Independent study...

I've spent the last 10 days touring the UK and Ireland, places I had never been previously. We received 10 days off from school, "fall break" they call it, to travel around where ever we should choose. Myself and two of my good friends, Whitney and Rebecca, decided to take the trip together. After weeks of planning, booking tickets, airfare, hostels, trains, etc. we were off to Stansted, England!

London was an amazing experience. I felt such relief walking off the air plane and realizing that everything was once again in ENGLISH! I have not experienced this for 2 months now, so it was quite a relief to see this. We stayed at Becca's uncle's house in St. Alban's just a 20 minute train ride outside of London. Each day we would take the train into town and stay for the day and just return again to the quiet, quaint town each evening. The first day in London we decided to be a bit adventurous and walk the Millennium Mile. We began at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and headed toward the London Eye. It was a bit of a dreary, foggy day in London, imagine that, so we decided not to go up the London Eye. We continued along the water front passing various museums, exhibits, store fronts, restaurants, and the occasional group of teen agers skate boarding and goofing around in graffiti covered skate parks. The next stop we made was the Tate Modern Museum... which was very interesting considering it used to be an old power plant before it was a museum. It had a very industrial aura about it as you can imagine, which set the mood perfectly for modern art exhibits. We spent a few hours in there before heading over Millennium Bridge toward St. Paul's Cathedral. So we sketching around the cathedral, drawing Daniel Libeskind's London welcome center across from the Cathedral. 

After our busy and eventful day of sight seeing, we decided to call it a night and have a bite to eat at a pub with two of our friends that were also in London for the trip, Adrian and Max. Found my new favorite type of drink- introduced to me by Becca's uncle John.... Magner's Pear cider... Irish drink! So good. 

The following day consisted of Serpentine Gallery at Hyde Park. A gorgeous and stunning afternoon in the park where a race was taking place. Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather. The pavilion was interesting- designed by Architect Jean Nouvel for the 2010 competition. 

Next we went to the Natural History Museum, the British Museum, and then Harrod's. What's a trip to London without a trip to Harrod's? I'm not sure, but I had never been so I had to see what it was like! Then off the a outdoor Market, which was more down my poor student budget than Harrod's! After this it was back on the underground to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace before the sun set. 

British Museum--Serpentine Gallery, Jean Nouvel

Houses of Parliament/Big Beg

Our last day in London was spent in the Tower of London and London Bridge which we spent a long time touring. It was fascinating because I didn't really know what to expect. The bridge was spectacular.. the industrial contrast of the blue and red steel beams next to the older castle-like tower. One of my favorite things in London. Of course we didn't get to see everything our hearts desired, but that is just all the more reason to go back again another day! We finished off with an early night in St. Alban's pub.. ham, egg, and chips with a pint of Heineken. Then off to the airport the next morning to head to Ireland! 

The Avid Traveller...

So you may be wondering where I have been for almost two weeks? Well we spent 8 days traveling as a studio around Europe. We began our journey EARLY Saturday morning (6 am) heading to the train station. We were dragging from a birthday party out the night before... thankfully we would have a 4 hour train ride ahead of us to Milan and then on to Basel, Switzerland.













Switzerland was beautiful... we spent 3 nights in Basel touring the town itself and then the nearby towns, Lucern and Zurich. In Weil am Rhem (on the border of Switzerland and Germany) we visited the Vitra Design Campus. Vitra is a furniture design manufacturer that got it's start in the 1950's. It was a fascinating museum and really neat to see pieces designed by Frank Gehry, Charles and Ray Eames, and other inspiring designers. Vitra works with different designers and architects to create their numerous collections. Here are a few of my favorite pieces...

So fun to climb on!

The blue chair is our Herman Miller chairs... Recognize it Grandma?? I was so excited when I saw this... kind of confused to see our chairs in the museum, but it was exciting! We spent an entire day at the campus, looking around the museums, taking tours of the different buildings on their campus designed by Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Tado Ando, and Herzog & De Meuron. In Switzerland we also saw Cathedrals, some modern architecture consisting of hospitals, pharmacy buildings, and churhces. In France we went to Le Corbusier's Ronchamp. And on our way to Verona, we stopped in Lucern, Switzerland to see Calatrava's addition to the train station and the KKL museum. 

Lucerne, Switzerland

Ronchamp, France

(Le Corbusier)

Then our next stop would be Verona, Italy where we took a guided bus tour of the countryside villas by Architect Palladio. Our tour guide was Wilma ("pronounced "Vilma" because in Italian, we do not have the letter W"). She was an interesting character, but full of interesting facts none the less. We saw about 3 villas by Palladio. After this we visited Castelvecchio and another museum that Carlos Scarpa designed additions for. 

Left: Villa Rotonda

Right: Castelvecchio

We also visited Teatro Olimpico, Brion Cemetery, other Palladian Villas.

Left: Teatro
Olimpico

Right: Brion
Cemetery

Projects, Reviews, and Trips... Oh my!

It's been a busy past week here in Genova. Our final project Review for project 1 was on Wednesday so there were some late nights/ all nighters leading up to the review. But, I'll never get tired of that amazing feeling you get after a review goes really really well. It doesn't seem to matter how EXHAUSTED you are before/during the review, the moment you're done presenting and being critiqued, a new wave of ENERGY comes over you! It's like your eyes immediately open again, the dark circles that have become tattooed under your eyes and your shower-less hair all return to normal again. Ok... that may be a little dramatic, but it was a GOOD feeling on Wednesday night around 6:00.

Here are a few pictures from our project. It was a redesign of the Palazzo near the Genoa Harbor.

Left: A redesign for the ticketing office for the aquarium. Would turn into a seating for movie.

Below: New stores, seating, canopies above tunnel.






So to celebrate and get out a bit (it had been a few days) a few girls and I decided to go out for some apperitivo's. Those are a great thing here in Italy- you order a drink and they bring appetizers "for free" with the drink. We ordered drinks, ate some good Italian food, and laughed until our throats were responding painfully from all the laughing! We headed home and called it a night. Not much has gone on since then, which I consider a nice break!

We had sketching class yesterday, then a few of us went out for a shopping break after that and before dinner. Then last night we watched a movie together (a few of us from studio) on a projector in the classroom since there is no tv here at the villa! We watched Catch Me If You Can. It's actually a really nice atmosphere here in Genova- since you live with all of your studio friends, you become really close in a small amount of time. So we watched a movie, shared a bottle of wine, and bread with nutella... does it get much better?

This morning was Italian Rationalism class- pretty interesting again, but going to bed around 2:30 last night was not the brightest idea before this class! Oh well... I made it through! And even better... today is Vanessa's Birthday!! So tonight we are going to dinner and dancing out in Genova somewhere- we received a few tips on good places by our travel guide Giuditta! And then it's an early morning at 6 am as we leave the villa to head to the Genova Principe train station.... we're headed to Basel Switzerland, then Germany to visit the Vitra Campus, and back to Luzern, Switzerland then Verona and Vicenza, Italy on the way home. We will be gone from Saturday morning until we arrive back in Genoa around 8 pm on Sunday night. I'm highly looking forward to this trip! Isn't God amazing... I still can't believe I'm here!

Well I need to begin my packing for the trip tomorrow because we have a busy night tonight! I love and miss you all!
Ciao!

When in Italy... Do Italy

Yesterday was quite a busy day! Why you ask? Well architecture of course! We began our morning with Contemporary European Architecture class with Professor Alessandro. It's a 3 hour class every Thursday morning about exactly the title, contemporary european architecture. It is such a fascinating class because it expresses how architectural Greats before us and around us have managed to meld the contemporary love of architecture in the ancient historical context of Europe. During that class we received our semester project that will be due at the end of the semester... To write a book! We design it, we write it, we decided exactly what it's about (i mean architecture- but what about arch) and publish it by the end of the semester.

Then after class, we ate lunch and headed on to studio where the real fun begins! Except yesterday it was a little on the not so fun side.. Thank you Professor Lucca. After Vanessa (my project partner) and I received some unwanted words from Lucca, we found nothing better to do than to just laugh and begin again. So we continued laboring until around 1 am where I would find my pillow for the first time in a while. 

Today we began our day with Italian Rationalism, a class taught by a very slow, monotone speaking Italian man. He's brilliant and content in class is actually quite interesting, but a faster, more enthusiastic voice could go a long way for the class. Today we learned about the Fascist movement in the 1920's and the role it played with architecture. You wouldn't believe the amount of sketched that you can create in a 3 hour class with this man... about 4 pages worth! Thank you Professor for the interesting sketches!

Finally, it was lunch time. Lasange and Faccaccia bread, yum! Then my friend Vanessa, Whitney and I decided we deserved a little Italian shopping therapy for our long nights and hard work. Besides, we're in ITALY for goodness sakes! So.. to Venti Settembre we went. This is the main strip of prime shopping territory in Genova. Being in Italy today has cured my disease of not buying things even when I really want them. Today I purchashed: a pair of wonderful brown flats, a giant mustard color scarf (brings out my eyes according to Whitney) and a light pink knit sweater. I've always know my style came from European influence... I LOVE shopping here. 

Tomorrow we head off to hike the Cinque Terre. 10 of us are leaving the Villa at 6:30 am to catch a 7:20 train because the motto here in Italy is to "walk" everywhere! We'll arrive at the starting point around 9 am and hike all day until around 5 pm probably where we will finish our day off with a little swimming at the beach! Then of course it's back to studio, which is what I should be doing right now so.... ciao!

Churches, Boats, Pigeons, and Italians

Every Tuesday, our tour guide Giuditta takes on a full day studio trip somewhere. We take our sketchbooks, cameras and lunches and head out for a day of learning, site seeing, and history. Yesterday was our first Field Study Day and we spent it learning about Genoa because our first project consists of designing for the Port of Genoa so it made sense to learn more about the history of how it got the way it is and plans for the future. 

Left: A very old church in Genoa

Right: Italian architecture that played with idea of Persepective and how it is perceived

We visited numerous Piazzas and the churches they faced. For lunch, we ate our proschiutto and pesto sandwiches around the fountain of Piazza Ferrai... a beautiful fountain filled with Italians at lunchtime taking their break to eat and catch up with friends. 

Fountain (Palazza di Ferrai)

After lunch, we took a good long tour around the harbor. Considering this is the focal point of our project for the next week, we've been to this point a few times around.  The funny thing is... our tour guide, Giuditta was pooped on by a pigeon a few minutes into one of her speeches standing under the main bridge! Talk about hilarious! And trying not to laugh while people helped her was not an easy thing to do! Anyways... we took a boat tour around the harbor to see the industrial and commercial use of the harbor. 

Santa Margherita- Che bella giornata!

Look over Genova- toward Porto Antico

I still wake up every morning and have to double check my surroundings. Can it be true? Those gorgeous, colorful buildings panting the most beautiful scene are really outside MY window? In Genova, Italia!? But the Lord will pinch me and say "Yes, Aren't I an amazing Creator?" Yes Lord and THANK YOU!

So today began with a meeting with Barbara, la mia professora di Italiano in Genova. She has decided to help me pursue my minor in Italian so she is going to start me on an Independent Study with her this semester. My first assignment: Le Citta Ivisibili. It has to do with architecture so she figured it couldn't be more perfect! The author was a good friend of Renzo Piano! Ok sounds good to me! 

After Italian class, around 1:00, 10 of us left for la spiaggia (the beach)! L'autobus #33, a 40 minute ride on il treno and we arrive at Santa Margherita! It's beautiful! Much different than beaches I am used to seeing... for many different reasons. Some good and some I could do without! Good reasons: pebbles instead of sand, GORGEOUS buildings all around, the most beautiful water (well father out), fragula GELATO. However, I could have done without the most ridiculous tans, the most minimal of bathing suits, naked children, and somewhat sleezy looking men! However, I wouldn't change a thing! We laid out, I fell asleep... I drank a Coca-cola con un gelato! You don't miss silly things like soda until you move to another country. 

Now I sit in studio, wide-arched doors open, the sound of buses and wind surround, the looks of students beginning to focus into studio work have commenced and I smile thinking I really am here! 

Santa Margherita

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A few of the Group:
From Left: Heather, Vanessa, Laren, Henry, Max, Whitney, and Becca

Train Station of Genova

Arrivato a Genoa!

So 2nd time around must be a charm.. especially when the Lord has favor on your trip! My flight to Philly was a breeze, just a few screaming children and 2 hours later, I was there. Thank you Lord for no delays and one less thing for my stress levels to think about.

I was able to catch up via skype with mom, dad, Nicole, and Andy during my 3 hour lay over... thank goodness for Internet and it's awesomeness!

Next step in my journey would involve testing my 4 semesters of Italian to it's limits... I was one of 5 or 6 Americans flying to Rome out of about 280 people... therefore I would need to pull my Italian off the shelf, dust it off and give it a whirl. It began with a man, short, dark greasy hair, D&G glasses, Prada bag, and a wicked tan left over from vacationing in Los Angeles. He would soon strike up a conversation with me and although his English was much better than my Italian, he kindly allowed me to practice my Italian on him. I learned how Italians crave to get their hands on Abercrombie & Fitch... this is their "must-have American wear"! What!? You come from the country where beautiful leather and countless fabulous designers have changed fashion as we know it and you come to America for A&F!??? Ok... I'm confused! Anyways, we soon parted ways and my trip to Rome was about to begin! 2 Italian women, 3 movies, 2 meals and 10 hours later... we landed in Roma!!

C'est bellissimo! The ground was covered in green vineyards as the plane made it's descent. I couldn't believe I was landing in Italia... home of my heritage, place of my dreams, and my home for the next four months! After God's favor in placing the right people at the right time in my way... I made it through security, customs, passport check, and to my next gate all in ITALIA!

But of course, it wouldn't be right to get to Genova, my final destination, without a small delay! So.. 35 minutes later than planned, we boarded a bus to take us to the airplane. Guess who sits next to me on this flight... a FIFA agent from Spain! Just there on business... scouting out players at the game taking place in Genova this very evening!

My taxi cab driver was a trip... he spoke a tiny bit of English! But that was fine with me because I had more practice ahead of me... We talked about why I was visiting, about architecture of Genoa, about driving and the reason he drove slow was the price of gas now (huh?). He was full of things to talk about, but 30 minutes later... I see the piaggio (villa)!!! I'm here!!!!!! Thank you Lord!

Upon being here... the villa is amazing.... I made it just in time to eat lunch, run to Italian class, and hop in a cab to go back to the aeroporto for Whitney's lost bags that were finally waiting for her! Genova is beautiful... quaint. People drive like CRAZY and the roads are only made to fit one "MINI CAR" each way... scary! But I'm learning my way around, practicing my Italiano and getting to know Genova! I will update soon with pictures, sorry mom and dad... I haven't caught a break to take any! :) But, I hope this helps for now! Love and miss everyone...