Summer in Florence 2007

KIRK IRWIN (faculty, interior architecture program) writes:
During the flight over to Italy I started to read Al Gore's new book The Assault on Reason. The book describes the decay of civil liberties in the United States under the second Bush administration and raises concerns about unchecked executive powers. During our orientation session at the Lorenzo de Medici school, the U.S. consulate to Florence—a Bush appointee and someone who was apparently proud of his service to the current secretary of state—addressed the students, warning them of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse while in Italy. In concluding his remarks, he said that he hoped that we would enjoy our stay in this "Renaissance Disneyland."

Mr. Ambassador, this is not Disneyland. Disneyland is fake. Florence is real. Florence is the result of centuries of artistic and intellectual inquiry undertaken by some of the world's greatest artists, architects, writers, theologians, and historians. While here, we get to look at their work, read their work, think about their work, debate their work, and enter a dialog with our students and colleagues about their work that is not possible elsewhere . I did not do this the last time I went to Disneyland, although I had fun the last time I went to Disneyland. I am having fun in Florence too. But Florence is no Disneyland.

KIRK IRWIN (faculty, interior architecture) writes:
The other night I decided at the last minute that I wanted to attend an orchestra concert. Barenboim was to conduct his Berlin orchestra in Florence. I had never heard him conduct one of the German orchestras and knew that the opportunity to do so might not present itself for some time. So with an hour remaining before the concert, I walked quickly to the concert hall to purchase a ticket. For the benefit of anyone who keeps track of these things, they did Mahler's 7th - not one of Mahler's greatest hits. I enjoyed the performance anyway.

The seat numbers in the concert hall are placed on the back of the seats, so it is difficult to find the correct seat. I found my seat, then an American couple approached me: "Scuzzi, scuzzi, uhh, uhh..."

I interrupted and asked, "Do you speak English?"

The gentleman said, "Yes," and I said, "Me too," to their relief. I showed the couple how the seats were numbered on the backs of the seats rather than on the arms, which would have made more sense. With my helpful observation they were able to find their seats.

The seats were numbered consecutively, unlike the buildings outside. Sometimes the building numbers in Florence skip a dozen or so numbers without skipping buildings, and sometimes the street numbers on one side of the street do not correspond directly with the numbers on the other side of the street. This is a challenge for Chicagoans living in Florence, since we are accustomed to giving directions and tracking our location in Chicago based on a coordinate grid.

EMANUEL AGUILAR (fine art major) writes:
Arriving into Florence, Italy, I presumed that my biggest difficulty would be to blend in without standing out as an American or a tourist, in order to facilitate my stay and not get mugged or ripped off or something of the nature. I have found that it is the complete opposite of what I am experiencing.

Perhaps I'd say the most interesting experience for me thus far has been that the locals speak to me in Italian, as if I were Italian. Mind you, my Spanish facilitates my conversational abilities with the locals, but none the less, when I respond with a "no se" or "I don't know" to their fast and fluent Italian, I am given a look of disgust. In a sense, I feel as if they are looking at this poor one of their kind who has failed to to speak his language, and thus I feel ashamed. Hmmmm. I figure it was interesting to share that my Spanish now has an Italian accent and my Italian is not good enough for a fake Italian, which is what i am here.

The city is beautiful. I could see myself living here, and I did see one Starbucks. Four Dolces, and of course Versace and Roberto Cavali, who has a restaurant in his store. Anyhow, the laid-back culture is very comforting, leaving me at times comparing Florence to Chicago. The Midwest, with its laid-back feel and lack of cultural awareness, for the most part, is a good American comparison to the culture here in Florence. Of course, I am in Europe and the cultural awareness is more advanced and exposed, none the less, but on my way here I imagined to see great fashion and style and such upon the entire population, or most of them, at least. However, I have yet to run into a neighborhood were style triumphs, but that's just because I'm in the Chicago of Italy. There is nothing wrong with that; I'm simply making a comparison.

I have to say that I love the aged textured of all the walls and buildings in this town. The physical documentation of time on the city is recorded on every square inch of wall, and it creates a beautiful landscape of color and rust. My first video in class is dedicated to this aging appearance of the city and how it creates it. Although in most cultures, being old is considered ugly and undesired, here it is celebrated even on the buildings, which are allowed to remain old and aged and not rehabbed in a modern way. Modern architecture is nowhere to be found, and so the city has cast a spell on me. It's physical for now, but it shall enchant me with more in-depth experiences later, I presume.

CONNIE BACON (faculty, film + video) writes:
Students and faculty have settled in here in Florence. We were warmly welcomed and treated to an elegant dinner on the banks of the Arno by the Lorenzo de Medici school. Students have been enjoying the open markets, beautiful architecture, and vibrant nightlife—which is filled with music, street performers, and street artists.

Each new day brings exploration, creation, acclimation, and adventure. Students from the "Watercolor in Florence" class have been all about town sketching and painting. The second day of class, they set off to record the sites of Bologna. "Walking the Art of Florence" students have been visiting museums, seeing, in person the paintings, sculpture, and architecture they’ve been paging over in history books for years. "Photographing History" students have been snapping shots of Florence and beyond, traveling to nearby towns. "Architecture of Renaissance Florence" students are experiencing perspective in a whole new way as they wind in and out of cobblestone corridors and historically significant buildings.

We are all looking forward to the upcoming trips to Venice and Rome. More to come….ciao!

CHRIS HOLMES (interior architecture major) writes:
Words can't describe what an experience this is for me. Sure, it's an experience for the entire class, but I think that is mostly an experience in which we learn about who we are with each other in a environment that is not our own. Living in Italy these past few weeks has given me a new perspective on who I am and where I come from. Italy is different from Chicago, to say the least. The mornings are quiet and cool, filled with merchants preparing for the day ahead. Afternoons are hot, with tourists navigating the various sites around the city. Nights are relaxing, the smell of fresh Italian food fills the air, and the chatter of conversation fills my ears.

Class with Kirk [Irwin, faculty in interior architecture] is amazing! Kirk is anxious to interact with us and to share his knowledge. Kirk can easily be described as the oracle, being that he can answer any question of architecture. I already see an improvement in my work in the short time I have been here. I am anxious to build on the lessons that Kirk is teaching me.

This last weekend I traveled to Athens, Greece. Athens had more of a feel of Chicago to it. The streets are always packed with cars, trash, and noise! However, seclusion can be found at the many sites I went to. In just a day I saw the Agora, Temple of Zeus, Roman Forum, Filopappos Hills, Theater of Dionysus, and the Acropolis. However, I saw the Acropolis from a distance, due to the fact that the workers decided to strike the two days I was there! Emotions cannot describe how disappointed I felt; it was like coming within inches of your dream and watching it pass right in front of you. Regardless, the experience and sites were still amazing.

The week ahead is full of more visits to various parts of the city, and this weekend we are going to Venice!

KATIE GANNETT (art history student) writes:
It’s hard for me to believe that we have only been here a week when I think about all that we have done already! After a relaxing first weekend of getting ourselves oriented in the city, we began classes on Monday with a trip to the oldest part of Florence. We walked around the section of the city that was originally inhabited by the Romans, finding the streets that led to a church built in 1050 A.D., the palace of the Strozzi family, and other interesting sites.

On Tuesday, we took our first day trip to Lucca, a medieval town that still retains its wall surrounding the city. It was very interesting to look at the oldest church of the town, called Santi Giovanni E Reparata, which was very Romanesque in style. I especially liked the wooden roof. In the church, we were able to walk down the stairs and see various Roman ruins, including tiles from a Roman home, as well as remains from Roman baths and workshops. We then compared this church with Lucca’s duomo/cathedral, which was much more ornate, with beautiful paintings and an elaborate pulpit. In our free time afterwards, we rented bikes to explore the city and ride along the top of the wall, which provided some wonderful views.

On Wednesday, our classes received a special tour of the Vesari Corridor, which was the corridor leading from what is now the Uffizi museum (once the administrative buildings of the Medici family) to the palace of the Medici. It was constructed as a second story over the shops of the Ponte Vecchio so that the Medici family would not have to travel from one place to the other among the common people.

Thursday was our visit to the Duomo—incredible! It was amazing to see the inside of the Duomo itself, which is surprising in that it is much less ornate than its stunningly decorated façade. We then climbed all of the 463 steps to the top, which first brought us just below Vesari’s painted interior of the Duomo and then up a staircase that passed between the inner and outer shells of the Duomo. Of course, the views from the top were well worth the trip.

After an exciting weekend in which various members of our class went to the beach, explored more areas of the city, took our school trip to Sienna and San Gimignano, and went for a bike ride to the outer hills of Florence, we met again on Monday to see the Santa Croche cathedral. It was of Gothic style, with large pillars and pointed archways at the top. However, I liked the cathedral’s simplicity. It is amazing that Michelangelo, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Galileo are buried here. We especially enjoyed seeing Giotto’s frescoes in a little chapel at the top of the church, as well as Bruneleschi’s chapel just next door (a perfect example of the Renaissance style).

KIRK IRWIN (faculty, interior architecture) writes:
From time to time people ask me who my favorite architect is. I tell them that I have three: LeCorbusier, Thomas Jefferson, and Calo Scarpa. In the Florence program we are lucky, because this weekend we get to see some buildings by Carlos Scarpa during our trip to Venice.

Scarpa in Italian means shoe, which is funny to me since people have taken notice of my shoes; white sneakers that I wear with white socks and Bermuda shorts. I like to think that I am starting a fashion trend with my white sneakers and white socks, but others would strongly disagree. It was suggested that I go shopping with several people in Florence. Maybe I should take the hint.

HEATHER AITKEN writes:
Today our art history class visited another incredibly beautiful Gothic church called Santa Maria Novella. It was built starting in the year 1297. Santa Maria Novella is a church run by the Dominican order. Inside the chapel was amazing artwork, some pieces of particular interest were Masaccio's The Trinity, which is a masterpiece of perspective. It's hard to believe that this was painted in 1427 by Masaccio when he was only 26 years old. Also is the crucifix by Giotto from 1290, when he was only 23 years old, and frescoes by Ghirlandaio (who was Michelangelo's teacher). In one of the chapels there's a very famous painting done by Botticelli called The Adoration of the Magi, and the Medici family, who commissioned the work, are painted prominently in the foreground.

From here we headed over to the Brancacci Chapel and watched an interesting movie on the history of the church of Santa Maria del Carmine before entering. Brancacci Chapel had amazing frescoes which were started by Masolino in 1425 and his student, Masaccio. Fifty years later these frescoes were finished by Filippino Lippi (who is the son of Fra Filippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti, a nun).* The frescoes describe the life of St. Peter, and for their period, were considered pioneering in that they expressed such immense emotion, layering, perspective, and showed people in the clothing of the Renaissance. It was an experience I will never forget.

*Fra Fillipo Lippi has entered legend as a Renaissance prototype of the rebellious romantic artist. His work was widely respected in his time, and he is known today as an innovative and accomplished painter of the Florentine Renaissance. Lippi was raised in a Carmelite friary and took vows as a friar in 1421. He soon had a love affair with Lucrezia Buti, a nun; both parties were released from their vows, and they married soon afterward.

CHRIS HOLMES (interior architecture major) writes:
Where does time go? We as Americans tend to go go go. Most of our days are full of, well...work. It seems by the time we have a chance to stop and catch our breath, our life has passed us by and all that is left is snapshots of memories along the way. While I am here I am trying to slow myself down and take in the entire Florence environment. It has already gone by too fast and I am trying to remember every detail I possibly can and
not forget them.

While I have been in Italy I have had the chance to observe how relaxed and less stressed the Italian people seem to be. There is a calmness and comfort about this place that I can't quite figure out or truly understand, but I have come across it from time to time. Just the other night I ate at this restaurant and after the meal, the waiter said, "Can I get you anything else?"

"Um...just the check," I replied. "No no no...sit...relax...no problem," ordered the waiter.

I was so used to eating and paying the bill right away in the U.S., that I forgot about what eating out is all about...enjoyment of the meal and surroundings. So I did as he said; I'd just had a great meal and I had my book, so I just sat and read for about another hour. Having worked in the restaurant business in the U.S., I remember our mangers telling us, "The more tables you turn, the more money you make...get the people out of here." Not once have I ever felt as if the Italian businesses are out to just get my money. From the restaurants to the art stores, I have felt extremely comfortable giving the various companies my business.

Below are some pics...the first one is of Kirk [Irwin, interior architecture faculty] and the undergrad class at San Lorenzo, the second is of Kirk and the grads and undergrads on top of the Duomo, the last is of (from left to right): Anca, Chris, Claudia , and Maggie (interior architecture students) at San Lorenzo.