Milano

This morning we took a trip to the beautiful city Milano. It was an exceptional day trip, the weather was great, maybe the hottest day this far at about 80°. We arrived a little before 10am and awaited our guest Robert Di Georgio. He was to show us around the mile long Fiero Milano Convention Center. Security was tight, basically no entrance without a special permit or badge. 

The place was incredible, it had everything from restaurants to banks and clothing stores. Garrett translated Roberto's words, he described the quick building process and materials that were used. We learned about the water catchment system and what is the center's primary functions during hours of operation. 

After our Fiero Milano tour we headed to the previous site of the convention center. There we saw the great works of two architects, Isozaki and Zaha Hadeed. The development is carried out by City Life SpA. Construction started in 2011 and it is set to open in 2014. City Life will span over 106 acres, and will include both commercial and residential along with park space and a museum. 

It was a privilege seeing the raw materials of what would soon be the new homes to many offices as well as residents. These skyscrapers were coming to life as the men and women worked together to complete their ideas of what was once on paper to bring it to life in reality. 

Last on the itinerary was to see the Gothic Cathedral, the Duomo of Milano. It was massive! The fifth largest Cathedral in the world to be exact. The place was exquisite, filled with detail from top to bottom. Sculptures and artwork from one end to another! 

After leaving the Duomo we even had some time to explore the city on our own. Claudia and I grabbed a bit to eat, watched some street performers in meditation and even did a little shopping! Successful day in Milano followed by a barbecue with our roomies. 

The Vitra Campus

HDM's VitraHaus

Frank Gehry's Museum

Alvaro Siza's factory building

Zaha Hadid's Fire Station

Interior of Hadid's station

SANAA's factory building

Bucky Fuller dome

View out of Ando conference center

Detail of Ando concrete

Tadao Ando's conference center

The Vitra company has been inviting renowned architects to build on their campus in Germany since a fire destroyed most of the original factory buildings. They gave architects like Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid their first large commissions. The campus is full of great design, fantastic furniture, and a pretty great gift shop in the Herzog & de Meuron building.

Piano's Klee Museum and Basel

Renzo Piano's Zentrum Paul Klee

Interior Zentrum Paul Klee

Richard Serra Piece in downtown Basel

Herzog & de Meuron's Basel City Center

Under the Basel City Center

Neighborhood of Basel

We visited the Paul Klee museum in Bern, on our way to Basel for the weekend. The design of the place was really fantastic, light and organic yet somehow highly technical and precise. The detailing of structural connections and elements is really well thought-out, and the whole space breathes with an ease and lightness I personally didn't expect based on the exterior. The way the form blends into the landscape is really well done, it doesn't feel forced or unnatural.

We spent the evening exploring Basel, and got lucky in stumbling on to the new Herzog & de Meuron project near the old part of the city, which is just about to be completed. The facade, as always with their projects, was stunning. Basel is a really great city. Lots of energy, plentiful infrastructure, and a really dense core that's a lot of fun to wander through.

Venture to the laundromat

Today half the gang of students jumped in the van with our bags full of dirty laundry. We found out the week we arrived that the Villa's washing machine was broken. So a little after 11 days of wearing all but my semi-dress clothes and hand washing others we all decided it was going to be a laundry day. The troops assembled and we ventured off into the city. We thought we knew where we were going, BUT that wasn't exactly the case. We ended up passing through 6 different towns and went to 3 different ones in search of this "mythical" place.

We knew it was going to be an adventure, none of us spoke fluent Italian and we had to navigate our way past all the dry cleaners that were recognized as self-serve cleaners.

The first city we stopped in was Mendrisio, but it was mostly getting lost and taking a lot of wrong "left" right turns thanks to our navigators. The second city we stopped at was Paradiso, here we continued to get ourselves lost, but we enjoyed the ride around different streets in the city.

Lastly after making a pit stop for some Espresso and Cappuccinos in Lugano we were able to get some very specific directions to a self-serve laundromat. Third time's the charm, right? YES! Between Claudia and Trini we had a map and a possible address. Here we go again, zig-zagging our way through the horrible one way streets of northern Lugano. And then Ben shouts "there!" He has spotted the laundromat, or better yet a self-serve laundromat. We quickly circled back to the one way street where this magical place was spotted. After hearing it was reasonably priced we hopped out the van with smiles from ear to ear, our adventure was over, or had it just begun?

Once inside the laundromat Trini became our translator. He used a combination of Spanish and Italian to communicate with the lovely woman who owned the laundromat with her husband. The woman was very welcoming and excited to have us in her shop. This was the real adventure trying to get the machines started and the change situation worked out. We discovered that the washing machines were already measured with soap and all we needed to do was to add some Swiss Franks and we were set. It was quite a morning, we had no idea how strenuous a laundry trip was going to be.

In all the trip took about 4.5 hours and a few cities later we had clean clothes and mini cups of espresso yet again. The laundromat had the best grab and go coffee machine one could pay a Frank for. This invention of a machine was golden, it would work so well at the School of Architecture and Planning. Just think after all those late nights/early mornings at school we wouldn't have to leave school for caffeine, instead we'd pay a vending machine for great tasting coffee. Students started to think, how can we get this to the States and in the school. Can we make this happen, will this happen? I guess we'll find out!

Special thanks to Kramer for driving, Claudia and Trini for the navigation, and to Lavanderia Il Girasole Speedy Wash for the experience :)

To Be Continued...

Lo Chef, Donovan

Monday - Scarpa's Cemetery & Palladian Vicenzia

On our way back from Padova, we made a detour to Carlo Scarpa's Brion cemetery. It was the most significant piece of architectural work I've personally experienced. It's hard to describe the poignancy of the place until you've been there and felt it. Again, the importance of detail and craft play a major role in its beauty. It felt amazing to sit in that space and draw it. Easily my best moment of the trip thusfar.

Next was a quick lunch/tour around Vicenzia to get a feel for Andrea Palladio's work. His buildings are all over the city, and his most famous, The Villa Rotunda, is just outside the city on a hill overlooking the countryside. It was interesting to note the difference in style between his works in the city and his works in the countryside. Both resonate with a boldness and elegance that is purely Palladio. His understandings of form, proportion, and hierarchy are impressive, especially for the time he was working in.

Sunday - Venice

The Grand Canal looking towards S. Marco's

Scarpa's Querini Stampalia

Scarpa wall detail

Fountain in the courtyard of Querini Stampalia

Marble door in Querini Stampalia

Ai Weiwei's "Disposition"

Ai Weiwei's "Disposition", inside of box

Today was our free day roaming Venice. Even though the place was plagued with tourists, the city really is a magical place. After finding our way to St. Mark's Square, we meandered through alleys until we found Scarpa's Stampalia. The place was spectacular, the detailing immaculate. Every space was so carefully crafted. It really illuminated the importance of detail and craft in architecture.

For the rest of the day we deliberately got lost in the twisting vortex of Venice. By chance we stumbled upon a wonderful Ai Weiwei piece in an old Baroque church. Six steel boxes occupied the center of the church, the inside of each a scene from Weiwei's time in Chinese prison. It was great to finally see his work in person. 

Saturday - Museo Casa Ferrari, Bologna, & First night in Padova

Museo Casa Ferrari in its context

Facade treatments on the museum

Communist rally in central Bologna

Basilica of Bologna

Libeskind-Terragni 9/11 memorial in Padova

Saturday was a full day of traveling towards our base camp for the weekend, Padova. Our first stop was Modena, to visit the Museo Casa Ferrari. The exhibit in the new building was focused on the formula-one racing heritage of Ferrari, and an exhibit detailing the course of Enzo Ferrari's life occupied the adjacent, historical building. Both were really great spaces, and had well layed-out exhibitions.

We stopped next in Bologna for lunch and a walk around the old part of the city, which is Medieval and dense with historical buildings. After some tasty pizza, we stumbled upon a Communist protest marching through the central piazza of the city, directly in front of the ancient fortress. We were able to slip into the Basilica as the crowd moved by, and spent time wandering the massive, somber halls of a truly impressive religious space.

We finally arrived to Padova just in time for a delicious meal at a local eatery. Afterwards Nick and I wandered by the river and found the 9/11 memorial standing there, which is a collaboration between Terragni Architects and Daniel Libeskind. 

Some photos of our adventures thus far

Just a few pictures from our adventures in Switzerland and Italy! We have seen and walked around in several towns in the last few days, enjoying architecture, public art, piazzas, and more.

A model from the Architecture program at the University in Mendrisio, Switzerland.

Evening view from Lake Lugano below, in Morcote, Switzerland.

View of the Castel Grande in Bellinzona, Switzerland.

Off one of the many piazzas in Como, Italy.

A "primi", or appetizer, from our dinner at the Villa in Vico Morcote. Honeydew melon and prosciutto.

The main course, cannelloni with ricotta and spinach. Delicious!


Hope you enjoy! More to come.

Lasting forever

Terragnis last building built 1943 located one block from his first building.

Built in 1927 and still looks new.  It was Terragnis first building.

Stairs in Como rowing club building, Como, Italy.

A Terragni Day in Como

One of Garrett's colleagues, Michael, spent time with us today and gave us a mini tour of the Italian town of Como.  Michael is an architect and an American who has lived in Italy since the 1970s or so.  Most of the tour consisted of Guiseppe Terragni's work, but Michael also include historical information about Como and Italy, a brief introduction to the architect Antonio Sant'Elia and also stressed the importance of materials, especially with architecture.

  

Above: Michael showing us around one of the oldest churches in Como.  This basilica was built in 1193 and most of its original structure is still intact.

Above:  Michael showing us one of the plans of the Asilo D'Infanzia Sant'Elia building by Guiseppe Terragni.  After introducing the building, Michael was able to give us a tour of the interior of the building (below).