After the end of semester sprint and scores of travel delays, the Rome studio is in full gear.  I am partaking in the Yale Architecture Rome Studio - “Continuity and Change” (http://www.architecture.yale.edu/drupal/courses/spring/study_areas/design_visualization/1291c) - where for four glorious weeks we get to explore and sketch - everything from the major architectural sites to urban organization.  This is my first time in Rome (saving it for an opportunity to fully dive in) and the furthest East I have ever been.  Postings may be a bit sporadic as the schedule is a continuous barrage of amazing sketching locales, but I will be sure to upload a few pictures to my flickr site every day or two (with comments of the place since I will need this for reference myself) and share some good stories along the way!

After a day of getting settled and tying up the loose ends that trailed behind the plane, we started on Thursday with an orientation lecture and relaxed on the terrace of the American Academy where our instructors Alec Purves and Stephen Harby have studios for the summer.  After making dinner at home and gelato and a walk around town I called it an early night prepping for the grand tour.

On Friday we walked from wall to wall across the city, catching countless sights along the way - truly surreal.   We started in the Piazza del Popolo amid the ruckus of the 158th Police anniversary celebration.  After visiting Santa Maria del Popolo and admiring the doubled entrance we cut down the right diagonal to a few sites, ultimately past the Palazzo Borghese and stopped for tea and biscuits at Mrs. Boddington’s to the left of the Spanish Steps.  After a stop at the Palazzo Barberini we caught lunch at the resaurante Borromini, passed by Santa Maria Maggiore, stopped in a couple more churches and bapistry and headed up to the top of the monument to Victor Emmanuel overlooking the Roman forum, Campidoglio and all of Rome.   It seems like everything that I have studied in my eight years of architectural training is packed in here and it is all overwhelming.  The day ended sitting in a Early Christian basilica listening to an accapella concert with the original chandeliers lit up.

Today was a bit rainy and cold, but filled nonetheless.  We started at the Pantheon before the tourist flocks arrived and as the morning rain poured in the oculus we sat in the pews and sketched.  I couldn’t think of a better way to spend two hours.  After trekking back across town with soaked shoes that never really dried from the day before, I made  a pit stop at home and headed up the hill to sketch the Tempietto.   The afternoon was a great watercolor workshop in Stephen’s studio at the American Academy.   After picking up a few art supplies we stopped for aperitivo (happy hour) at a couple places in Trastevere and I called it an early night to cook pasta and set up my first post!

Feel free to say hi, comment, question, ammend, and I look forward to sharing this amazing voyage!

 

Mapping of travel and top 20 pictures

[combined mat of cohabitation models]

In an elevated cube of space opening only to above and below two users cohabit, negotiating sectionally and addressing the main structure in opposite ways. The overall duality is a lightening of structure as the elevation increases from 12” concrete to 1 ½” honeycomb plastic sheeting, while the steel structure grows from four points in a single line at the foundation to the full width of the cube at the top. Both users ascend toward the North to the first level and pass along the Northern edge, entering their apartments at the far corner. This triangular space is determined by the maximum sun angle setting the 72 degree structure to provide only indirect light to the high-contrast light sensitive user with the lower apartment.

The 69 year old widower/bibliophile engages the structure in his apartment, hanging the floor panels as well as the shelving which lines and shapes the space to the comfortable human reach, even containing his bed. The 49 year old divorced yoga instructor climbs further toward the south and sunlight up to her main space stacked above in the center, wrapping and concealing the structure. On the south edge both uses mix sectionally, bathrooms notching in the center and utilizing opposite spaces of respite with a terrace opening up and cave-like study below.

 

]]> http://www.jdugo.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=60 http://www.jdugo.com/blog/?p=34 http://www.jdugo.com/blog/?p=34#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:34:05 +0000 Jacob http://www.jdugo.com/blog/?p=34 Just posted pictures from adventures over last semester, rare breaks outside the studio from Philadelphia to Boston and holidays back home in Michigan:

http://www.jdugo.com/albums/08_Yale-Fall/

[studio desk before and after]

There was a bit of a bump in the road since my initial blogging plans in June (also known as intense traveling plans and first semester of graduate architecture school), but nothing makeup posts won’t heal. Taking a few steps back before moving forward, I will be posting my projects from this past semester as well as a series of posts covering my summer travel, and summarizing my urban study in Barcelona. I look forward to posting on the progress of the building project this coming semester as well as interesting finds/revelations as they come.

As an overhaul, I added links to my favorite blogs that I currently follow as well as a link to my delicious account where I tag my favorite architecture, urbanism, yale, etc posts that I come across.

For a taste of this past semester in images check out the flickr posts (thanks Raf):

Eisenman Sing Along
Project 2 Final Review

At the speed of movement across the site, the overlapping grids create various moiré’s that are intensified according to these speeds.  The faster path to the south is compounded with a high angular difference between components, and a slow path to the North has a low angular difference calming the moiré effect.  At the scale of the element, a catalog of variations defines the extremes of the programmatic skin in section and elevation which are blended together across the site.  The system is not limited to this corner of Socrates Park, but is adaptable to event spaces within the park, areas for relaxation, new offices and artist spaces along the South edge of the park, and bicycle sharing that proliferate across the community.

[Images to be posted soon]

As a brief introduction to how this all came about, I was applying for a Fulbright grant to Spain two years ago and found a few professors who were willing to be affiliates for this proposal. The abstract was:

Contemporary Spanish Architecture: Synergy of Culture, Time, and Context

I propose to analyze contemporary Spanish architecture through culture, time, and context. Exploring links between design, culture, and the everyday to find architecture of process. Investigating past and present influences that connect time to the process of construction. Deciphering links between architecture, urbanism, and the land that lead to a construction of context. Through this process, these layers will develop into a portfolio of details, materials, methods, flows, and an experiential understanding. These interconnected categories are ultimately a way of researching how architecture can play a positive role in society, as a part of everyday life, interaction, and urban experience.

The proposal didn’t work out, but one connection lived on and I have to greatly thank Pedro Azara for his support and connection to AV62 Arquitectos (http://www.av62arquitectos.com) which I will be helping out for the next few weeks amid traveling and exploring the wonderful city of Barcelona.

So the format will hopefully head this direction: I will be posting in basically two categories. The first will be a summary of my weekend travel, giving context to the pictures and a tagged map with locations visited. The second will be a summary of my explorations and investigation during the week, Fulbright proposal style. I hope to test out my proposal, in a more relaxed form, but will hopefully have pictures, sketches, and a map to go along. My girlfriend Zoe will also be contributing to the blog postings as well, in a commentary from the Philadelphia side of the ocean!

Any and all comments are appreciated, please let me know your thoughts and to add to the conversation!