Ronchamp

Over the weekend, a group of five of us decided to rent a car and take a little road trip out to see one of Corubusier's most famous buildings, Notre Dame du Haut. It is a little chapel situated on top of a hill in Ronchamp, France and is one of Corbusier's later works. I had studied this building in school and didn't want to leave Europe without finding it. It was one of those buildings, however, that I was truly not fond of when I saw pictures and read of it. I didn't understand it, its form its design, it all just didn't make sense to me out of a book. But in person, this building was by far one of my favorite buildings I have seen on this trip.

As soon as we drove up the steep hill in what seemed like the middle of nowhere and parked the car, the view from the parking lot was gorgeous. You could look down on the rest of the city below with trees as far as the eye could see. It was such a peaceful location, it reminded me a lot of Michigan. As you walk by foot up the rest of the hill, the building came into view. It seemed like this building only existed for that day. It was perfect sitting within the trees, leaves changing colors and grass green. The building is not like Corubusier's other building, it has a much more natural form. It is made of white concrete with the texture of a thick stucco. The shape of the roof if very unusual, with it swooping towards the air, it almost appeared as a horn.

From the exterior, you can see little cut out windows situated with no order what so ever. It breaks up the white facade and gives it something unusual. The form of the building is very strange from the exterior, it is very object like and seems to have no order, but once you enter the building, it makes so much sense.

As soon I entered the chapel, everything changed. It was probably about fifteen degrees cooler inside the building than out, you get a chill as soon as you enter and can see your breath again the dark interior. The only light being drawn into the building were from the little cutouts you could see from the outside. Each window is placed in the wall at a certain angle, some set into the wall almost five feet. The light that it produced was serene, it sent light off into different angles produces a very different interpretation of the room than if there were lights hanging from the ceiling.

The other light source in the building came from tall lightwells situated in three small chapels located around the building. The lightwells created a spotlight on the chapel to pray, but as you stood inside, it created the brightest area in the building. It was as if when you pray, everything became brighter perhaps a little happier. It was an intense feeling to stand in this lightwell, almost as if you are in a place of your own, separated from the rest of the building, but connected at the same time.

What I thought was most impressive was Corubusier's choice of seating. He designed the benches and placed them on only one side of the building facing the nave. Not only were the seats only on one side, but they were angle away from the entrance, almost away from the nave. I can imagine when there is a service, with all of the seats filled, you feel disconnected from the rest of the building, all grouped in one area. It must feel as though you are truly part of a community, separate from the rest, but safe with those surrounding you.

The building overall was truly inspirational. I am by no means a religious person, but it truly seemed as though Corbusier thought about the church, its power, its inhabitants, and the feelings one has towards God and exaggerated it to an extent I have never seen before. It was almost mystical to be situated on top of this hill with gorgeous views all around and then enter this building that encompassed you and brought you closer to what you believe in. This building means so much more to me know to have witnessed it. There is so much more to it than a picture could every express, and I'm sure this writing truly isn't doing it justice. It is definitely one building on this trip that has changed my expression and way of thinking of space. I think its genious, and one day I hope to be able to design something so inspirational.

I miss you all so much at home! I'll be home exactly one month from today- and I can't wait! Love you and miss you.

Villa Dall'Ava

This past week, I was able to see one of the most inspirational buildings for me on this trip; Koolhaas's Villa Dall'Ava. I did a house study project on this home during my first year. I knew this house like the back of my hand, from the plans to the window details to the door swings. The house is located just on the outskirts of Paris in a very nice, wealthy neighborhood. We took a tram to the neighborhood and as soon as we got off, the tree lined streets were quiet and peaceful. We walked our way up the hill as we walked past one nice fence to the next. Suddenly, the fence changed. It went from a beautiul wrought iron fence to a piece of concrete with paint chipping off. I knew I had reached it.

The house stood out like a sore thumb. Placed between all of the french bourgeoisie homes of the early 1900s stood a building made of corrugated steel, orange construction fence , and angled columns holding up a cantiliever, all placed behind the concrete degrated fence. It looked like nothing more than a construction site situated on this pleasant quiet street. But it was exactly what I was expecting- to the "T". Koolhaas's design of this building is a complete joke. The angled columns are a way to tilt his hat off to Corbusier's Villa Savoye. He takes Corbusier's pilote idea and exaggerates it to the extent where it appears the Villa Savoye has been thrown in a tornado and spit out on the other side. On the roof is a swimming pool with a view all the way to the Eiffel Tower. He wraps an orange construction fence around the pool in an ellipse to symbolize the roof of the Villa Savoye, and to stick his tongue out at France's most dedicated symbol, as if this building his more important.

My friend, being the crazy one she is, decided to sneak underneath the exterior fence with my camera and capture as many pictures as she could. Luckily- no one was home, but if there was anyone, they would have for sure seen her through ribbon windows covering the home. We were able to see the kitchen cabinets, made of regular grade plywood- again another joke Koolhaas throws in there. The house is separated at the top by two cantelievered boxes, one is the master bedroom, the other the child's room, each with their own private stair in the center of the home so you cannot directly walk from one bedroom to the next. I love how the bedrooms are wrapped in corrugated steel- one silver, one copper. It seems as though Koolhaas wanted to take the material completely opposite to those covering the neighboring houses, and this was the best solution. It is just so unusual that you would find a house made of corrugate steel, yet alone a bedroom. But it works. I think the entire building works. It is exactly what I had always pictures, but it finally came to life. This is one of those buildings that will always be with me, in one of those weird, creepy ways, but it will always be a part of me and a part of my designs.

Venice

The last weekend, before heading back to Paris, three of us stopped in Venice to explore more of Italy before returning to France. We took a train from Rome to Venice and as soon as we got off the train, all of the beautiful images and words I've seen and heard of the city came to life. As soon as we exited the station the canal sat before us. There are absolutely no vehicles on the island, I didn't even see a single bike. It was a very strange feeling, I've never been in a city where it was completely pedestrian riden and it created a quiet and serene atmoshere. Venice is by far a tourists city, but it didn't feel like the same tourism as Rome. The streets were silent outside the major attractions and it gave a sense that you were the only one squeezed between all of the cramped buildings. Just the walk to our hotel was beautiful and like a dream, just gorgeous.

After dropping our bags off, we went to explore the city. The first attraction we came to was the Rialto Bridge. It is the largest bridge in the city and filled with shops in the middle of it's three sections. It was a beautiful view down the main canal. We hit it just as the sun was setting and the gondolas passed, just like a dream.

We passed over the bridge and continued on the other side of the island. The majority of the city, in all reality, is shopping. There were stores at the bottom of every building, and tourist stores at that. Not once the whole time I was in Venice did I see a grocery store. I think that this made it feel more like a tourist attraction than anything else in the city. Everyone that lives on the island has to work for one part of tourism, whether it be a shop owner, waiter, or captain of a boat.

We made it to the Basillica de San Marco before it closed for the night. The church was constantly added to over the course of hundreds of years and was like no other church I had been in. Most of the time churches are designed to show power, but this one took power to a whole new level. Every inch of the ceiling was covered in half inch by half inch pieces of mosaic, and mostly gold at that. Even the floor was made with mosaic marble. It is believed that most of the materials used to build the basillica were stolen from Constantinople. Even the famous four copper horses on top of the building were stolen. At the top of the basillica we were able to look out over the entire Piazza de San Marco. It was filled with all the tourists escaping from the narrow streets. There was a museum at the top as well which had a double bass belonging to the church for hundreds of years, also probably stolen. But it was brought to the church for their talented bassist, one I know very well, Dragonetti. He wrote some of the most famous bass concertos in the world, several of which I have played. I stood in awe in front of the bass, and even snuck a forbidden picture, but how could I resist!

Along the other side of the basillica was the Bridge of Sigh. It was a bridge not built for the everyday pedestrian, but for prisoners. It was there last gasp of air before they went from court to jail. Unfortunately it was under construction, and even more unfortunate, it was covered with ads. The large photo of a fake sky and model added a little something different to the bridge, but nonetheless, at least I could see it.

As the sun went down, it cooled off significantly and we walked the streets once again and grabbed an authentic Italian meal for dinner. Afterwards, we decided to take a look at the city at night. It truly changes as the sun goes down and lights come on. The reflections in the water change and it becomes a new city. Perhaps even more beautiful, maybe not, but then again it seems like this city could never look ugly.

In the morning, we walked to the train station to drop off our bags and decided to take a water taxi along the main canal back to San Marco. The city was beautiful from the water. I had seen several pictures of Venice and heard lots before I arrived, but it's a completely different feeling to actually see the water come right up to someones front door in person. It's almost unbelievable.

It started raining half way through the boat ride and by the time we got off, it was coming down pretty hard. We had hit the city during tourist off season, but we hit Agua Alta right on time. Supposedly it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the high tide in Venice, but it happens once a year just for a couple days. As we walked around the city in the afternoon, the water began to flood the streets. The majority of the Piazza de San Marco, along with the basillica was completely under water by early afternoon. There were some streets that were completely inaccessible without thigh high galoshes. In some areas, they put up platforms to walk over the water on. It was definitely a sight to see the line of people with their umbrellas walking on the wooden platforms throughout the plaza. It was even more amazing to see the marble mosaic floors of the church covered with over five inches of water.

But the water flooded streets gave an entirely new perspective to the city. New reflections were created and it became more unique and gorgeous. Although I got soaking wet, it was worth it to see the city under water, although something that may be much more common in the future.

We stayed in Venice until the evening and took a flight back to Paris before it turned Monday morning. I am so thankful to have been able to see Venice before I left Italy, definitely one of the most unique cities I have been to and one of the most beautiful at that. I've been thinking a lot about home though, and I miss all of you back in the states. Just a little over a month and I'll be back in Chicago. It's gone by quickly, but I'm also ready to see everyone back home and eat some real good homemade food- beef! I miss and love you all. Thank you for reading!

When in Rome...

After four hours of sleep after Stuttgart, I woke up at 5:00am and headed on a plane for Rome. When we left Paris, it was raining pretty hard, but as soon as we were up in the air, the clouds parted and the skies were completely clear- until we got to Rome. We hit the ground and the rain started right back up. It took us another hour to take a shuttle into the city, and as soon as we got to the hotel, the clouds parted ways, just for us, and we had a clear afternoon to explore the city for the first time.

My first impressions of Rome were that it was a dirty city and filled with tourists. The streets seemed unclean and anywhere close to a major monument or ruin (which is basically the entire boundaries of Rome) there were people wearing hawaiian shirts and wearing cameras around their necks. In Paris, you only notice tourists when you're at a major exhibit, on my walk to school every day, even though it is located in the heart of the Paris, I rarely see a person snapping shots of the city or wearing and outlandish shirt. But in Rome, it felt like they were everywhere. I was being trapped by tourists and the city became something other than "Rome", it felt like tourist central.

We started our journey at the Vatican, the world's smallest country. I'm not a religious person, but standing in the Piazza de San Petro gave a very powerful feeling. A colonnade wraps around the plaza like arms, encompassing you into the space. We were there on a Tuesday, so the Pope was not around, but you could see the jumbo trons already set up for Sunday Mass. Unfortunately, the Cistine Chapel was closed for the day, but we were able to go into St. Peter's Cathedral. The mere size of this building, decked out in marble and gold gave an overwhelming feeling. It truly showed the power the Church has and how much influence they have on the world. It was creepy in a way, to be standing in this church and see how much power it has on this large society of the world. The building itself was worked on by several architects throughout the years, including Michaelangelo. It was definitely a beautiful building, not the most amazing church I've seen, but just its size and grandness made it something not to be forgotten.

Before I passed out for the night, we went down to the Colosseum to see it all lit up at night. We took the metro to the "Colosseum" stop, and long and behold, the first thing when you leave the station is the Colosseum- it just hits you like a brick. But it was gorgeous at night to see it all lit up- something I could never forget.

The next morning was the first of three days of class. Our Urban Exploration teacher came with us this time to walk us throughout the city. The first day's walk was mostly to see the ruins throughout the center of the city. We saw a lot of buildings, monuments, and culture throughout the three days, so I'll run through my favorite of all. We started at the Piazza del Campidaglia, one of the main plazas of the city. The facades of the buildings were built by Michaelangelo and direct the view of the plaza towards the Vatican in the distance. As we sat there waiting for everyone to show up, there was the funniest little pigeon. This pigeon was the best "homeless" pigeon I have ever seen. He had mastered the art of a fake injury and the art of begging. He walked around like he had a bad wing, but as soon as he saw something he wanted, he flew right to it. And then- this pigeon just jumped into some woman's purse! I have never seen a pigeon act so human, it was the funniest thing.

Right behind the Piazza is the Roman Forum. This is where the downtown was located back when the Romans settled. There really wasn't much left other than ruins, but it was beautiful to look down upon. You could see how buildings were added throughout the years and how others were changed to adapt to the architecture.

Just around the corner was probably one of the worst buildings in the entire city. It's known as the "typewriter", built in the 1920s with the worst architecture in all of Rome. It stands out over most other buildings in the city for its mere size and pure whiteness, but there's nothing more to it than looking like an unusable typewriter.

As we walked through the streets, we came upon a huge foot in the middle of the street. Oddly enough, the street was named something like "Big Foot Street", but was a piece of a statue with nothing left other than the foot. Romans today believe that if you rub the toe, its good luck. This is definitely not something you'd see in any normal city!

We stopped at a little cafe for lunch where I had my first gelato. All throughout Rome there were gelaterias, with every flavor you could think of. I tried chocolate, caffe, and tiramisu. Honestly, this wasn't the best gelato I had in my time in Rome, but the best I had was honey and chocolate marange- with real pieces of marange mixed in, just amazing!

Right after lunch we went straight to the Pantheon. This was the one building I couldn't wait to see. All throughout my history class second year, we studied and studied this building over and over again. What is so unique about this temple built in 31 B.C. is that it is built as a triangle overlayed on a square overlayed on a circle from the exterior. But perhaps what makes this building even more well known is its massive dome. It stands almost 44 meters tall, about 120 feet and was the largest dome in the world until the 20th Century. And on top of that, there is an oculus in the center which is completely open through the roof. It is a magnificent building and the most preserved Roman "Ruin" in existance. It literally looked like it could have been built 100 years ago. As we stood inside, it began to rain out, and it was a beautiful site to see the rain sprinkle through the roof onto the marble floors. It felt like one of those once in a lifetime experiences.

Next we went to one of Borromini's churches. There were two famous Baroque Roman architects with two similar sounding names, Borromini and Bernini. They both invented a lot of Baroque architecture with similar ideas, but different approaches. Borromini was a little more free form than Bernini, and for that, I think I appreciated his work slightly more. This church was the church of the Sapienza University. We were not able to go inside, however there was a beautiful courtyard. At the top of the church was a spiral drawing your eye to the sky, very unique for its time.

We continued on through the street of Rome to what use to be the large theater. Nothing of it truly remains, but it was interesting to see that the building there today took on the shape of the seating that used to be there of the theater. All throughout Rome it was interesting to see how the new worked with the old- but this was one of those cases where there was no sign of the old other than the shape the building took.

We ended the day at the Castle of Sant'Angelo. It was built in 400 A.D. and the wall of the vatical runs all the way to the castle as a quick escape fo the Pope if need be.

The following day we started at the Theater of Marcellas. This is another one of those buildings were you could easily see the addition of new upon old. The lower half of the building is the remains of the original theater and on top, a rich family built their mansion. The entire top half was their home and used as protection from the ground. It was one of the most interesting buildings I saw in Rome for the fact that you could easily see the transformation throughout the years.

We walked to another part of the Roman Forums where Julius Cesar was killed. It again, is mostly ruins and was discovered only recently. This part of the Fourm, you were not able to enter, but instead is being used as a cat shelter. It was so unusually to see all of these wild cats climbing through and sitting upon the ancient ruins.

Another part of the ancient city was the Circus Maximus. This long stretch of open land is where races took place, such as chariot races. Today, it just acts as a park, and supposedly an exhibition space. The three armies were setting up a show to open the next day.

We walked to the top of one of Rome's seven hills and were able to get a view over the city. I must say, it wasn't like the view you get from Paris, not nearly as immense, but it was still a pretty site.

Before we took a lunch break, our professor told us she had a surprise for us. We walked to the Piazza de Cavalieri di Malta where a large locked door stood in front of us. She told us to look through the keyhole and that our surprised awaited. When you look through this little hole, it was like an entirely new world. It appeared as if it was a secret garden- you would never know this view occurred on the other side of the doors. The keyhole framed the Vatican perfectly on the other mountain across the city.

After lunch, we walked to Mount Testaccio, a man made hill built by the Romans out of old ceramic pottery. You could never tell, but the public isn't allowed to occupy it out of fear that they will dig up the pots and the hill will come tumbling down. We walked through a market in the area and came upon a vegetable that only exists around the Roman region. It's kind of a mix between a broccoli and a cauliflower. It looked strange, but it also had a beauty about it to.

We ended the day on the top of the opposite hill than we started on at the Tempietto San Pietro. This was another one of those buildings I learned about in my history class. It was the first Renaissance building to ever be built. It was a small church- only big enough for really two or three people. It was simple yet intricate and a little gem sitting inside a Spanish Courtyard, just where you would never expect it.

The next morning, before class started, a couple of us decided to talk a walk through the interior of the Colosseum. It was a pretty rainy morning, yet alone day, but it made the ruins look even more "authentic". I never expected what I saw in the inside. I had seen the Colosseum in Nimes, but this one was so much larger and much more grander. It was not as complete as Nimes, but you were able to see below where the stage stood to see the cages and pathways underground. It was such a large space inside, I felt overwhelmed and over taken, yet at the same time it felt very calming and welcoming. It was another one of those views that could never be forgotten.

The last class day was the longest of the two. We started the walk in the center of town and walked to the outskirts which felt like the suburbs. We started off by comparing the churches of
Borromini and Bermini. The first was the church that contained Bermini's statue of Saint Theresa in Ectasy. It was a powerful piece of work, it appeared so real, even the cloth made of marble seemed like it was made of silk.

Next was Borromini's Church. I loved this building. The dome in the ceiling was shaped as an ellipse instead of circle. The detail in this building, although all painted white, gave the impression of being grandeous and rich. It was simple, complicated, and pristine all at the same time. In the basement was a cript that matched the similar shapes as the main church, but in a much starker way. I found the stairs in the back of the building and followed them down to the basement, not knowing where they led- it was an ombiance unlike any other.

We walked right down the street to Bernini's church. It definitely wasn't as appealing to me, however had a beautiful dome as well. The entire church was shaped as an ellipse in place which made the interior space feel shrunken in and a little awkward. This was decorated in gold and marble and much more rich than Borromini's, but didn't have as simple detail which I truly appreciated from Borromini.

We stopped for lunch by the Trevi Fountain, Rome's most famous fountain. It was enormous, so large that it took up an entire side of a building. It was just surrounded by tourists, it almost felt like a zoo. With the shape and stairs leading down to the fountain, I felt like I was in line waiting to see the polar bears at the local zoo. It almost felt unrealistic and so touristic that it almost became an object seperate from the city.

We walked to the Spanish Steps leading from the Spanish Plaza to the French Quarters. It looked like a painting of the steps proceeding upward.

Upon winding up and down numerous little streets, we came upon probably the only modern building in the entire city center of Rome. It was the Ara Pacis Museum designed by Richard Meier. Here stood this large white modern box sitting at the edge of an ancient city- feeling as though it didn't belong. In the center of the museum stood the Alter of Augustus Peace, dating all the way back to 13 B.C. Meier chose the perfect materials to match the alter, not overtaking it, but rather complementing it in a beautiful way.

As we walked to the outskirts of town, towards the last two modern buildings of Rome, there was a flock of birds, hundreds of them that flew overhead. Luckily (which is rare with me!) I didn't get hit, but it created an interesting view of the sky.

After a lot of walking, we finally made it to the Renzo Piano Music Complex. It is comprised of three auditoriums, all with similar shapes that look almost like lady bugs. All of the auditoriums are connected through a glass lobby situated underneath another outdoor auditorium. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about these buildings. I like the lower portion, but the auditoriums themselves look almost too mechanical. We weren't able to see the interior, but the auditorium is supposed to make you feel as though you're sitting inside the belly of a cello.

The last building of Rome was one by Zaha Hadid- the second building I've seen by her in my life- both within a week of each other. Unfortunately, this museum was set to open the week after we left, so we were unable to go inside, but we could see it from the street. It was honestly too dark and we were too far back to make any judgements, other than it had similar ideas to her firestation I just saw. There were several people inside- workers setting up exhibits- and with all of the lights on in the interior, shining through the angled columns, it gave an interesting perspective.

Overall, Rome was amazing. From an architectural point of view, it was a trip that truly showed me the basis of architecture today. To be able to see all of the ruins and churches and architects in work was a lifetime experience in it of itself. Rome was a very dreamy place, filled with tourists, but also filled with gelato, which makes up any hurt feelings. We spent our final night eating authentic Italian food, with the best tiramisu I have ever had, and a glass of wine. Saturday morning we took a train to Venice- our last city of the trip. I miss you all at home and can't wait to see you soon! Thank you for reading!