Day 62 (5/22/11)

This morning we woke up nice and early to take a trip to Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza (third times the charm!). Since it is only open today, it gave us a perfect excuse to not do work in the morning! The size of this church in plan is surprisingly small considering the scale of the dome above, so the experience of being inside is very vertical. The shallowness of the space causes your eyes to instinctively move up the back wall until you are staring straight up. The plan appears to be a football shape, which is very interesting especially because the entrance and altar rest on the short axis, meaning the space extends out from where you sit, rather than along where you sit. The walls are a series of odd corners and sharp angles that flow back and forth around the center, not only causing a dynamic space inside, but also creating a fantastically different dome above. The beginning of the dome comes from these varying edges, which makes it much more a part of this space than just a big cap on top. This odd wall system also creates some interesting moments with the column capitals as they become inverted and reduced along some corners and extended along others.
The ornament on the dome specifically was pretty good, just enough to keep it interesting but done so that the form of the space becomes the primary focus when you are looking at it. As usual, the light coming from the clerestory level is great and the simple solidity of the masses inside become very soft and personal when light falls on them. The altar is also pretty interesting in that since it is along the short axis of the football it has to start to push back into the wall to create a small apse around the beautiful painting. After enjoying this space for a little while longer we had to leave before mass started. After a quick walk home it was time to start working on the Travel Log. Instead of developing a new idea, I decided that there would be nothing better to display the way I have explored and understood Italy than this blog, so the majority of my work involved creating a template and formatting everything I have written into the size of a book. I pretty much worked for the entire day aside from quick breaks for dinner and dessert (amarena ice cream with panna!), so by the time I was finished I was completely exhausted and ready for bed.