Day 37 (4/27/11)

Today was our first official studio day, so at 9 (yay for sleeping in!) we met at the school. We are taking classes at Iowa State University’s studio located in the Jewish Ghetto of Rome. The area is pretty fantastic, and the studio space is amazing! It is located in an old Palazzo that sites on a piazza that has been here since 1823! The area is pretty cool, and during a brief introduction lecture we learned about how the area was changed from a secure, walled-off (done with the density of houses rather than real walls) community to a normal sector of Rome, thanks largely in part to the construction of the river walls. After we got a tour of the space and some more general info, we set off for a brief walk.
After walking through various streets and stopping to see some columns from during the 1st century, which had been embedded into a newer (only a few hundred years old…) building, we came to the Palazzo Spada. This was one of the earlier Palazzos, and it features a pretty great courtyard that was once a semi-public space where markets would be held. Now it is completely public, as it connects two main streets. We went inside to the only space that was open to us, but what it held was enough! We learned about Borromini’s mastery of perspective in our history class, and in this Palazzo he made a small installation that really messes with the mind. He used severe foreshortening to make a statue no taller than your knee appear to be a large statue very far away. Sadly, there were no pictures allowed inside, so all I have is one taken through a window. I would highly recommend you look it up, because it will blow your mind!!!!
Anyway, after drooling for a while here we walked over to the Palazzo Farnese, which is firstly a great historical space and secondly the French embassy (through a 99 year lease, during which the French government pays Italy 1 euro per month). We were lucky enough to get inside, since it is only open to the public for a very limited time very rarely (today was actually the last day it was open!). We walked through here for a long time, and we were given audio-tours, which was pretty neat! The main courtyard was fantastic, and the many different galleries had tons of statues, paintings, etchings, etc. (my favorite was “Venus of the Beautiful Buttocks” hahahaha). My favorite part in general was on the landing between the first and second floor: the space led out to a second piazza used to bring light in! After walking around the gallery and doing some quick sketches we left for our project’s site.
Sadly, we were still unable to actually get into the site (it seems that our instructors were as unaware of the construction fences as we were…), but we talked a little bit about the history and the current project: a parking structure (its like I'm back in Columbus!). The site has actually been the focus of many recent projects (none built), and will actually be creating an international design competition! And to top it all off, the whole site has housed a middle school, a high school (where Beatrice went to school!), a prison, an anti-mafia police station, and the headquarters of the Italian version of the CIA!!!!
After finishing our tour we came back to the studio to receive our brief (there really isn’t one, we are free to do what we feel is best for the site and for program, as long as we have good reasons) and review the readings. When we finished we broke for the day and took the tram back through the surprise thunderstorm. Once it finished raining I made a quick trip to the grocery store, did my Italian homework, blogged, watched a movie, and went to bed!