The Patrons + The Architects: The Chigi Family’s Road to the Chapel

Agosotino Chigi, Italian banker, patron of the arts, scholarship, and literature bought the chapel in 1507. He was known as “Il Magnifico.”

Inspired by the Basilica of St. Peter and the Pantheon, Raphael composes a dome fitted with an oculus containing God himself in the act of creation. The blue skies throughout the mosaics alluding to the skies above. And a row of windows under the golden ring bringing light into the interior.

The Dome of St. Peter’s (above) and the oculus of the Pantheon (right).

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Raphael, dies at 37 days before his patron. A painter and architect, Chigi was his only reiligious building.

It all started in 1507 when Pope Julius II, who named himself after Julius Caesar, granted permission to Agostino Chigi, a close friend, to buy the second chapel to the left of the nave in the Basilica of S. Maria del Popolo. Chigi then commissioned the famous Raphael, who had created his Villa Farnesina, to design the architect’s first religious building. Within fifteen years Raphael’s octagon floor plan of 1512 revealed the basis of the chapel that would then not open to the public permanently until 1661. Designed as a chapel devoted to the Virgin of Loreto and a mausoleum for the Chigi family, it is intertwined with both Christian and pagan symbolism. Its obvert iconography a novel for a Catholic Church, but true to its original patron.

Fabio Chigi, great-grandson of Sigismondo Chigi (Agosotino’s younger brother) was Bernini’s patron. He later becomes Pope Alexander VII.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, known for his life-like sculptures, was also a revered architect who would take on Chigi Chapel nearly 100 years after it was commenced by Raphael.

Rome,

Question of the Day:

Following on the precedent of Pliny the Younger, consider how you might both preserve and share your own experience of Pompeii. Write a one-page letter to someone at home (i.e. a relative, partner, or friend) about a space or artifact in Pompeii that you don’t want to forget. Describe the setting in enough detail for them to reconstruct its most important features in their imagination. Also explain why this space or artifact was preserved, when so much else from the Classical world was lost. Finally, explain how this thing made you feel; what was your aesthetic experience?

My dearest Cole,

Yesterday (on Memorial Day) we went as a group to visit the city of Pompeii. Do you know much about it or its history? must admit arrived feeling very naïve and unprepared for what was about to see. In Danielle’s class two year ago I know we must have covered it, but my memory was vague.

Cole, remember the aftermath of the volcanic avalanche we saw in Colombia when we were kids. And the line left on the trees where he lava had passed was above our heads and barely above papi’s?

Imagine that about ten times more dramatic- where the line of the lava was high above the coffee factory we were touring. My Cole, an entire city was wiped out and ironically enough, preserved better than just about anything on this earth. Our professor said something interesting on the bus yesterday on our way to the site. He said something along the lines that we influence buildings and they in turn influence us. The more study architecture, am not sure if my interest is the individual building as it is the systems of the buildings. Some of the individual temples and villas at the location really helped your imagination fill in the blanks of not only what it would have looked like, but how people would have moved through the streets, ate their food, taken care of their needs. And I even dare sa the emotions they would have experienced.

Cole, mother nature is an amazing entity. Her strength and potency is nothing to play with . Toward the end of our tour we hurriedly rushed by these glass cases- this is after we walked into a room and encircled one glass case of what looked like a somewhat unrefined statue of a female figure lying on her belly with her right forearm covering her forehead. The position of her lower legs, with her knees off the ground, but her feet slightly hovering over the earth that she was not resting. That she had fallen or been attacked because her dress was pulled up to the middle of her back and she was naked for the exception of a bet around her waist.

My Cole, we learned that the lava not only wiped the built environment down but wiped out approximately 2000 people. But when saw wiped out- that included not just knocking them over but creating a charcoal cast around them. Therefore, archaeologist since 1748 AD have been able to fill those charcoal casts with some sort of plaster or gesso to capture the final moments of these lives. At the point we were rushing past some of the others what I am calling “live molds,” I froze.

There appeared to be a little boy, knocked down, limp but attempting to get into a protective stance. Why his body took me immediately to Uvalde, Texas. Is that what those 19 little bodies looked like when they were gunned down? Would they be in motion to protect themselves against something more forceful, violent, and powerful than themselves? I didn’t dare take a photograph as my mind and heart kept playing catch up between the little boy in front of me the victims of the school shooting. We often do not get to see someone’s agony. We clean things up so quickly and proceed to move on. Film and art probably do the best job of evoking those sensibilities within ourselves or toward others. But alas they are often very personal and intimae moments. I wonder if those tiny figures encapsulated in prayer, in protection, in helplessness would give comfort to the Uvalde parents or community over time. A reminder of the fragility of their child and of life? Would seeing the physical resistance to death move or motivate some policy makers to promote “free law-abiding citizens” to take measures to protect the most vulnerable amongst us? Those figures evoked a continuum of memory and emotion. They upped the value of life, the awareness of its fragility, and the sense of responsibility to care for one another. Therefore, maybe it was a very apropos paseo for Memorial Day. To remember those that have fallen and reflect on how those who are left standing want to live.

Question of the Day:

Today you used parts of your body (hands, fingers, arms, feet, etc.) as comparative measures against which to document different artifacts. Choose one to revisit for your question of the day. Create a drawing, photograph or written account of the artifact that captures the experience of measuring in this way as well as the result. Then reflect in writing for a few paragraphs on the following questions: Did this way of measuring reveal something about the artifact or, on the other hand, something about you? Did the artifact “fit” with your body or not? How so? What does this way of measuring help you understand about the aesthetic effect of the artifact? Furthermore, what does it suggest about the significance of human scale and other scales in use during the time of Classical Rome?

Using our bodies to measure objects in some ways personalizes them. A connection is formed between one’s muscle memory and the object. Drawing is often an intimate experience because our hand and eye are constantly calibrating length, perspective, and proportion looking intensely at the object for an extended period of time. The item I chose to measure was a piece of a cornice located at the forum. Hayri was kind enough to act as my model. The rhythm of the dentals on the edge of the cornice to my surprise fit precisely in the palm and length of his hand. Two of his fingers fit snuggly in the alternative space between the dentals. In some church traditions there is an act of placing hands on someone to pray over them. Seeing Hayri’s hand on an object that is typically out of reach changed my perspective of the purpose or meaning of the cornice. Not only is it a thickening element to a roof line, but like in church they could represent hands praying over us and protecting us in our places of shelter. Classical Rome was latent with symbolism and intentionality as seen in all the imagery around the built environment. Its consciousness of human scale perhaps set the precedent of would be the cradle of the Renaissance that put the human at the center of all things.

May 2022

Question of the Day:

What should count as data about Classical Rome? Today, you are to make a data collection that consists of all the variations of columns at the sites we visit. Develop your own way of documenting these columns. Your approach can be highly structured or not. It can rely on numbers, geometry, textures, photographs, or words. It can include whatever information or context you think is appropriate. Consider how these data might express some interest of your own. In your written response to the question, present your data collection as you see fit and write a short explanation of your motivating interest, process, and the resulting collection. Also reflect on any tensions that came up and what your collection leaves out about columns and their context.

Trajan’s Market Today /Trajan’s Market Original

0 20-front entrance

0 16- main square entrance

3 32- porticos

1 16- exedera

0 8- basilica entrance

20 130- basilica

0 32- library

0 20- entrance to temple

1 1-Column of Trajan

I chose to do a comparison of what was and what still stands in Trajan’s Market. Opened in 110 AD, nearly 2000 years later, it is remarkable that there are any remains left of this site in such a busy cosmopolitan city. From site plans located on the internet, I did a column count of the how many columns were in the various spaces surrounding the market. Then through photographs and google earth, counted how many still stand. For the exception of Trajan’s Column, none stand in their full form. Items within the site also seemed to have been moved, thus affecting the count. This analysis does not examine the difference between the columns, for example if they are structural versus decorative, size or dimensions of each. They are simply indicative of location.

Italy

Rome, Italy

June 2022 1

Question of the Day:

How is “nature” framed by Classical and Renaissance villas?

Use drawing, photography, or descriptive writing or some combination (i.e. comics) to capture three or more sequential views that present nature in the context of each villa. “Nature” is—to put it crudely—the non-human. Nature is presented in the way a view to the mountains is set up by a doorway; in the way the sun is made to light a space; in an anthropomorphized artistic or spiritual representation; or in a creative manipulation of the elements, such as a fountain. At the end of the day, represent these sequences in your journal using the media of your choice. Compare how nature is presented in each villa, as well as the implied function of the villas as interfaces to nature. Then reflect on what is concealed in these views about the relationship between art, architecture, and nature.

Hadrian’s Villa- Within this villa, I was most intrigued by the Maritime Theatre. The concept of this curious emperor who sought out feedback from scholars and dignitaries to rule his empire, and yet built a structure to retreat to within his villa enclosed by water was fascinating. Hadrian’s villa had large bodies of water sparsely distributed amongst the site. But central to the site plan was this exclusively place of refuge protected by nature to offer respite to its leader. It is said that still waters run deep. Hadrian’s Villa was full of still water, perhaps reflective of how this illustrious emperor became known as on of the best Rome had seen.

Villa d’Este- Within this estate, water was inescapable. Its vision, sound, feel was all around you and occupied your senses from every angle. The patrons of this estate were playful by nature and the gardens reflected as such. At Villa d’Este water danced and was accessible to the touch as well as grandiose in its presentation. The topography of the location facilitated the fountain-like nature of the space. Water could rise and fall with apparent ease in several directions and offer both large and small tantalizing experiences in its nooks and crannies.

June 2022

Question of the Day:

You can use separate sheets of scratch paper (or personal notebooks) to take notes. Then draw your final map on one large format sheet of paper (provided). Use as much of the paper as possible. Start at the center of the city, the intersection of the cardo and decumanus. Then work your way out. Note: Consider how your map might be later superimposed on those of other groups. Measurements can be approximated (work in meters). Complete your maps as best you can in the given time and devise a meaningful way of folding them (smaller than 8”x8”) so as to best show the different parts of your city image. Then reflect on the appropriateness of your given conceptual element for describing the city. What does it reveal? What does it obscure? Did you notice any important features of the city that would not fit well into this five-dimensional classification system?

In examining the conceptual element of “districts” in Ostia Antica, our map did a fine job of orienting you and helping you locate the program or place that you were seeking. However, it did not necessarily address the materiality of the site and the implications different materials would have on the distinct districts and/or how they related to one another or contributed to the function of the district space. Closed in the 9th century, the nature of the map did not give any sense of why the city shut down and moved locations and still was so well preserved. One category that is not included in this five-dimensional classification rubric provided by Kevin Lynch is a social mapping of both user experience then and now. The week following this trip, I met a young man from this area of Italy who spoke of how much appreciation he had for Ostia Antica as a social space. He and his friends would take food and play soccer around the site often. Social perception seems like a significant part of an “image of a city.”

Italy

June 2022

Question of the Day:

Johanna Drucker argues that humanists need more interpretive and relational forms of representation in order to depict human experiences of “temporality,” as opposed to abstract, linear, and disembodied notions of “time.” Respond to Drucker’s challenge by making your own interpretive plan or section drawing of a building that illustrates its chronology as you experienced it. You can choose any one of the temporally nuanced buildings we visited today: S.Clemente, S.Sabina, S.Maria in Trastevere. Then reflect on what this building offers in terms of a materially-grounded experience of Rome’s chronology. What did you learn from it that you couldn’t get from an abstract timeline of the city?

San Clemente evolved over the first, fourth, and twelfth century. Layers rise from underground to the top of the basilica to expose the various centuries of history and materiality contained within the structure. The church offered a few port holes that allowed vantages of the materiality of all three time periods to be seen. The stone and the affect of time superimposed on them distinguish them from one another. Also, the artwork throughout the floors reveals through their aesthetic styles and genres an evolution of the city both spiritually and artistically. Those spots within the building that align across time periods almost seem like metaphysical portholes that allow you to exist in three different times at once. So perhaps Johanna Drucker’s statement could be given a twist with quantum physics, to consider that time is not temporary, but rather existing simultaneously at once.

Question of the Day:

Perspective drawing—particularly when combined with printmaking—is a powerful simulation technology. William Ivans argues that it can make any reality, even the unreal, seem believable and universal. However, all perspectives present reality from one standpoint. Construct a one-point perspective drawing at one of the sites we visit today: Bramante’s Cloister, the Tempietto, Piazza del Popolo, or one of the two churches. How does your perspective illustrate an intended (or unintended) standpoint? Reflect on the significance of this standpoint in prior eras and today.

Rome,

Question of the Day:

Rafael Moneo defines “type” as “a concept which describes a group of objects characterized by the same formal structure.” Theories of type can help us compare groups of buildings that we visit, even if they are designed by different architects, for varying functions, and constructed across disparate time periods. But type is not a template or model for design. Rather, it might be characterized as the basis for formal innovations applied in different places. In Moneo’s words, type is a “frame within which change operates.” Today, we will look at how the concept of type can help us analyze and compare Renaissance facades. For at least two (2) facades that we see today, make a drawing or written description that identifies shared formal structures and how they are adapted to each context. Reflect on the benefits and limitations of type as a means of understanding the relationship between architecture and place.

Perspective drawing causes you to become an editor and an archivist simultaneously. The literal place where you choose to stand, determines what is in the frame and what is excluded from view. In the Cloister of Bramante, the corner where I stood did not give a full grasp of the courtyard and art installation on the ground floor during our visit. However, the ability to use drawing in a while to capture big picture and small details is a powerful tool. During our studies, it was perhaps best illuminated for me by the perspectives and prints of Piranesi. While going on site to study the Library at the Baths of Trajan, the ruins left limited information of what the corner of the large complex looked like. The roof structure was gone. However, in reviewing Piranesi 1756 Views of Rome, an inclusion of the library can be seen in his perspective of the baths at that time. His drawings reveal more of the roof structure than what exists now and can help piece more details together. This documented chronology is invaluable for understanding the past and informing lesson to the future.

Both the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne by Baldassare Peruzzi and the Palazzo Farnese by Michelangelo can by described as symmetrical. A characteristic typical and in line with the philosophy of the Renaissance. Since those in the Renaissance were humanist, the features of the human body being in symmetry was inspiration for much of the architectural design. The use of circles and squares also characterize the work of Renaissance artist since there was so much value placed on mathematics and geometry. Though the two palazzi sit on very different plots of land, the architects both assured the windows followed a rhythmic sequence with a clear opening. Each row of windows in both structures align on top of one another but hold a different artistic style distinguishing them from the floors below. The planar façade has very little dimensionality aside from at least one course string that establishes the ground level. The buildings also offer some insight between the relationship of the palazzo owner and the wider community. On both front elevations, the patrons choose to convert some of their privately owned facades into public spaces, offering general citizens places to rest in a little bit of shade, due to the overhanging cornice, at the foot of their front door. A trait we do not see now on the properties of the wealthy.

Italy

Rome, Italy

June 2022 8

Question of the Day:

How can we recognize creativity in art and architecture? How have manifestations of creativity shaped—and been shaped by—the cultural and material conditions in Rome? Create a series of detail drawings or detailed written descriptions in which you explore formal variations (i.e. iterations, permutations, or asymmetries) within a single work of art or architecture, or within the career of a single creative person. Use these examples to reflect on what creativity looks like.

Creativity has been shaped by cultural and material condition in Rome because the city during the 15th century was the center of the art world, largely due to the rich purse that funded its endeavors. The Catholic church used artwork as a form of propaganda to promote their dogma. True creativity has an authenticity about it. Let’s take the life of Caravaggio. The master painter that manipulated light and shadow to bring 2D canvases to life in an unnerving realism. His upbringing and life circumstance commenced with a great deal of death and was nurtured within the gritter sides of his namesake town. His talent and drive to create was inspired and driven by the imagery he saw daily, the turmoil he placed himself, and the economic prosperity he experienced come from his works. Despite his mood or positioning, he was creatively prolific. And his creative talent, furthered by his work ethic, was sought out, despite his delinquent behavior. In the Contarelli Chapel, the three paintings depicting the life of St Matthew humanize the saint. Rumor has it that with The Death of the Virgin, he did not win his commission in 1606, due to choosing to depict the Virgin Mary with the corpse of a well-known prostitute. But life, arrests, and the will to be redeemed motivated him in 1610 to use his own self portrait as the tortured antagonist in his version of David with the Head of Goliath.

June 2022

Question of the Day:

What is a ritual? One way of thinking about ritual is as “a pattern of behavior that links people in fellowship or commonality.”

(Carey) Rituals are social behaviors. When we are engaged in a ritual, its choreographed activity affirms our own sense of belonging. This might include participating in a religious service, photographing ourselves at a cultural heritage site, walking in our own graduation ceremony, or simply standing in a queue. Observing ritual in action is an important part of understanding the use and meaning of a place, beyond its instrumental function for individuals. For thousands of years, people have visited the site of St.Peter’s Piazza and Basilica to enact rituals that connect them to the site and its history. Your media activity for today is to document people on their way to St. Peter’s Basilica or in the Basilica itself. Identify at least two rituals involving different kinds of connection (i.e. spiritual, civic, touristic, familial, or professional) with a focus on their spatial patterns. Document these rituals through drawings, writing, or a combination of the two. Then reflect on the relationship between ritual and place. How does ritual shape the city of Rome?

Ritual shapes the city of Rome in part by how Rome is laid out and the amenities it offers. A Roman city if known for its order and grid like structure. Guidelines set boundaries for major landmarks and nodes within a city. The Cardo Decumanus centered each city, so it was no surprise to witness the individuals waiting to enter St. Peter’s to use the radial guidelines painted within the square to line up. The swarms that arrived on site needed little instruction on where to go. The grid lines spoke for themselves, and the people followed obediently. From ancient times, the emperors of Rome set up the city to be the receiver of water. The citizens health and well being centered around that resource being available to all through the public baths and later fountains established along the city’s streets. On the way to the Vatican, people can be seen filling up water bottles, placing fingers on spouts to redirect water streams to their mouth, or positioning market booths near said fountains to establish a sink at their place of business. The relationship to water and the ritual of approaching the water fountains comes from both necessity and play. Whereas the rule following of being in line follows the urban plan nature of the former empire, the fountain play reflects the spirit of those that live within the culture.

The dimensions of the new sacristy are like that of the “old” sacristy by Brunelleschi. Whereas the Brunelleschi’s chapel held the remains of the patriarch of the House of Medici, Giovanni, and his wife, the “new” sacristy would be the final resting place of four other members of the family. The floor plan was a square structure, the walls a grey blue sandstone, but Michelangelo elevated the structure, included a higher lantern on the dome ceiling, and shaped the coffer ceiling, like the Pantheon, to give the illusion of extra height. Mid project, due to political differences and loyalties, Michelangelo hid in a secret room under the chapel for two weeks “doodling” on the walls (see image below) when the Medici regained power after the second republican revolution in Florence.

References

Buonarroti, Casa. Michelangelo architetto a San Lorenzo: quattro problem aperti/a cura di Pietro Ruschi. Firenze: Mandragora, 2007.

Elam, Caroline. “Tuscan Dispositions: Michelangelo’s Florentine Architectural Vocabulary and its Reception.” Renaissance Studies, Vol. 19, p. 46-82. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd, 2005.

Harris, Beth and Steven Zucker, “Michelangelo, Medici Chapel (New Sacristy),” in Smarthistory, October 8, 2016, accessed May 22, 2022, https://smarthistory.org/new-sacristy/.

Gatson, Robert W. and Louis A Waldman, eds. San Lorenzo: a Florentine Church. Washington DC: Dunbarton Oaks Publications, 2017.

Neufelt, Gunther. “Michelangelo’s Times of Day: A Study of Their Genesis.” The Art Bulletin, Vol 48, p. 273-284. New York: College Art Association of American, 1966. http://doi.org/10.2307/3048386.

Ruggiero, “Michelangelo and the Medici Popes Weekend All-Day Lecture/Seminar,” August 28, 2021. Accessed May 22, 2022. https:// smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/michelangelo-andmedici-popes.

Michelangelo’s Sculptural Program of the New Sacristy at San Lorenzo

Medium: Marble from Seravezza

Sculptures: Four Allegories, Two Dukes, One Madonna & Child

Date: 1519-1534

Creator: Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Current Location: Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence

Giuliano de Medici, Duke of Nemours, one of the sons of Lorenzo il Magnifico and brother to Pope Leo X, in his effigy represents the contemplative life. Michelangelo spent an enormous amount of time sculpting the Duke’s face to be in shadow. Below the Duke on convex volutes are representations of Dusk and Dawn. All four allegories are reprsenting the passing of life and the changing of matter ad spirit.

Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, dies at age 26. He is the nephew of Pope Leo X and grandson of Lorenzo il Magnifico. His effigy speaks to the active life and has as representatives personifications of Night and Day. Michelangelo’s poetry is most associated with his depiction of “Night” as recounted by Giorgio Vasari, who completed the project.

Question of the Day:

Medieval cities and towns are often, incorrectly, identified as meandering and unplanned. Draw an annotated and analytical map of Pienza and Siena explaining their guiding logic and arrangement.

Pienza and Siena are not rectilinear in their arrangement, but better described as a spider web of a city. Though a web is not orthogonal, its structure and vibration are felt through its entirety down to its core. The two Tuscan towns share a central core from which its octopus arterials branch out from. Its blocks stretch rigid geometry but are still self-contained with roads connecting to major fairways. In the center of the town are large open spaces exposed to the southern light. The orientation of both towns seems very conscious of the sun. The valleys are developed in the southern section of town and many buildings have open courtyards to allow natural light into their living spaces. The density of the built environment within these two medieval cities are also misnomers of conventional thought about sprawling landscapes during that time. The curvilinear roads may have been an easier pathway for a cart or animal, the transport at that time, to transverse versus turns at ninety degrees.

Italy

June 2022

Florence,

Question of the Day:

What are the major landmarks and nodes of Florence? How are these organizational elements interconnected, and how do they relate to the city’s topography and hydrology? Create an annotated and analytical map to explain your findings.

The major landmarks and nodes of Florence radiate out from the Cardo Decumans on the corner of current day Via degli Speziali and Via Calimala. As opposed the medieval towns of Pienza and Siena, it is clear that Florence was Romanized. Jetting north off the Ponte Vecchio the orthogonal grid that characterizes Rome’s colonizing efforts is evident from an arial view. The three highest points of the terracotta-roofed city reflect three distinct points of the city plan. To the northwest of Ponte Vecchio, just south of the Decumanus, is one of the highest points. Then moving west, just south of the Duomo, is the second. And lastly east around the current Museo Nazionale del Bargello, would be the third highest point of the city. All three locations are at an elevation of sixty-nine to seventy meters. If the three high points were connected, they would point straight to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. And above that elevated arrow is an irregular pediment of streets that at its north point sits that palace and home church of the family that would unofficially rule Florence for nearly 300 years, the Medici. Their positioning within the city gave them a great vantage point to be in the center of action, yet in the corner observing everything.

June 2022

Pienza & Siena, 13 Italy

Question of the Day:

How can we understand the integration of human proportion into the works of Brunelleschi at San Lorenzo and the Pazzi Chapel? How are these proportions related to the whole composition of the interior spaces?

To understand the human proportions in Brunelleschi’s work first requires knowing that he comes from the Renaissance. And the characteristic of a person from the Renaissance is that they are a humanist. Therefore, human beings are the center of life versus a deity or emperor. There was reverence for mathematics and astronomy. San Lorenzo is the signature Renaissance Church that has the integration of different art forms. Its use of circles and squares, considered a divine shape, made the work through the nave of San Lorenzo harmonious and voluminous. Brunelleschi’s decision to elevate the entablatures in the center nave offered soaring windows to flood the center of the church with light. And though the side aisle ceilings are lowered in portion to the smaller floor space below it. The arches above also sit on a slight entablature allowing the pillared walkway to be taller than in most churches and produce beautiful light for the churchgoer. The value of symmetry as it related to the human body’s symmetry is deemed quite important in both San Lorenzo and Pazzi Chapel. In the smaller spaces, such as the old Sacristy, incorporation of astronomical topics is woven in the religious themes of the sanctuary. The simplicity of palette allows for the person seeking a spiritual experience to be calm and focus internally rather than be distracted by imposing imagery and perhaps like DaVinci’s Vitruvius Man can see him/herself in the heavenly circle and squares contained in all the negative spaces of the church and chapel.

Italy

Florence, Italy

June 2022 15

Question of the Day:

From Roman times to medieval, and medieval to midcentury, how can we understand Verona’s approach to historical layers through carefully designed intersections? Draw your findings.

From Roman times to medieval, and medieval to midcentury, Verona’s approach to historical layering could best be described as a Christina Tosi naked cake featured in her boutique bakery milkbar as seen in the Netflix show “Chef’s Table.” A Tosi cake does not have an outside coating of frosting. It is fully exposed so one can view the complexity and texture of each layer she stacks on top of one another. She is known for using simple, very americana ingredients. Verona has a parallel approach. Throughout the city, the medievalist set a precedent of how they handled the Ancient Roman works. They did not destroy or cover up or bury the previous building. Rather they developed a dual-purpose way to layer the slice of time next to each other. New walls act like a rainscreen, protecting and providing breathing room for the old without making them disappear, but rather sit next to each other in harmony. Similar to how Tosi can pair a cup of corn flakes to pecans, chocolate malt frosting, and a coconut filling to upgrade your typical German chocolate cake at first sight, Scarpa’s interventions in Castelvecchio are amongst the most dignified and complimentary examples of adaptive reuse. He creates a dance within this supposedly static building where the medieval castle stands equal in a seductive tension with modern materials and techniques framing it.

June 2022

Question of the Day:

Please reflect on Florence as a Renaissance center of art and innovation, in a relatively small physical area. Create a cognitive map of the sites (and ideas) we’ve explored this week.

On a college campus, when entering an art school or architecture program, students’ individual studio space is relatively small, if even provided. But the designated area for creation is always very clear. Between all the pieces seen this week and the thought of the Duomo unfinished for centuries, it seems like the city of Florence in some ways was a living art studio. Art and being a creative were the sport of the day. Competitions bruised egos, motivated people to leave for Rome to lick their wounds, and there were owners (aka patrons) that funded the sport. To consider Florence as a hub of intellect and creative innovation cannot be addressed without talking of the Medici, whose purse supported and nurtured some of the greatest artist geniuses known to date. And with their political power had the opportunity to shape the culture of the region that prioritized and valued education, craftmanship, and the arts. Iron strengthens iron, so once the culture was established the city’s reputation was its marketing tool to attract even more talent.

Italy

June

Question of the Day:

In a Renaissance composition, what is the relationship between the figural object (i.e., Palazzo, church) and the piazza? How can we understand framing and the urban approach?

In the Renaissance the highest priority was creating the ideal living conditions for humanity. Geometry reigned king as the spatial tool that organized the built environment. Where the Greeks revered building for the community rather than edifices celebrating individuals, the Italians sought an integration of the two principles. Palazzi and churches were the Renaissance version of how wealthy patrons showed their power, prosperity, and influence. But because people were considered, a palazzo would have façades that turned into benches with shade due to the large overhang roof. The piazza during the Renaissance became an urban theatre. Staged flat, wide, and uncovered, all of humanity was on display and given room to express the vastness of the human experience. Piazzas were often located directly in front of palazzi and churches. The Italian piazza witnessed everything from bloody violence to festive celebrations. Their positioning in relationship to the figural object, allowed those in the palazzi and churches to be front row audience members to the theatrics. Thus, making the patrons perhaps both benevolent and opportunistic of the views.

Question of the Day:

What are the forms, nodes, and typologies of a covered pathway? What are the key vocabulary terms we can use to describe these conditions; what are the explanatory diagrams?

Portico- is a porch leading to the entrance of a building with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls.

Loggia- covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. Outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns or arches.

Arcade- succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians. Colonnade- long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or a part of a building.

Cloister- covered walkway, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle.

Stoa- covered walkway, commonly for public use. Early stoas were open at the entrance with columns, lining the sided of a building.

Peristyle- a peristyle is a continuous porch formed by a row of a columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard

Bologna,

Italy

Question of the Day:

What are the spatial characteristics of spaces of contemplation, for the individual and for the collective? Use San Marco and the Laurentian Library as case studies

The spatial characteristics of a space of contemplation requires solitude, even when in the midst of many. There is a tension between tight simplistic volumes with vast open spaces. In both San Marco and the Laurentian library, this tension is evident. The aisle of benches with entry only on one side could potentially cause claustrophobia for the scholar not really interested in rigor of the literature. Because of the confines between the person, the bench, and the book there is plenty of empty air space within the volume of this structure. Likewise at San Marco, the monks stayed in rooms that averaged between twelve-by-twelve feet. Tiny portholes in their windows offered long views to the courtyard and upon leaving their rooms, exposed trusses revealed a much greater spacious area to their residence. Perhaps it is symbolic for the place in which a contemplative lives requires a going deep within themselves and knowing that are connected to something much greater than themselves. The other common characteristic these two spaces hold in common is the presence of meditative artwork. Whether it is the mandala of the Laurentian tiled floor, or the frescos painted by Fra. Angelica in each room, the power and provocation of art can transport a person to another realm.