CARC 301 (Study Abroad Semester) : Castiligon Fiorentino, Cultural Center

For this semester a portion of my peers and I were given the opportunity to study abroad in small town of Castiligon Fiorentino located in Tuscany, Italy. This experience was not only rich in knowledge pertaining to architecture, but also that of history and culture. Through our travels, my group and I realized that there was a particular cadence or rhythm to Italian life. This was evident in their daily life, melodic language, and even the rooflines which cascaded up and down the beautiful hillsides of Tuscany. The photo below is a great example of this quality.

Due to the importance of cadence to the culture in Italy. we sought to implement this into the project in a literal and spatial way. As a result, We took pictures of the rooflines throughout the small Tuscan town, and then used them as regulating lines and footprints in a grid for the development of a Cultural Center for the town.