Rome is where the heart is....

Mama Mia,

Two weeks, really two weeks in Italy thus far? It's felt like a year.

Well, During the past week we've visited the Fora of Rome, gotten purposefully lost in the city and seen some amazing churches (including the Pantheon) , and relearned how to freehand draw during our first Studio project.

During our History class, which  is great because it's a walking tour of the city, we explored the origins of Rome. We visited the hills of Rome last week and talked about how important some of the legends of the founding of the city are to the people, like the famous one of Romulus and Remus and about Hercules and his labors. This week, we examined the periods of leadership/ government of Rome and how that influenced their Architecture. We visited the ancient Forum Romanum and then The five Imperial Fora, Julius Caesar's, Augustus', Vespasian's, Nerva, and Trajan. Even though most of the actual buildings don't exist anymore it was still staggering and so impressive as to how the Romans built these places and controlled their empire through their architecture.

Next was the Triumphal Arches and the Flavian Amphitheatre. The engineering and detail that went into these structures, merely for the enjoyment and entertainment of the people, is astounding. Walking around the Colosseum was surreal.

Getting lost in order to complete a project sounds counterproductive, however this week's sketching assignment had us doing just that. We were split into groups and given a starting location from which we were to find our way back to Campo without a map and using the same route we used to get to the location. My group had to start at the piazza Republica and that was way up to the north of the city. We worked our way down, passing, photographing, and sketching all the interesting things along our way. We finally made it back to Campo in about 2.5 hrs of wandering the streets, letting our senses guide us.

What to look forward to at the end of our third week? Well our first jury is on Wed. and my groups board looks amazing as do all the other ones being produced. On Fri. we start our tour of Northern Italy which includes Florence, Venice, Verona, Vicenza, Milan, and Como. Should be amazing and I bet I'll get some breath taking photos/ sketches done. 

Arrivederci 

 

  

"Rome is the light" - Gladiator themed

Ciao Ragazzi,

The first week in Rome is over and I think that calls for some reflection. Classes have been exciting and not to stressful yet. I really enjoy living with my friends in the program, we eat together almost every night and its good home made (usually Italian) food.

Walking around the city can get overwhelming but, every second becomes an adventure; I make sure I always have my camera and my sketching implements. You never know when the thought, mood, or location will hit ya. Its a weird feeling when you walk up to or into a building that you've studied. It almost cant be put into words, but its Awe, like this structure is ancient and the centuries that it hasn't changed are staggering. You also start to notice new aspects that you didn't see before or fully grasp the concepts that you did know. The tour of the Seven Hills that we took on Friday was amazing. We only visited 4 of the seven I believe, but it was interesting to walk the city and get a sense of how it was planned. The modern city seems to envelope and assimilate the ancient city.

 Have a full day of work planned for tomorrow; sketching and researching lol. Enjoy this week's pics.

 "Brothers, what we do in life... echoes in eternity."

The Roman Forum

   "Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?"                                                      

                         The Colosseum

"For you are in Elysium....."

Terrazza Vittoriano

 "But the Senate IS the people, sire. Chosen from AMONG the people. To speak FOR the people."

                                                            

                    The Compidoglio

 

Sant' Andrea al Quirinale 

"Ultimately, we're all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how but, what we can decide is how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered, as men."

       Santa Maria Maggiore

     "There was a dream that was Rome."

(All Quotes taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/quotes)

Delving Deeper

A shot of our studio building

San Ivo

The view from the other side of our studio



So we've begun classes. Our studio is in Campo di Fiori which is a great outdoor market by day and a vibrant restaurant scene at night. The work that we've started with isn't too bad, we are analyzing piazzas or squares throughout the city. It's interesting to walk around and observe an area and how it is used. The function of a space seems to change by the hr. here in Rome. Also, mixing in all the other knowledge we have and are continually gaining this semester makes it even more exciting to experience different places. You start to see things differently with every little bit of experience that you gain.

When In Rome....

Ciao,

So the first weekend in Rome, Italy....gosh where to begin. The first flight I had to take, from good old (cold) BUF was delayed for almost 2hrs, then we all met in PHI for our last flight to Italy. (PS sorry Eagle fans but I did pick the Pack to go to the super bowl.) European flights are long and it is advised that you find a way to sleep for most of them, this for me however did not occur. For an 8hr flight I probably slept for 1 1/2hrs. So instead of resting I watched 3 movies. An instant classic Inception, the amusing but not that funny Date Night, and the Social Network which was enlightening, we almost all use Facebook these days lol.

So I land in Rome, grab a shuttle, get to the dorm, unpack, and begin the semester with 20 of my Arch friends and I'm sure many new ones as well. We went on some walking tours, we had orientation of classes, we bought cell phones, enjoyed an Italian dinner together, and enjoyed some time out together. I can honestly say that the next 4 months will be both challenging and inspiring, but most of all life changing. I think I'll learn a ton, not only academic, lingual, or cultural, but deeper meanings and new ways to do things.