – that their work concerned itself with during it’s formative years – is no longer enough, and now feeling left behind they seem threatened, hostile and from another time – which is especially unfortunate given the real respect that I had for Eisenman while in college, where I spent a great deal of time reading his texts, writing a paper on his work, and even making a pilgrimage to Columbus in 1989 for the opening of the Wexner Center.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 5, 2011 | architecture
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On June 4th, 2011, FESTARCH…

a Festarch lecture at Perugia's Teatro Morlacchi

…a massive architects gathering in it’s first year in Perugia – is where I headed this morning to hear from a few of the endless  list of design world personalities partaking in a four day series of talks, events and conversations including Aaron Betsky, Petra Blaisse (who described some recent garden and curtain projects), Stefano Boeri (the Milanese architect, teacher, and magazine editor previously mentioned here who organized the conference), Andrea Branzi (who I was sorry didn’t make it at the last minute), Pippo Ciorra, Xavier Costa, Cynthia Davidson, Odile Decq+Paola Maugini, Elizabeth Diller, Peter Eisenman, Kurt Forster, Yona Friedman+Emmanuele Lo Giudice, Joseph Grima (of Domus who was carrying around his cute 10 month old), Bjarke Ingels (packing Teatro Morlacchi at 9pm with a talk on recent mega projects which was both super impressive for some of the ideas – and the shear amount this young architect is getting built – but also gave me pause with some ambivalence about the next generation of architects perpetuating this notion of ‘bigger-the-better’ top-down architect as all knowing dictator, continuing many of the implicit problems with with post-war planning no matter how cool and innovative and smart and sensitive some of the work is – but hey, finally some wit and sense of humor – plus the young students seemed to love it – especially the cool videos and graphics), Rem Koolhaas (who really impressed with a teacherly talk on his new interest in the problems with preservation and ‘thinning’), Michael Maltzan (showing work from LA – making me feel both at home and very far away), Enzo Mari (the white-bearded grand Italian design figure in his 80′s who gave an irreverent preacher like talk on the perils of contemporary design culture), Jasper Morrison, Hans Ulrich Obrist, François Roche, Italo Rota (delivering an inspiring, if staid, talk on recent work and thoughts related to plants, animals, ecologies, and the environment – gleaning what I could from the back row of the gorgeous Sala della Vaccara of Perugia’s Palazzo dei Priori through his mumbled Italian), Benedetta Tagliabue among many others.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 4, 2011 | architecture
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On June 1st, 2011, CALCATA…

Calcata floating in the valley of the Treja River

…is the medieval hill town we have traveled an hour north of Rome to visit this morning – having been on the top of my list of obscure places to visit in Italy for years – which was the supposed home of the Holy Prepuce (foreskin of Jesus) and later condemned and vacated in the 1930′s for fear it would collapse (the original inhabitants relocated to a neighboring modern town built for them) then gradually settled by hippy new-agey artists in the 1970′s – one of whom we were lucky enough to meet on the streets who invited us into the cavernous series spaces that comprise his studio and home – the lowest level going down to the original raw Etruscan stone floors – with occasional tiny windows framing views out to the Treja River Vally that the town seems to float above. (more from the New York Times and Wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 1, 2011 | travel
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On April 24th, 2011, GARDENS OF NINFA…

the guided tour of Ninfa

…is what now occupies the small Roman village which was sacked and abandoned to malaria in the Middle Ages just off Via Appia Antica south of Rome – and here we are today for an Easter picnic surrounded by many extended Italian families with the same idea, shaded by the rustic rambling rickety timber picnic shelter where 1 Euro a head will buy you a seat at the provisional picnic table and a paper tablecloth from the hostess – and then finally descending into the gardens themselves, after waiting out the two hour midday Italian siesta/pausa/lunch closure, an elaborate series of colorful faerie pixie-dust English picturesque garden scenes piled on top of the stoic remains of a once robust and wealthy Roman village – and even though the lawns, the bananas, the maples, the roses, and much else in the precious manicured water-hungry landscape looks like it was plopped down from another planet we are told that a rare spring-fed micro-climate created between the coastal plain and abrupt adjacent hills allows those otherwise oddities in the Italian landscape to be quite happy here, plus inspiring other crazy horticulture events to occur, such as things growing to three times their normal size, which seemed true enough – and in the end everything does feel magically charged here, thanks to a series of willful 20th century Caetani family ladies having their Anglo way with place – now always to be preserved as Lelia Caetani, the last one left it. (link to 2009 book about Ninfa)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 24, 2011 | gardens
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On April 21st, 2011, PEA SHELLING SEASON…

busy hands trying to keep up with crate after crate

…is upon us which means that I am often confronted by a table full of pea pods ready for shellers when passing through the cortile on my way out for some errand which gets distracted by the sirens of those bulging pods ready for that days soup, salad, gnocchi, risotto,  pasta – and I find myself 15 minutes later so engrossed that I forgot where I was headed.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 21, 2011 | food
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On April 18th, 2011, A VISIT TO THE MILAN STUDIO OF ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI…

courtyard windows into studio Achille Castiglioni

…yesterday morning – which I was only made aware of a few days ago thanks to an illuminating International Herald Tribune story by design journalist friend Alice Rawsthorn – turned out to be the highlight of my short time in the city overrun by crass corporate Salone Internazionale del Mobile madness  – from which my 10am tour (I was all alone since apparently the other Achille fans had partied too hard and too late at design fair events? but the 11am tour was packed) of Studio Castiglioni was an absolute refuge, into a laboratory/playroom atmosphere still thick with the curious mind that worked there from 1944 until his death in 2002, and on may way out I had the pleasure of meeting his daughter Giovanna, through whom I felt a greater sense of the spirit of the place, which the Studio Museum Castigioni will be trying to hold on to for as long as they can.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on April 18, 2011 | design
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On April 17th, 2011, THE LAPIN KULTA SOLAR KITCHEN RESTAURANT…

Antto preparing food to be solar-cooked behind the Triennale Design Museum

…a collaboration between Catalan designer Martí Guixé and Finnish food visionary Antto Melasniemi (the two fellows I was in conversation with at yesterday’s Domus conversation on food for the Urban Futures series) – was SO lucky today with the intensely warm spring Milanese sun we had beating down on us, and cooking the food with such theatrical style in 5 bright shiny parabolic dishes that were constantly being shifted to follow the rays. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 17, 2011 | food
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On April 16th, 2011, PLANT-COVERED MILANESE APARTMENTS…

the best cliff-like plant-covered Milanese apartment facade

…is the first thing I am noticing all over the city – with all manner of plant life crawling, branching, hanging down and growing up the cliff-like facades on this springy Saturday – while in town for a talk and conversation at the Domus pavilion in Zona Tortona for their Urban Futures series of events.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 16, 2011 | design
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On April 15th, 2011, ABAZIA DI MONTE OLIVETO MAGGIORE…

monks eating fish in the Signorelli fresco and the monastery's 1553 fish pond

…is the hilltop Asciano-adjacent Tuscan Benedictine monastery dating from 1313 we are visiting today, which features a very cool 1553 fish pond that would feed the monks during periods when Benedictine rule forbade consumption of meat.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 15, 2011 | Italy
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On April 13th, 2011, TUSCAN PLASTIC CROP COVERS…

shiny plastic on the Tuscan horizon

…(for strawberries?) are the cool shocking shiny surfaces wrapping parts of the rolling spring green surfaces of southern Tuscan landscapes as viewed from my very slow one car train gradually heading from Grosseto to Siena – making every little stop on the way – with each quiet sun-bathed stuccoed station seeming to feature a single bench with a solitary seated figure waiting for the next train – or just watching them go by?

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By Fritz Haeg on April 13, 2011 | travel
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On April 12th, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #9…

Franco & Livia in their Monti neighborhood kitchen

…was conducted this morning with Livia and Franco – who met when they were 14 and have been married for 53 years – in their cozy long-time quarters (inherited from previous generations) in the Colosseum adjacent neighborhood of Monti where he used to own the local newsstand, so it’s hard to walk with Franco more than a step or two down Via dei Serpenti without a friendly greeting – and being a former runner, and living through the war years in Rome surviving on potato milk soup, I was surprised to hear about his very simple austere tastes, eating little meat, mostly dishes like pasta in bianco and very precise small portions (exactly four biscotti every morning).

 

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By Fritz Haeg on April 12, 2011 | books
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On April 11th, 2011, PEA, FAVA & WORM POOP HARVEST…

the big beautiful fava pods posing by the worm estate, being harvested of it's rich fertile black worm stuff

…is the breaking news from the Roman rooftop garden this morning – having never grown the favas, I’ve waited until they are as big as those I’ve been seeing at the farmer’s market (which is BIG) before picking – and as far as that worm compost is concerned, I’ve been waiting all year to pull out the fertile goods – putting off the dirty work (which is now urgent since it is full of compost – great for the plants, but toxic for little squirmy guys – crawling around in their own waste and all) of somehow extracting the castings and not the worms to start a fresh new bin – of which there are a few methods, mine being the slow process of leaving the top of the bin exposed direct sunlight forcing the them to retreat down into the darker depths, and then scraping off a top layer until I find them again, and those that are too slow just end up in a planter with some other good things to eat, which isn’t so bad for them either.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 11, 2011 | gardens
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On April 10th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #7…

his terrace overlooking the landscape of Villa Ada

…of 35 planned interviews with five generations of people living in Rome (about how they organize their homes and lives around food, their memories and current thoughts on Cucina Italiana/Romana, and how things are changing) was a fascinating two hour conversation with a distinguished 92 year old Italian film director who recounted amazing tales of growing up in rural Italy where farmers went door to door selling their homemade goods, including a particular ricotta that he has a strong memory of – but mostly it was the aromas (rather ‘profumo’ in Italian) he remembered, of the various lost foods which he can still smell, but no longer exist as they did when he was young – the tomatoes, the breads, the olive oils, the wines, the potatoes, the eggs – and then later stories of his early days in 1940′s Rome and the shock of all of the strong tastes that his Tuscan palate was not used to – but it was his off-hand remark “Quando mangio qualcosa buona, io sono più buono” towards the end of the conversation that will stay with me. (a bit more on the book)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 10, 2011 | books
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On April 9th, 2011, FIUMICINO ADJACENT FARMHOUSE…

Lazio farmhouse spotted from my window seat as we land at FCO

…is what I am always on the lookout for when landing in Rome – returning this morning on an early early flight from Istanbul – since I have this Italian farmhouse fantasy where I don’t have a car and can bike to the airport.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 9, 2011 | agriculture
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On March 24th, 2011, NAPOLI STREET FLOWERS AND STREET TRASH…

tulip stand and trash pile across the street from each other in Naples

…I see side by side here in this wild majestic city which has been suffering from waste management issues for years.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 24, 2011 | Italy, travel
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On March 23rd, 2011, ‘BELLE VERDURE’…

farmer 'belle verdure' with his mushrooms and meticulous garden in Praiano

…or ‘beautiful vegetables’ is the apt nick-name of the local Praiano personaggio, or character, who grows his own food in perfectly composed and tended gardens, enclosed by beautifully laid retaining walls which he built with rocks from his modest piece of land, where he also bakes bread and pizza in his own wood burning oven, makes his own wine from his own grapes, makes his own olive oil from his own trees, grows his own mushrooms, raises his own chickens, catches his own fish, cans his own fruit, and all with the great stylish panache of a real artist with a very particular aesthetic that confidently mixes the casual and trashy (styrofoam fish coolers re-purposed as garden planters and walls) with the fastidious and precious (you should see his woodpile following the sinewy curve of the land, where logs are carefully stacked and organized by size, shape, and color)  – so today we climbed a few hundred steps up the hill of Praiano to go pay a visit to this man, an exceptionally creative do-it-all character in a town full of such types (where people have always done it all, existing within the confines of difficult terrain where nothing comes in or out without great difficulty), who friends had heard of and whose handiwork they had always admired, but never met, and the time that we spent touring his place, hearing about his work, asking about his life, and learning about his ways makes me realize why I live in Italy right now.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 23, 2011 | agriculture, food
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On March 22nd, 2011, SEASIDE TERRACED FARMING IN PRAIANO…

farming on the sea in Praiano at the Lewitt's white-washed villas

…where I am staying for a few days (at a friend’s stunning collection of big farmed ocean view terraces accommodating a variety of little white houses dating from the 1600′s that have been in the family for generations, where she is now hosting a casual residency program for young cooks, farmers, and artists) on the coast south of Napoli between Amalfi and Portofino – is a highly common, visible and gorgeous aspect of life here in this small picturesque village, where biodynamic farming with lunar cycles (dictating the planting of below and above ground vegetables during different phases which I am still not so clear on) is part of the tradition and common among all of the local gardeners and farmers who I talked to.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 22, 2011 | agriculture
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On March 21st, 2011, ‘HOW TO IMAGINE: A NARRATIVE ON ART, AGRICULTURE AND CREATIVITY’…

my beat up old copy of "How to Imagine" which has followed me on so many trips unread

…is the 1984 book of musings (as recounted to and translated by Henry Martin) by Italian artist Gianfranco Baruchello (b. 1924) who in 1973 decamped to a modest piece of land north of Rome, near Formello, to begin a life of farming as art – and after years of carrying around this little book which I knew I needed to read, I finally had the chance to finish it in one sitting this weekend while appropriately nestled into a friend’s big old country villa in a tiny old village on top of a hill in the steep rolling Sabina hills of Northern Lazio overlooking the plains of Rome – and the unfolding conversational ramblings covering everything from Duchamp readymades to sheep care made for an absorbing and pleasurable read, further inspiring my future farming fantasies.  (book link)

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By Fritz Haeg on March 21, 2011 | books
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On March 19th, 2011, CASTEL SAN PIETRO…

the secret garden at a friend's place in Castel San Pietro

…is the tiny hill town an hour north of Rome near Poggio Mirteto  where I am lucky enough to be at a friend’s place for the weekend – from which you can see Saint Peter’s as a distant tiny dot on the horizon – taking long walks through the farm land where I am luxuriating in all the plants and animals that I don’t get to hang out with on top of our hill in Rome.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on March 19, 2011 | agriculture, Italy, landscape
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On January 31st, 2011, RUSTICATION…

the rusticated plinth of Palazzo Pitti feels less like a wall and more like the face of a cliff ready for all forms of life to move in

…the roughly hewn stonework often used on the lower floors of palazzi as an expression of fortification and solidity – which I recall studying in college classes on Florentine Renaissance architecture – is something I have a new love for today (as I find myself back in Firenze, the city I lived just outside of from 1993-94, and back north again so soon after leaving Bologna 2 days ago, on a quick visit for a lecture at Syracuse University tonight) while walking by Palazzo Pitti (one of the first places I visited in Italy, while on a Eurail pass tour at the age of 20) and getting really excited about the ridiculously massive stone work along the street which gives the impression that the gigantic structure is emerging directly out of the stone beneath your feet while gradually refining as it goes higher and higher – and what I am really loving is the possibility for all of the animals, moss and other plants to take up residence in such a welcoming porous surface. (wikipedia on rustication)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 31, 2011 | architecture
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On January 29th, 2011, BOLOGNESE ARCADES…

an arcade view of a lone bikerider on the quiet morning streets of Bologna

…are the unique pleasures of this city which you can traverse from one side to the other within the sheltering vaults and alongside the rhythm of the columns which are constantly changing style from one arcade to the next – and how super that the most superlative architectural space of city is comprised of almost 40km of continuous semi-enclosed living-room like runways for public ambulation, and what ever else the locals feel like doing there – but it is also worth noting that I see more bikers here than any Italian town I have visited (I actually get strange looks while riding my bike around Rome – but maybe that’s just me?), and I also remember it as being the Italian home of all of the cool-young-scrappy-counter-cultural-hippie-rebels in this town of the oldest university (est. 1088) – but not much sign of them these days.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 29, 2011 | Italy
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On January 25th, 2011, MY MIDLIFE CRISIS IN NERO MAGAZINE…

Nero Magazine no.25, Winter 2011

…comes out today – with an introduction to selected highlights of the Roman days from this Wikidiary describing my desire for a ‘crisi di mezz’età’ while living in Italy this year – in the magazine that is more than a magazine (co-founded & co-produced by genial childhood friends Francesco, Lorenzo, Luca, and Valerio – endlessly curious and industrious ragazzi Romani whom I refer to collectively as the ‘Nero Boys’), also occupying itself with publishing books, commissioning artist projects, producing events, curating shows, blogging, and providing Rome with a central clearinghouse for contemporary culture – so when people ask me what’s going on in Rome today, I say Nero – and this current tendency for the young Italian start-up magazine as a primary cultural export can also be witnessed a bit farther north at Kaleidoscope and Mousse.

Nero Magazine no.25, Winter 2011: COVER by Tim Gardner / SPECIAL PROJECT by Raphaël Zarka / WIKIDIARY PT.1: MY MID-LIFE CRISIS IN ROME by Fritz Haeg / 80s NEW YORK: REARVIEW MIRROR by Cornelia Lauf and Daniela Salvioni / COME DINE WITH US by Ed Atkins and Caterina Riva / DOUGLAS OF DETROIT by Cary Loren / ALCUNE ITALIE by Francesco Arena / E BY ÅBÄKE by Åbäke / THE REVISIONISTS by Joseph del Pesco and Renny Pritikin / THE FRUSTRATED SCULPTOR SYNDROME by Manuel Orazi / RELIGION OF MY TIME AND THE TUNING OF KARMA by Michele Manfellotto / COMPOSITES by Luca Lo Pinto and Valerio Mannucci / TROVATELLI by Julia Frommel / WORKS THAT COULD BE MINE AND WORKS THAT I WOULD LIKE … by Rä di Martino / PROGRESS BAR by Carola Bonfili / A BRIEF CATALOGUE OF LISTS & INSTRUCTIONS IN VISUAL ART the thematic section of the
magazine

(download PDF of this issue)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 25, 2011 | magazine
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On January 17th, 2011, LANDING AT FIUMICINO…

view of Mar Tirreno landing at Fiumicino with Alitalia

…feels like coming home now (with Alitalia yesterday afternoon) – approaching from the north over fields and farms of Lazio is especially welcoming – making me want to play out my fantasies of a future urban/rural-commune/village-life next door to the airport?

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By Fritz Haeg on January 17, 2011 | travel
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On January 9th, 2011, CESARE PIETROIUSTI…

left: untitled (transient possession), 2008; right: Quello che trovo, quello che penso, 2010

…the Rome-based Italian artist (b. 1955) who is admired by all of my Italian artist friends, has an audio piece which I encountered today in a hallway gallery at MAXXI (making the most of the much appreciated Spring-like weather in Rome, I arrived by bicycle via the path along the Tiber River embankment – also drawn by the Pier Luigi Nervi show, the highlight of which was the display of personal letters from collaborators and friends such as Saarinen, Breuer and Tange) entitled Quello che trovo, quello che penso, in which he describes what he finds and thinks while isolated behind a service stair during the museum openings for the exhibition (May 27th & 28th, 2010), reflecting “…the position of the artist with respect to the institution” – yes – and during my first month in Rome he came over for a friendly lunch visit and gave me edition 9,021/10,000 of untitled (transient possession), 2008, a Union Beer spill on paper drawing that must be given to whoever asks for it when it is displayed – so keep that in mind the next time you visit me.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 9, 2011 | art
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On January 6th, 2011, ACACIA DEALBATA…

the Acacia Dealbata, or yellow Mimosa, in bloom next to the Aurelian Wall

…the fragrant yellow Mimosa tree native to Australia whose clouds of clustered of bright yellow pom-pom flowers are the first sign of spring in the Italian landscape, is already in full bloom out in the back garden – probably since it is protected in a warm little micro-climate by the massive Aurelian Wall that surrounds the American Academy – well in advance of the March 8th Festa della Donna (the holiday of women for which they receive Mimosa flowers from the men).

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By Fritz Haeg on January 6, 2011 | landscape
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On January 3rd, 2011, THE MAREMMAN SHEEP…

the sheep of the Maremma, which also happens to be Italian cowboy country

…were looking at us as we were attempting to visit the Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture park of Il Giardino dei Tarochi which was closed, but the sheep were worth the trip. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 3, 2011 | art, Italy
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On January 2nd, 2011, CAPALBIO…

the view in and out of Capalbio

…like all great medieval Italian hilltowns (we are in the Maremma of Southwest Tuscany), provides that brilliant vivid contrast between the feeling of dense urbanism on the inside, and the seemingly infinite expanse of rolling rural cultivated countryside on outside, just on the other side of the fortified walls – reminding me of my romantic long term life plan to live in a village with lots of friends surrounded by animals and gardens – where we can pursue our work alone or together while enjoying the pleasures of a wild life in a miniature city?

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By Fritz Haeg on January 2, 2011 | Italy
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On January 1st, 2011, ON THE BEACHES OF CAPALBIO…

Italian friends plus dog Floyd on the Macchiatonda beach at Capalbio Scalo in the Maremma region of Tuscany

…just South of the Lago di Burano wildlife preserve, is where we have come this groggy afternoon to honor this first day of 2011, recover from a late night, soak up the few hours of winter sun, take naps on driftwood logs, gather shells, play games in the sand, go running, and for one brave Italian friend, to take a dip.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 1, 2011 | Italy
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On December 31st, 2010, AN ARRANGEMENT OF SCAVENGED FLOWERS…

a Maremma wildflower arrangement

…is what I find myself assembling from the the wild landscape I find right out the door this afternoon as I settle in for a long cozy New Years weekend with ten Italian friends at a family weekend house near Capalbio in the Maremma region of southwest Tuscany – and tonight I am very proud to be making that minestrone of verdure, farro e lenticchie  with my modest Roman baby potato harvest for a discerning Italian crowd. (more info here & on wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 31, 2010 | Italy
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On December 12th, 2010, PASOLINI’S ‘CHE COSA SONO LE NUVOLE?’

the last frame of Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Che Cosa Sono le Nuvole?'

…the short film featuring Totò and Ninetto Davoli from the 1968 collection ‘Capriccio all’Italiana‘ – is actually bringing some tears to the eye tonite – especially the last moments of the last scene as Ninetto, a marionette version of Othello, looks up at the sky from the garbage pile where he has been dumped, exclaiming “what are those?” – having never seen them before – to which Totò replies “those are the clouds” – “and what are the clouds?” he asks… (youtube video)

the lyrics: Che io possa esser dannato / se non ti amo. / E se così non fosse / non capirei più niente. / Tutto il mio folle amore / lo soffia il cielo / lo soffia il cielo… così. / Ah, ma l’erba soavemente delicata / di un profumo che dà gli spasimi / Ah, ah! Tu non fossi mai nata! / Tutto il mio folle amore / lo soffia il cielo / lo soffia il cielo… così. / Il derubato che sorride / ruba qualcosa al ladro / ma il derubato che piange / ruba qualcosa a se stesso. / Perciò io vi dico / finché sorriderò / tu non sarai perduta. / Ma queste son parole / e non ho mai sentito / che un cuore, un cuore affranto / si cura con l’udito. / E tutto il mio folle amore / lo soffia il cielo / lo soffia il cielo… così.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 12, 2010 | film
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On November 29th, 2010, TEOREMA…

the last scene of Teorema

…the 1968 film by the singular Italian genius and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini is what we were up late watching tonight, reminding me of another Italy not too long ago – and now I want nothing more than to descend into a Pasolini marathon and watch or rewatch everything. (wiki page)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 29, 2010 | film
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On November 28th, 2010, A VISIT TO PARCO DEI MOSTRI WITH DANISH…

Danes getting swallowed by Parco dei Mostri monster

…friends who are fellows at the Accademia Danimarca di Roma (housed in Danish design splendor in a 1967 structure designed by Kay Fisker near Villa Borghese) made me feel like I was also taking a little trip to Denmark today as eight of us packed into a VW van, donated by the former Queen of Denmark, traveling to Bomarzo to see the 16th century park of follies commissioned by arts patron Pier Francesco Orsini (1528–1588) for his deceased wife, and then to the Etruscan hill town of Tuscania (which I was told was a village of hippies, but I didn’t see any) where I heard some scholarly tours in Danish, later translated into a little English, followed by a delicious meal at a trattoria whose local crowds of diners looked up with silence as we entered, and where I was served beans with a mysterious additon after having explained that I was vegan – but no worries she said, it’s pigskin – and ‘we washed and cleaned it first!’

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By Fritz Haeg on November 28, 2010 | gardens
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On November 22nd, 2010, LA BELLISSIMA TELEGIORNALISTA ELENA GUARNIERI…

Elena Guarnieri fa telegiornalista sul TG5

…di TG5 (the flagship news program of the Mediaset empire owned by the ridiculous Silvio Berlusconi who first ascended to the throne of Italian Prime Minister in March 1994 while I was living in a rural Tuscan farmhouse as my exasperated Italian friends were freaking out and agonizing over the future of Italy – though now his days seem numbered?) stars in a 50 second remixed music video by DJ Giorgio Prezioso which I am strangely obsessed with today and can’t stop watching – perhaps due to the mixture of fascination and nostalgia that Italian TV news induces, since I started watching it when I moved here the first time 20 years ago to help with my language skills.  (il miglior commento deve essere: “fanculo a quei 23 che nn piace sto video!”)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 22, 2010 | Italy
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On November 9th, 2010, THE IUAV IN VENICE…

Venice today

…was where I studied architecture from 1990-91 and did my thesis with Aldo Rossi - and today (a typical cold rainy lovely mess) it was my special pleasure to go back and give a lecture at that place I had once been such a young eager foreigner – and the students today seem so much with it and on top of things than I did at the time – and hey, aqua alta is on it’s way again today (I’ve got my boots ready) which was always a guilty thrill of mine when I lived here especially since my home and school were the first to go under, occupying some of the lowest areas of the island – and how much longer will this place be around? (IUAV website)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 9, 2010 | travel
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On November 8th, 2010, A VENETIAN FRUIT VENDOR…

my Venetian fruit vendor from 20 years ago is on the left

…in the Venice sestiere of Cannaregio where I lived from 1990-91, was the highlight of my day, involving a visit back to my old street, Calle Riello, only to find that the lady who sold us fruits and vegetables around the corner was still there selling fruits and vegetables – so of course I introduced myself, and of course she didn’t remember me, but she was gracious about it, and even posed for this picture with her friend.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 8, 2010 | food
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On November 6th, 2010, A TUSCAN FARMHOUSE…

the view of Florence and the Duomo from my old Tuscan farmhouse (top), and the front in it's abandoned state, my bedroom window is above the arched entry (bottom)

…at least 500 years old, southeast of Florence, just up the hills of Bagno a Ripoli, right after the tiny village La Fonte is where I lived from 1993-94, and it is where I went today with my old Italian friend who I first met there, Katia, with her energetic six year old son Ottavio in tow, on a pilgrimage of curiosity to see what happened to the place that I think of often, which had such an affect on me, where I lived for a whole year on a few thousand dollars, and took hikes through the fields and farms and groves and meadows eating figs, grapes, and pears picked along the way, and where empty bottles were brought to the farmers downstairs for the fresh and out-the-window-local olive oil and wine we enjoyed, and where we looked down over the olive groves to see the Duomo in the distance over morning espressos while sitting in the window inhaling the first morning smoke of long days of making fires to stay warm – it was a year like a deep breath, or bubble in time, before starting my life of obligations.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 6, 2010 | agriculture
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On October 31st, 2010, THE BARLEY FIELDS…

a gathering of Cypress in a ploughed Tuscan field

…of Southern Tuscany, the austere sensuous rolling terrain marked with cypress lines and clusters is one of my favorite all-time landscapes which even seems sacred and mystical speeding at 80kph.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 31, 2010 | agriculture, landscape
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On October 30th, 2010, BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO VINEYARDS…

Brunello di Montalcino grape leaves

…are on fire right now in the most spectacular spectrum of shades from bright yellows to gaudy pinks and deep magentas which are also all to be found on one pixelated leaf. (more on Wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 30, 2010 | agriculture
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On October 29th, 2010, BORGO FINOCCHIETO…

Borgo Finocchieto inner courtyard

…is a medieval village (circa 1200) on a hill near Buonconvento in the province of Siena on Via Francigena, the historic pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome, that has found new life as a very comfortable retreat – where I have the pleasure of retreating, hiking, reading, and being cozy inside on rainy days during this Italian holiday weekend of Ognissanti.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 29, 2010 | architectural
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On October 16th, 2010, ‘WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE?’…


a great quote by architect Vittorio Gregotti shown during a conference presentation at the Swiss Institute

….was the title of this weekend’s conference produced by the Depart Foundation at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma – which was of special interest to me since I studied architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia from 1990-91 under Aldo Rossi – whose name was frequently invoked as the last great figure of Italian architecture – but I will be sharing more in depth thoughts on this event and the current state of Italian culture and design for my first post on the Metropolis Magazine blog in the coming days. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 16, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 9th, 2010, ADALBERTO LIBERA…

1932 Roman post office by Adalberto Libera on Via Marmorata in Testaccio

…is the Italian Fascist architect (1903 – 1963) who designed the Via Marmolata post office I passed on my evening walk through Testaccio (which is becoming my favorite part of town), and who was also responsible for the great Casa Malparte in Capri which I had the pleasure of visiting on an adventure in my early 20′s. (more info on Libera)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 9, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 8th, 2010, VILLA BORGHESE LIGHT SHOW…

Villa Borghese light show

…is a mystical presence on the Roman skyline as seen from my window tonight. (Wikipedia page)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 8, 2010 | Rome
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On October 7th, 2010, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE’S ‘ITALIAN JOURNEY’…

mysterious sunset fire by the tarmac at Rome Fiumicino

…an account of his hastily planned 1786-87 trip south to escape his humdrum daily obligations in Germany and luxuriate in the Italian culture he had been dreaming about – is what I had the pleasure of reading while making a much speedier trip south yesterday, flying from Schiphol to Fiumicino in about 2 hours, where we saw a mysterious bonfire by the tarmac after a sunset touchdown. (more info on “Italian Journey” on Wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 7, 2010 | travel
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