On June 5th, 2011, PERUGIA’s COMPLESSO DI FONTIVEGGE …
…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…
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#architecture
On June 4th, 2011, FESTARCH…
…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…
On May 30th, 2011, ‘URBAN UTOPIAS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY’…
…is the illuminating well-written 1977 book of this well-trodden utopian territory by Robert Fishman – which gives a super great overview of the political and philosophical underpinnings of…
On April 26th, 2011, MÁS TRANSIT…
…was a surprise highlight for me (since it was a hometown project from 2009) tonight at the American Academy in Rome shoptalk by architect fellow – and fellow…
On March 12th, 2011, LOGGIA OF CUPID AND PSYCHE…
…whose ceiling is laden with the most sumptuous depictions of all variety of fruit and vegetable was painted by Raphael at Villa Farnesina (1510), and was the highlight…
On March 11th, 2011, TREVI…
…Fountain is what we attempted to see pre-tourist-mob this morning (first stop on today’s familial Roman highlights tour), at an early enough hour that we might have it…
On March 10th, 2011, THE PANTHEON…
…whose distant dome I have become used to seeing from my desk, was a first stop with family in town touring Rome’s greatest hits, what more to say?
On March 7th, 0211, THE GREEN AURELIAN WALL…
…(the vast circuit of Roman city walls hastily built from 271-275 AD) is bursting with all variety of weedy green plant life after months of cool rainy weather,…
On March 5th, 2011, ROMAN APARTMENT BALCONIES…
…(from the Italian ‘balcone‘) is the private domestic outdoor space available to most Romans, which they try to make the most of – usually full of plants and…
On February 7th, 2011, STEFANO BOERI…
…the Milanese architect, teacher, and magazine editor spoke tonight (being much more gracious than I would have been when the projector didn’t work and he wasn’t able to…
On February 4th, 2011, UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA ‘SAPIENZA’ – FACOLTÀ DI ARCHITETTURA…
…is the Italian school of architecture – with a building just north of Piazza del Popolo (whose suggestive nature from certain points of view was recently pointed out…
On February 1st, 2011, GROTTO…
…or grotta in Italian, following up on yesterday’s thoughts on rustication, is another example of the thrilling primitive architectural underbelly of the Florentine Renaissance – today seen at…
On January 31st, 2011, RUSTICATION…
…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…
On January 29th, 2011, BOLOGNESE ARCADES…
…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…
On January 23rd, 2011, TWO BIG NAKED MEN WITH LONG FLOWING CAPES…
…greeted me as I was passing through Michelangelo‘s Piazza del Campidoglio this morning – Castor and Pollux, or Dioskouroi, twin cavalieri sons of Zues.
On January 12th, 2011, THE NETHERLANDS ARCHITECTURE INSTITUTE…
…in Rotterdam is mostly closed for renovations (at least their bookstore is still open in the form of a trailer out front) with the vast reflecting pool now…
On January 11th, 2011, ROTTERDAM’S KUBUSWONINGEN…
…(or Cube Houses) especially the inviting central courtyards (featuring small retail spaces occupied by nail, massage, hair, and waxing salons) which I think were meant to feel like…
On December 29th, 2010, PIRAMIDE CESTIA…
…the ancient burial pyramid of Caius Cestius built circa 8-12BC originally located in the open countryside and later integrated into the expanded Roman fortifications of the Aurelian Walls…
On December 22nd, 2010, IL FONTANONE…
…is just below me, on Gianicolo hill, with a commanding view of the city, made with stone and marble taken from the ancient Forum of Nerva and granite…
On December 11th, 2010, ESPOSIZIONE UNIVERSALE ROMA…
…or EUR, originally known as E42, the vast development south of Rome initiated by Benito Mussolini in 1935 designed by a collaborative of Italian architects is where we…