LOST Melissa Johnson California Polytechnic State University, Pomona LA463 Senior Seminar Fall 2017 Landscape Architecture Study Abroad, Santa Chiara Rennie Tang
Verona
Castiglion Fiorentino
Roma
Italy
Table of Contents City 1: Rome Mapping Narrative Diagram Reading Narrative City 2: Verona Mapping Narrative Diagram Reading Narrative City 3: Castiglion Fiorentino Mapping Narrative Diagram Reading Narrative Photographic Essay Constellation Narrative
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Works Cited Busquets, John. Defining the Urban Project: 10 Contemporary Approaches Careri, Francesco. Walkscapes Cocker, Emma. Voluntary Vertigo Kahn, Andrea. Defining Urban Sites Leatherbarrow, David. Gardens & the Larger Landscape
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Roma
Mapping • Narrative “To develop tactics for getting lost…”; Those are the first five words of my reading. That is incredibly convenient because I had spent the first week in Italy completely lost! On my first day, I spent the evening walking through Rome with no sense of direction or awareness to my location. When I went back to the hotel that night, I took out a map and retraced my steps. What I remember most about this walk were the colors. This walk, along with Cockner’s reading, inspired my algorithm for the next two cities. Cocker states in her reading: “The artist develops methods for surrendering to a fall from knowledge…”. This is not a sensation I am used to. I traditionally find the most direct path from point A to point B and if I can fit in point A.1, A.2 and A.3 in between; I will do so as well. However, this was different, I let go of control which allowed me to explore Rome at night; absorbing my new surroundings and succumbing to what was around the corner. It was freeing to walk with no intention other than to walk and reflect on the moments to follow. The most powerful moment for me was exiting a small dark alley. As I exited the alley I looked right to realize I was in the Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon was tucked away to the right in the dark surrounded by dim lights. The sudden presence of the Pantheon made me stop in my tracks. I wanted to remember this moment forever so I focused on to every detail I could. Had I known what was around the corner I would have mentally prepared for it and would have not felt the Pantheons immense presence as strongly as I did. In the moments leading up to this experience I was able to transform my powerlessness and loss of control “into a productive force”.
“Consenti la perdita di potenza e di controllo.”
When I visit a city, I will not look at a map beforehand or a cellphone to distract me. This will force me to focus on the city and the moments, details and sensations that are available. Without a tourist map, will on my own free will or with someone else as my guide with no knowledge of destination. This will allow me to get succumb to a new experience and observe new sensations and details. The detail I connected with the most were the colors each site had within the time I was there. When the walk was done I traced my journey on a city map locating the landmarks and unique pauses I remember. The outcome of the map will be the color combinations I remembered while in my state of “vertigo”.
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Landwalk
Transurbance
New Expansion of the Field
Act of Crossing
Architectural Object
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Narrative
Roma
Diagram • Reading Narrative
Walking is an action that is used for basic survival needs, but once the survival need is met, what can we use it for? This is what Careri explores in Walkscapes. This article takes a deeper look into three “moments of passage in art history” which examines walking as a symbolic action in the “nomadic city”. The first idea is Landwalk, which Careri believes constructs the natural landscape and its surroundings. In this case, the path is an object and an experience. An example of this is Richard Long’s A Line Made By Walking. The Second component is Transurbance. Transurbance looks deeper into a humans nomadic experiences with in the city and the relationship between a path and architecture. Nomadic spaces are voids and sedentary spaces are solids. People have a natural tendency to fill in the voids as it relates pack to an open space people fill. Rome has just as many voids as it has solids. It is a tendency for people to walk by the solids towards the voids to occupy. The voids, or piazzas, are where you will find people dwell.
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Verona
Mapping • Narrative The second walking algorithm took place in Verona. This time around I was a little more familiar with Italy; even though I was in a new city. Instead of leading myself (with no sense of direction) I was led by another student who usually moves at different pace than I do. I don’t enjoy having other people tell me what to do so having her led me was an amusing experience. In the beginning, I became frustrated with our pace and lack of direction but I knew I needed to let go control and “surrender to a fall from knowledge” as Cockner writes. She says that during this sensation where body and mind feel at loss I need to “turn [my] attention, rather than turning away”. Working against my impulse was a challenge at the beginning, but remembering I had no choice in the matter made me succumbed to the experience. This walk took place from early afternoon until early evening; which should leave noticeable in the mapping as certain colors change. Verona was very different from Rome because of the difference in materials used on the buildings. The colors of Verona were more prominent. The sunset, or “Golden Hour”, made some hues more yellow and pink, and after the sun set the colors changed again. Some areas will have different hues scattered on the map depending on the time the colors made a lasting impression on me.
“Consenti la perdita di potenza e di controllo.”
When I visit a city, I will not look at a map beforehand or a cellphone to distract me. This will force me to focus on the city and the moments, details and sensations that are available. Without a tourist map, will on my own free will or with someone else as my guide with no knowledge of destination. This will allow me to get succumb to a new experience and observe new sensations and details. The detail I connected with the most were the colors each site had within the time I was there. When the walk was done I traced my journey on a city map locating the landmarks and unique pauses I remember. The outcome of the map will be the color combinations I remembered while in my state of “vertigo”.
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Verona’s Colosseum
Roman Forum
Piazza Erbe
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Verona
Diagram • Reading Narrative
Over the past two centuries urban growth has boomed in North America. Across the seas in Europe urban growth and design had been occurring for millennia. In Joan Busquet’s writing Defining the Urbanistic Project: Ten Contemporary Approaches, she discusses current urbanistic design work on 10 types of urban design strategies on dealing with current issues in an urban system. Relating this text back to the urban fabric of Verona, there are three types of systems used for the current urban system of the city. Synthetic Gestures are “high profile, clearly delimited, yet spectacular design projects that use their impact to trigger broader urban revitalization.” Many of these modern-day projects could be related back to architectural monuments like Frank Gerry has done, but in Italy things are done differently. History is embedded into their culture and would not allow a modern sculpture is that. However, they have their own, including the Colosseum. Verona has the best-preserved Colosseum which is still in use today. Although it is a historical monument, today modern technology adds a little extra attraction with light displays and activities. The next type is reconfigured spaces. These are open spaces used for public and communal purposes. Piazza Erbe is one of Verona’s top sites to visit. It is currently the center of attention in Verona with many activities, shops, restaurants, cafes and open space for people to occupy. It has been a piazza for centuries, but in Roman times it was used as a Roman Arena. Over centuries of change it has configured to what it is today.
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Castiglion Fiorentino Mapping • Narrative
The walk throughout Castiglion Fiorentino was a special walk, as this town would be my home for the next three months. My walk was lead by a local who wanted to show me the area. Having been in the town for a few weeks, I only walked through a few areas. My new friend took me the long way from Santa Chiara to the top of the center to the Medieval tower by roads that are not part of the main arteries of the town. I enjoyed the walk as it was much quieter than the previous cities. The environment of the town completely changed how I walked from the other cities. I slowed my pace and because there were little to no other people or sounds, I was capable to activate my other sense. The walk did not leave me with as many colors as other cities, but I noticed a lot of textures and layers of the colors presented to me. After the last walking algorithm I finally developed a method for “surrendering to a fall from knowledge”. I realized I had no problem being lost on my own or succumbing to another person who knew the area more than I. But I did have a problem letting go to someone who knew the area equal or less than I did. This last algorithm I was still powerless, but the trust I had in the person walking me through the town allowed me to completely let go and take in everything I could see, hear and feel.
“Consenti la perdita di potenza e di controllo.”
When I visit a city, I will not look at a map beforehand or a cellphone to distract me. This will force me to focus on the city and the moments, details and sensations that are available. Without a tourist map, will on my own free will or with someone else as my guide with no knowledge of destination. This will allow me to get succumb to a new experience and observe new sensations and details. The detail I connected with the most were the colors each site had within the time I was there. When the walk was done I traced my journey on a city map locating the landmarks and unique pauses I remember. The outcome of the map will be the color combinations I remembered while in my state of “vertigo”.
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Horizontal Line
Castiglion Fiorentino Diagram • Reading Narrative
David Leatherbarrow describes a landscape as unbounded: “The landscape extends towards the horizon”. This is also the difference between a garden and a landscape; a garden has boundaries, but a great designer can make it feel as though it is boundless. He categorizes four types of distances for design into horizontal, vertical, geographical and technological. The horizontal distance is an expanse of the horizontal plane. The vertical distance uses the sky as a plane. A roof garden may be used in a dense urban environment, the garden is still connected to the city, but is also separated from the city. Geographical distance is a way to bring another culture but concepts and qualities, not representation. An example of this is Noguchi’s use of Japanese garden design as an influence for his design in Paris. The last distance is technological distance which uses materials. Elements can be made or found anywhere around the world. The Getty museum used this distance when using rebar as part of the design. Referring back to horizontal distance, this is typically bounded within an urban setting, but in a garden this distance can be endless. The horizontal distance was a common site seen throughout the edges of Castiglion Fiorentino. Even though the city has walls and is bounded by them, the edges of the city were presented by obscured views over the Val di Chio in 360 degrees.
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P hotographic Essay: Prominent Colors Roma
Verona
Castiglion Fiorentino
Constellation Narrative The three cities chosen are Castiglion Fiorentino, Verona and Roma. Although the three cities chosen are within a few hours of each other, they each of a different sense of place, scale and context. Castiglion Fiorentino held a very different urban concept than Verona and Roma. The largest comparison is the boundary Castiglion Fiorentino center has. In my mapping algorithm, I walked along the edges of these walls that protected the city from attack in the middle ages. This design is similar to the Palmanuova plan from 1713. This plan is clearly bounded with fixed composition which results in a static urban setting. This is a stark contrast from Verona and Roma which are a dynamic and “messy� design is more closely related to Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch of Milan in the 16th century. This site reach is a result of the millennia the cities had for growth. Rome itself had a site reach all throughout Europe at one point with the Cardo Roads. These large urban scale cities include crisscrossing trajectories and unbound spaces. The mobile ground for these sites are dynamic with no fixed address for arrival and departure; unlike Castiglion Fiorentino that has two man portals: Porta Romana and Porto Fiorentino. It is apparent in my walking algorithms how dynamic Verona and Roma are. In some spaces, I walk in loops or repeat my steps as there is no boundary to contain my movements. Where the algorithm for Castiglion Fiorentino is a simple direct path. The design programmed me to stay within the cities walls and held little opportunity for me to penetrate through the boundary.
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