Global Experience
CALI FO RN IA natural and urban landscapes R I T [ M a s t e r o f A r c h i t e c t u r e ] L i s M o r e i r a C ava l c a n t e
Global Experience is a requirement of the Master of Architecture Program at Rochester Institute of Technology that aims to immerse the student in a foreign culture than their own and understand how the local architecture is a result of the place’s culture, history, geography, etc. As an international student from Brazil, the Program allowed me to explore a region within the United States of America, in order to understand better the country I have been living in. I have chosen a completely different region from the one I had been able to explore so far (the New York State, where RIT is located) in order to get another perspective of the country: the State of California, specifically the coast region between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and some natural landmarks of the region - the National Parks. San Francisco and Los Angeles are two of the largest cities in the US, and even by being situated in the same state, less than 400 miles apart, are completely different. San Francisco’s walkability and efficient public transportation versus the dependence of the car in Los Angeles; San Francisco’s political activism versus LA’s conservatism; LA’s warm weather versus San Francisco’s colder weather; and so on. In addition, between these two cities there are special spots, famous by the exuberant nature, the influence of the Spanish colonization, and renowned Universities. I had also a special interest in the National Parks because they are nationally and globally known by their wilderness and preservation strategies. I wanted to learn more about the historic preservation process and standards; park management and the relation and limits established between visitors and nature. Also, to understand how environmental education is held in such places and how they communicate the importance of preservation to visitors. After twenty-one days of trip, I believe I have achieved all my main goals: I have consolidated some of my knowledge on American culture and architecture, as well as the logic of urban planning in the country; I have experienced the differences between the East and West coast of the United States; and I had the opportunity to visit renowned buildings designed by famous architects from movements we have studied during Architectural Theory course. And, of course, I had a great time during the winter break!
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Having those points of interest in mind, I could come up with a plan to be at least ž of the trip in the major cities and Ÿ in the parks.
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K NOWN FA C T S -l os a n ge l e s - san franci sco population (2010) demographics
3,792,621
837,442
white alone 49.8% hispanic, latino 48.5% asian 11.3%
white alone 48.5% hispanic, latino 15.1% asian 33.3%
land area
468.67 sq miles
46.87 sq miles
person per sq mile
8,092.3
17,179.1
median income
$49,497
$75,604
persons below poverty level
22.0%
13.5%
transportation
“Designed for driving” Inefficient public transportation
2nd more walkable city in US Efficient public transportation
topography Essentially flat Essentially hilly Surrounded by high mountains Surrounded by water
climate
Summers: warm to hot; dry Winters: mildly cool to warm Average temperature: 63°F Smog
Little seasonal temperature variation Cool marine air, persistent coastal fog Average temperature: 57°F Fog
universitties
UC Berkeley, USF
UCLA, USC, SciArc
green space ratio
7.9% of the area
17.1% of the area
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SA N FR A N C I S C O
BRI EF H I S T OR Y O F SA N FRA N C ISC O
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The history of San Francisco begun around 10,000 years ago, with the Ohlone people, natives of the region. By 1579 the first Europeans arrived, but the land remained untouched until 1776, when the Spanish founded the Presidio Army Base and the Catholic Church, and started capturing and enslaving the San francisco Ohlone population. In the middle of the XIX century, the Gold Rush started when James Marshall discovered gold dust in a Sierra saw mill, and San Francisco became the entrance port to “El Dorado” - the legendary land of gold in the West. In less than a year, more than 50,000 people came to the city looking for fortune. At that time, San Francisco grew up lawless and exuberant. In 1858, silver was discovered in the Comstock Lode and San Francisco continued to reap the benefits of California’s oer wealth. The Victorian houses were originally built at that time, when the city began to reorganize itself after the Gold Rush - and they were the late 1800s version of suburban sprawl. That time also witnessed the poorer people to benefit from the cable cars - they could now navigate throughout the city, without the steep hills as a barrier.
San Francisco continued to grow, and the new developments in its infrastructure came alongside a radical development in San Francisco’s culture. The Hippie generation is a truly San Franciscan historical phenomenon. Neighborhoods such as the Haight Ashbury and the Golden Gate Park hosted most of the “peace, love and psychic expansion” events. In the decade of 1990, San Francisco rushed in the era of Cyberculture. Start up companies, entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved to the city, paying high rents and changing the social landscape of the city by the process of gentrification. In 2001 a crisis made several companies shut down, but San Francisco continued a popular location for tech offices, specially when the social media boom began. Powerful companies like Apple and Google have their headquarters in the Sillicon Valley nowadays.
When San Francisco was beginning to settle down from the ore rushes, a devastating earthquake in 1906 destroyed the city, setting a fire of gigantic proportions. The second major earthquake happened in 1989, leveling parts of San Francisco and cracking bridges. SF in 1945. Source: http://www.oldsf.org/
When I first crossed the bridge to get in San Francisco, my heart started beating faster. I have always wanted to know the city, since I have read so many great things about its public spaces, the people, the lifestyle, and so on. And just after a few days, the famous song by Tony Bennett begin to make a lot of sense...
The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gray The glory that was Rome is of another day I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan I’m going home to my city by the Bay I left my heart in San Francisco High on a hill, it calls to me To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars The morning fog may chill the air, I don’t care My love waits there in San Francisco Above the blue and windy sea When I come home to you, San Francisco Your golden sun will shine for me “I left my heart in San Francisco” by Tony Bennett
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T R A N S P O RT A T I O N The city of San Francisco is compact and offers several means of transportation. I wanted to try all of them, so even though we had a rental car available every day, we did not use it. Our hotel had a bus stop right across the street, so our first move was always by bus. After that, it was possible to choose among several options. The options available for every citizen and tourist are: • BART (Bay Area Rapit Transit): heavy-rail public transit and subway system that connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs. It is an alternative to highway transportation, especially to avoid congestion on the San Francisco Bay Bridge;
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• MUNI (San Francisco Municipal Railways): public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco. Muni carries over 672,000 riders each weekday, totaling over 204 million annual passenger trips, making Muni the most heavily used transit system in the Bay Area and seventh in the nation. In this system there are buses, light-rail, cable-cars, historic streetcars. • TRAIN (AMTRAK): Short and long-distance rides. • CAR SHARING: Several companies offer this service in the city, such as Getaround, City CarShare, RelayRides, ZipCar and, Uber. • BIKE SHARING: Bay Area Bike Share; companies that offer bike rentals. • WATER TRANSPORTATION: Ferry, water taxi, cruises. And, of course, there also other traditional means of transportation, like in every city, such as taxi, car rentals, airplanes.
In order to take advantage of all the available means of transportation, as soon as we arrived in our hotel, the first thing we did was to leave the car in the garage and go explore the city using only public transportation and on our own feet. In eight days, we have used the car only once, when we went to the Sundance Kabuki Cinema in a rainy night - when the ride was boring and the parking expensive. From the experience I had with the public transportation in San Francisco, I can say that it is very efficient and diverse. They work very well together with the hilly topography of the city. There is connectivity among the types of transportation, so it was a pleasant experience to visit the city entirely using public transportation and walking. The overall streets are walkable, with plenty space for pedestrians, trees and urban infrastructure. The Embarcadero Street is an example of a street with multimodal transports, safe and pleasant for pedestrians and cyclers.
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Parallel parking is more common than huge parking lots on the ground level, so it is hardly seen underutilized urban voids on the neighborhoods. The streescapes are very active and vibrant.
Bike routes are present throughout the city and there are fewer car lanes on the roads compared to other American cities, making the distance between the opposite sidewalks smaller, increasing the sense of human scale.
Modes of transportation such as the cable-car and historical streetcar date back to the 1960s and are famous and considered a touristic attraction as well.
San Francisco is also the birthplace of the Parklets - sidewalk extension that provides space and amenities for people installed on parking lanes - and Sunday Streets - car-free streets on Sundays.
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Topography The city of San Francisco is subject to earthquake activity, caused by the nearby San Andreas and Hayward Faults. The San Andreas Fault caused the famous earthquakes in 1906 and 1989 and minor earthquakes occur on a regular basis. The total area of the city, including water, is nearly 232 square miles, and from almost anywhere it is possible to feel the poweful presence of the steep topography. There are more than 50 hills within the city boundaries, as shown in the adjacent map. The top of the hills provide special viewpoints, from where it is possible to understand their dimension and also watch beautiful sunsets. The Twin Peaks are a famous spot to overlook the cityand one of the highest points. Some streetscapes are also something interesting to observe, since some of them follow the street slope, creating a very fun and unique street elevation.
Map elaborated by Mike Ernst Urban Planning + Design. http://www.mikeernst.net/portfolio/san-francisco-topography-map/
However, the steep topography can be a challenge - and a barrier - in the daily routine of the people of San Francisco. Bikers, for example, sometimes prefer to ride one extra mile off of their route in order to avoid the steep hills. But I also noticed a lot of people walking and exercising despite all the changes in elevation and the several steps of the “urban stairs�, that connect blocks and buildings. Neighborhoods were even named after the hill on which they are located, like Nob Hill, Potrero Hill and Russian Hill. The last is where the famous Lombard Street is situated. This street is one of the steepest streets in the U.S., created with sharpt curves to switchback down the one-way hill. There are Victorian mansions and organic landscape design that add to the beauty of the street.
Sunset - View from the Coit Tower
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View from the Twin Peaks
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Steep Topography and Coit Tower on top of the Hill
Lombard Street
“Urban Stairs” between blocks and buildings
natural landscapes Nature surrounds San Francisco: miles of pristine shoreline, redwood trees in the heart of the city, botanical gardens and nearby wilderness areas are some of the natural environments that make San Francisco so unique. Within the city, the hilly topography also creates opportunity for numerous parks and interesting landscape design.
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The parks are used not only for recreational purposes, but also for daily activities: walking with the dogs, exercising, playing with kids, hanging out with friends, etc. The Golden Gate Park is a 1,017 acres land, three miles long and half-mile wide. It is contained in the urban tissue of the city, as we can clearly see in the map and in the aerial view. It has museums, boating, specialized gardens, lakes and 4,000 species of trees. It is seen as “the lung of the city� and is as big as all the parks in Los Angeles combined.
Golden Gate Park
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M. H. De Young Museum by Herzog & De Meuron (2005) This building remains as a monument in the area as the original one, opened in 1895 and destroyed by an earthquake in 1989. The structure itself is also part of the exhibit experience. The copper facade will slowly become green due to oxidation and therefore fade into its natural surroundings. The facade is also textured to represent light filtering through a tree. From the upper floor, it is possible to see the Academy of Science, designed by Renzo Piano.
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A R C H I T E C T U R E
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Academy of Science by Renzo Piano (2000 - 2008) This project is one of the ten pilot “green building” projects of the SF Department of Environment. Today, it is the world’s largest LEED Double Platinum building (New Construction and Existing Buildings: Operation & Maintenance). The project conserves two limestone walls from the previous building (1934), and houses a planetarium, a rain forest habitat, an aquarium, and several exhibition spaces. Transparency connects the building visually with the Golden Park and the roof becomes a landscape with Californian native species.
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A R C H I T E C T U R E
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Contemporary Jewish Museum
The Cannery
by Daniel Libeskind Studio (2005)
The Cannery San Francisco is a historic, remodeled building in Fisherman’s Wharf. Once Del Monte closed it in 1937, it was used as a warehouse for a number of smaller businesses. In the 1960s, a local investor purchased it and transformed it into a fun, vintage retail and restaurant space.
This project is an adaptive reuse of the historic Jessie Street Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Power Substation (1907), adjacent to the Yerba Buena Park. The design combines the history of a landmark building with the dynamism of contemporary architecture. Exhibitions and programs in visual, performing and media arts, and includes 3,500 square feet of space for education.
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A R C H I T E C T U R E
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Federal Building Morphosis Architects (2007) This project aims to offers a frank, contemporary response to its context, and establish a benchmark for sustainable design in its use of natural energy sources.The building was designed to be a green building consuming less than half the power of a standard office tower. However, the design’s nonfunctional use of extended, folded metal sunshading at ground level added millions in materials and fabrication costs back into the project. It is LEED Silver.
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A R C H I T E C T U R E 6 / 9
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Ferry Bu ilding
SFMOMA
(original 1898 - renovation 2004)
Mario Botta (1995)
The Ferry Building was the transportation focal point for anyone arriving by train from the East, all the East Bay and Marin residents who worked in the city in the end of the XIX century. However, after the Gold Rush in the 1930s, it became obsolete with the opening of the Bay Bridge in 1936, and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, along with mass use of the automobile. By the 1950’s, the Ferry Building was used very little. The Ferry Building was redeveloped and today presents approximately 65,000 square feet of first floor Marketplace space, and an additional 175,000 square feet of premium second and third floor office space. It is a vibrant gathering of local farmers, artisan producers, and independently owned and operated food businesses.
Postmodern building designed by swiss architect Mario Botta. The building is a five-story structure with a stepped and patterned brick facade, topped by a cylindrical turret. The opening of the SFMOMA building on Third Street encouraged the transformation of the South Market neighborhood into a vibrant cultural district that includes the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Museum of the African Diaspora, Contemporary Jewish Museum, SF Camerawork, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, Cartoon Art Museum, and California Historical Society. The Museum is closed until May 2016, due to a major extension project led by design firm Snøhetta.
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Painted Ladies
P a l a c e o f F i n e A rt s
(1898-1896)
(1915)
The row of seven colorful Victorian houses in front of Alamo Square is a famous postcard of San Francisco. Built between 1892 and 1896, these houses are one of the thousands built in the city during its booming growth at the end of the nineteenth century and many were painted in bright colors to accentuate their architectural details. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, one of them was recently sold $3.1 million dollars.
The Palace of Fine Arts was built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The exposition featured 11 great exhibit palaces showcasing objects from every corner of the globe. Widely considered the most beautiful structure at the exhibition, the Palace of Fine Arts was the work of California architect Bernard Maybeck. The Palace was intended as ephemeral, but when the exposition ended, the Palace was saved from demolition and today the classical Roman rotunda with curved colonnades in a beautiful park setting it is one of the landmarks of San Francisco.
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S F - (h i g h way 1) - l a From San Francisco, our next stop was Los Angeles. We decided to go by car so we could have the experience of traveling part of the Highway 1, one of the most celebrated routes of the United States - maybe even of the world. We stopped in three different cities (Carmel-by-the-Sea, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara) and several times along the road to appreciate the astonishing views.
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I have noticed clearly the influence of the Spanish colonialstyle architecture in the cities and how the warm climate affects the choice of colors, materials, urban design and even the people’s behavior. In Carmel, everything seemed calm and cozy, well maintained, with rich history and a well-preserved natural landscape. Several different styles of summer houses make the built environment interesting and heterogeneous. San Luis Obispo is a vibrant little college town, home of the California Polytechnic State University and Cuesta College. We briefly walked around the streets of dowontown - with several little charming stores, hotels, bars and restaurants - and the wellpreserved Spanish Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, founded in 1772. Since it was an intersection period, there were not too many students around.
Santa Barbara is another city where classic Spanish architecture is present. However, despite of the antique look, the buildings are fairly new, since several buildings of the city had to be rebuilt after an earthquake in 1925. Santa Barbara is known as “The American Riviera”, with Mediterranean climate and elegant architecture. We walked through the famous State Street, very active and alive, where the main commercial activities happen.
McWay Falls
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Carmel-By-The-Sea
The Big Sur is roughly 90 miles of coastline from Carmel to San Luis Obispo. This area has no specific urban core nor boundaries; there are only bluffs, vegetation, sea and sky. However, it is interesting for an architect to feel how nature can provide such powerful and beautiful landscapes, making people from all over the world come to a spot just to admire it. The built environment has such a great impact in the planet that we should be aware of what we could be endangering with our design choices.
LO S A N G E L E S
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BRI E F H I S T OR Y O F l o s a n ge l e s The region where today Los Angeles is located has been occupied as early as 6000 BC by the Chumash and GabrieleĂąo peoples. By the end of the 18th century the Spanish missionaries arrived and created the first civilian settlement that stayed unknown by others and became an important farming community. At that time it was called El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles. In 1821, Spain lost its territory to Mexico. Several mexicans decided to go to California intending to obtain private lands. The rancho system was born in mid-1830s. After the MexicanAmerican war in 1850, Los Angeles was Incorporated under US rules, along with the rest of California.
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By 1930 the population of the city has raised to two million due the following events: 1850s: Northern California Gold Rush collapses. 1870s: Southern California’s first railroad is constructed. 1880s: The citrus industry was born. 1892: Oil accidentally discovered changed the economic history of the city. 1907: Port of LA was launched. 1908: The birth of the movie industry. 1913: Los Angeles Aqueduct is completed.
Aircraft companies were established in LA during the WWI, along with billions of federal dollars in military contracts. Those investments helped the city to overcome the period of the Great Depression. After the WWII the increasing number of new residents shaped the city how it is today: a megalopolis, that suffers with attendant problems from suburban sprawl, high air pollution, traffic, racial conflicts and fast population growth rate. However, Los Angeles has also a strong economy, low unemployment statistics, a decreasing number of crime rate and has been applying several green initiatives in order to built a more sustainable and healthy city. During the mid-20th century, Los Angeles rapidly evolved into one of the most influential industrial, economic, and creative capitals in the world. With its mild climate, diffuse development patterns, and car-oriented culture, L.A. attracted new residents with the promise of an informal, independent lifestyle.
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Griffith Observatory, view of Downtown LA
T R A N S P O RT A T I O N The automobile has played a major role in the development of Los Angeles. According to Alexander1 the city’s car oriented culture has influenced architecture and design specially from 1940 to 1990. When automobiles were the symbols of freedom and selfexpression, mid-century architects designed “eye-catching coffee shops, gas stations, and movie theaters with dynamic facades and whimsical signage that enticed customers zipping along L.A.’s wide boulevards”, inspired by the auto industry’s sleek forms, new materials, and pioneering fabrication methods.
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Regarding the urban scale, elevated roadways solidified the region’s vast geographic boundaries and facilitated its aggressive economic expansion. They also devastated countless communities in their path. Architects and planners are still attempting to repair this damage to the urban fabric. Different from San Francisco, I was told that visiting LA without a car would be difficult since the public transportation is not very efficient and the points of interest are far away from each other. Using the rental car was very convenient and comfortable, but we also got into long traffic jams and our experience in the city was restricted to the points of interest, enjoying very little in between. It is very clear how the highways fragment the city and establish another pace to people’s lives. The roads are very large, with at least more than two lanes each way; bike lanes and generous sidewalks are not well distributed in the city.
Famous image of a very complex system of roads in LA. Source: http://sanjeewatravel.blogspot.com.br/2014/07/most-beautiful-roads-inworld-to-travel.html
Maybe the choices during my time in LA was influenced by the bad reputation of LA’s public transportation; but since I did not have too many days in such a huge city, I preferred to try to be the most efficient as possible with the time I had, being able to go to several different places quickly by car. However, I have friends there studying in universities such as USC and SCi-Arc that do not have car but claim that they are able to move within the city reasonably to daily activities. Because of the existing infrastructure and the population’s lifestyle, it seems very obvious that the car will continue to be the main mean of transportation in LA for a long time; however, there are some good initiatives in the city, trying to move forward towards a more sustainable and inclusive scenarium. There are exclusive lanes for carpoolers, new mass transit projects (including subway and light rail systems), development of new bike routes, etc.
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http://www.nbm.org/about-us/national-building-museum-online/los-angeles-constructs-future.html?
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Topography Los Angeles’ topography is mostly flat, but surrounded by mountains and hills, created by natural forces of tectonic activities. Those mountains create an interesting background for the city’s landscape and also control the growth of the city, limiting the expansion.
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Los Angeles is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire - area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur, result of plate tectonics and the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates. The geologic instability has produced numerous faults, causing approximately 10,000 earthquakes per year in Southern California, though most of them usually are not even felt due to their small magnitude.
natural landscapes The natural features of Los Angeles are mainly beaches in the coast and hills that surround the city. It is also easy to notice the different urban characteristics of each neighborhood/district: while the wealthiest neighborhoods present well-maintained streets and beautiful private gardens, lower-income neighborhoods have less trees, sidewalks in bad shape, and buildings in worst conditions. As in every metropolis, the contact with nature in LA is also related to the level of income. However, in a city with few public spaces, the production of parks ad plazas are starting to grow: the L.A. Department of Transportation and its new People St program is creating pedestrianfriendly spaces, for example, plazas in Leimert Park, Pacoima and North Hollywood.
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A R C H I T E C T U R E 1 / 8
Getty Center Richard Meyer (1984 - 1997) The Getty Center is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. It was the first building to be LEED certified after the standard established by USGBC in 1998. Playing with materials and thinking about the smallest details, Meyer was able to create a coherent unity while maintaining the identity of the parts. Openings and frames allow for pauses and exchanges between interior and exterior.
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A R C H I T E C T U R E 2 / 8
Emerson College Morphosis Architects (2014)
The project is a complex of student housing, instructional facilities, and administrative offices. The entire building becomes a stage set for student films, screenings, and industry events, with a special scenery: the Hollywood sign, the city of Los Angeles, and the Pacific Ocean. There is an automated sunshade system in the skin of the building, one of the features that helped the development to earn a LEED Gold certification.
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Gehry Residence Frank Gehry (1977-1978)
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This house, originally from the 1920s, is located in Santa Monica, and was purchased by Gehry and his wife in the 1970s, and became an expression of what was contemporary to that time. The “new� house grew around the existing one, almost as the old one was being deconstructed. Gehry used unconventional materials, such as chain-link fences and corrugated steel, so it is clearly a unique building within the neighborhood, distinct from any other house around. It was a very interesting to see this house in person, since pictures in books cannot express the power of such boldness.
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W a l t D i s n e y C o n c e rt H a l l Frank Gehry (2003) This concert hall was built to honor Walt Disney and now is home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Gehry worked with Yasuhisa Toyota, an acoustical consultant, to create a space with distinctive architecture and excellent acoustics. The stage is surrounded by the audience, minimizing spatial segregation. The design symbolizes musical movement and the motion of Los Angeles. I had the opportunity to watch a LA Phil concert when I was there and it was breathtaking!
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“the binoculars”
the Pal ey Center for Media
Frank Gehry & Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen (1985-1991)
Richard Meyer (1977-1978)
Also known as the Chiat/Day Building, this distinct commercial complex is located in Venice and comprises three buildings of different styles. The huge binocular in the middle was designed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, and serves as an entrance for both cars and pedestrians. The other two buildings were designed by Frank Ghery. The complex was commissioned by the Chiat/Day advertising agency, but the current tenant is Google.
The center, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, was founded in 1975 and nowadays has two branches, one in NYC and other Los Angeles. In LA, this institution’s building is located in Beverly Hills and it was designed by Richard Meyer. The building reflects the main characteristics of Meyer’s work: geometric clarity and order, transparent and white surfaces, open space and emphasis on light.
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l.a. museum
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of the holocaust
m u s e u m o f c o n t e m p o r a r y a rt
Belzberg Architects (2010)
Arata Isozaki (1981-1986)
This building is located within a public park and one of the design strategies was to integrate the museum into the open space. This goal was achieved by designing a clear continuity of the park’s landscape over the roof structure. The architects used sustainable systems and materials and the building received a LEED Gold Certification. The day I went to the museum, it was closed for visitors, so I could not experience the interior spaces; however, it is said that all the spaces are planned to promote a singular experience throughout the exhibits.
The MOCA is considered a post-modernist building, that combines pure geometry – such as pyramids, a cylinder and cubic forms with a sense of playfulness. The composition was based on golden sections and on the theory of ying and yang. Since ordinances required a low height building, galleries were placed below ground level, illuminated by overhead lightning whenever it was possible. Exterior spaces are well integrated with the city.
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d e AT H VA L L EY nat io na l par k
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The Death Valley National Park is located east of the Sierra Nevada and 95% of its area is designated wilderness area. The harsh desert environment of the park consists of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons, and mountains; it is the driest and hottest National Park of the country. A point of interest is the Badwater Basin, which is the lowest place in North America and one of the lowest places in the world (282 feet below sea level). There, I experienced the deepest silence in my life and, by the road, the longest echo. In this park, I could truly understand and feel the meaning of “wilderness”, one of the first topics discussed in Prof. Callie Babbit’s class.
S E Q U O I A nat io na l p a r k This park is also contains a significant portion of the Sierra Nevada, with a total area of 404,064 acres. It was established as National Park in 1890 and it was the first to protect a living organism: the sequoiadendron giganteum. One of the most famous attractions is the General Sherman tree, one of the largest trees on the planet that grows in the Giant Forest. Sequoia has a different dynamic for visitors if compared to the Death Valley. It is more similar to the following two I visited (Yosemite and Grand Canyon): there is a main driveway connecting all points of interest of the park that you can drive or get a free shuttle. After parking or leaving the shuttle, people walk toward the attractions. I felt it was a very controlled way of explore the park, but for the sake of preservation and visitors’ safety, it works very well, it is very organized and well maintained. Sequoia had always been in my list of must visit places in the world, and I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to accomplish this old wish.
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YO S E M I T E nat io na l p a r k Yosemite is known for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves and biological diversity. 95 percent of its 747,956 acres are designated Wilderness, and, since 1984, the park is a World Heritage Site. There are more than 800 miles of hiking trails and 282 miles of scenic roadways to explore. My day in the park started cold and very cloudy, so the first thing I did was to visit the park’s museum to understand better its history, geography and preservation plans. Yosemite’s strategies to protect the land combine research, restoration, control and monitoring.
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By the time I got out of the building, the clouds were gone, the sky was blue, and the sun was illuminating the cliffs in a way that they seemed even bigger and more dramatic. Witnessing the sunlight penetrating the valley was one of the most impressive things in this park. The hikes were a pleasant and rewarding experience as well.
G R A N D CA N YO N nat io na l p a r k The Grand Canyon is a World Heritage Site, an immense and overwhelming geologic formation that encompasses more than 1,200,000 acres and lies on the Colorado Plateau, in Arizona. The Canyon averages 4,000 feet deep for its entire 277 miles, it is 6,000 feet deep at its deepest point and 18 miles at its widest. Although the Grand Canyon has been federally protected since 1893, it was only by 1919 it achieved National Park status, and nowadays receives almost 5 million visitors/year. It is one of the most studied geologic landscapes in the planet because, among several other reasons, it records three of the four eras of geological time and offers a diverse fossil record. I went to the most visited rim - the South Rim - and had two very different experiences: first, we drove the scenic roads and had a general idea of the immensity and beauty of the park. Then, we hiked a 10 km trail down to the bottom of the valley. One experience complemented the other, but hiking was a much better activity because I got to comprehend the scale of this huge canyon. We walked for 3 hours round trip, but still did not get even close to the bottom. It was amazing to be there at sunrise and sunset, observing the change in color and light in the canyon.
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Sunrise in Grand Canyon ~7a.m.
Hiking the Grand Canyon
fi nal co nsi deratio ns One of the things that caught my attention when I was looking into RIT’s Master of Architecture Program was the “Global Experience” requirement. Even though I thought I probably would not be allowed to leave the USA - as an international student with some scholarship and budget restrictions -, I was so amazed by the idea that the Program encouraged students to travel abroad, to open their minds to the world and face different architecture and urban solutions. I remember when I was an undergrad student in Brazil and I had the opportunity to travel to Europe and other countries in South America, how that experience changed the way I looked at my own reality and did my work. Having the possibility of travelling within the United States as a way to fulfill the Global Experience requirement was perfect. The country is so huge that being only in the New York State was not satisfying my need of understanding the US, so I decided to go to the opposite coast to investigate how different it could be. I noticed that the urban structure seemed to remain the same, at least in some smaller cities: the dependence of the automobile, big parking lots, the same food chains, and the lack of identity. However, I was so happy to spend several days in a city like San Francisco, which prioritizes pedestrians and public transportation over the automobile, with initiatives and projects that encourage the use of public spaces, a city that seem to establish such a healthy relationship with the surrounding nature. I was also glad to see the social diversity in Los Angeles and the amount of cultural activities that happen there. It was even nice to drive on all those crazy large highways. I could see in person some icons of the Post-modernist movement - something that we simply do not have in back in Brazil -, as well as some symbols of Gehry’s deconstructivism: the Gehry Residence and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I cannot say that visiting the National Parks was the greatest experience of the trip because the comparison would be unfair: it is totally different than staying in a city center. However, I can say it was the biggest surprise of the 21 days. I knew they would be amazing places to visit, but not as much as it was. Americans are so privileged to have such well-preserved wilderness, with controlled visitation that allows for security of visitors and preservation. It was very nice to see whole families engaged in road trips, spending several days in the parks. In conclusion, I believe this Global Experience has taught me a lot about the country I have chosen to pursue my Master Degree, and from then on I have felt very encouraged to explore other parts of the United States, to widen my knowledge about the country, its people, history, nature, architecture and urban planning.
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