{Italy}:: Part 5

a freezing cold day in Venice ----heading towards San Marco Piazza.

{Italy}:: Part 4

the tamed & the untamed

{Italy}:: Part 3

today,
I had office hours with one of my professors and was telling him about the shadows of Italy-- and how they compare to California. I don't think I've ever paid so much attention to shadows before, as I do now.

It never occurred to me before that the shadows of a particular place can be yet another way to get acquainted with a space (or sometimes even reacquainted). Before, I used to only notice the bizarre, the quirky, or the most dramatic of shadows. Now, not always, but much more, I am paying attention to all kinds of shadows-- even the simpler ones. 

Italy is a place filled with iron gates: surrounding their buildings, covering their windows, blocking off the sacred altars of the cathedrals. That's where it all began to change. I became obsessed with the pattern of the iron gates, and that evolved into becoming even more excited and interested in how the silhouette of these ornate and fabulous patterns were being projected onto the ground, onto the walls, or even onto the hem of my friend's coat

California shadows are much less ornate, maybe even less dramatic--- but fantastic nonetheless. It's been a great way to become reacquainted with a space, noticing the shadows, in their simple, quirky, "only Southern California" type of way. Such a good grounding in re-establishing where I am, right now, at this moment. 

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{Italia}: Part 2

Italian architecture is a dream. It's this wonderful balance between geometry, pattern, history, & renovation. The colors they choose to paint their buildings with are fantastic, and it seems like anytime something needs to be patched up they just choose a "relatively similar" type of color to cover up the mishap--- creating some of the best walls and surface treatment I've ever seen.