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The port of Genoa offers many interesting sites to see. One of these sites is the wind sculptures of the Bigo by Renzo Piano. These sculptures consist of a series of triangular pieces of canvas placed in different directions at the top of tall metal poles. As the wind blows, these pieces rotate in different directions making an interesting site to see. These sculptures stand tall above some of the buildings, making them easy to observe from both the land and water.
Allison Spiker
Last night being our professor's birthday, her husband organized a party, complete with hors d'oeuvres and a sommelier to try and learn us some class. Everyone got all dressed up, I wore makeup, we had tablecloths, and someone set up their Ipod over the speakers with Mozart. Which segwayed into Li'l John, because it was on shuffle.
Irises and snapdragons
Setting up the spread.
Delicious vegan food. Like prosciutto, salami, and fresh mozzarella.
The sommalier imparted upon us all sorts of wonderful knowledge, from how to properly smell and taste wine to colors. The three colors of red she told us about were purple (youngest), ruby, and orange (most mature). She was a little irritated that we'd started eating before we started tasting the wine, though she didn't stress the "don't brush your teeth, don't wear cologne, don't wear deodorant" that the hardcore wine tasters do. And while I usually consider myself good at picking out flavors in wine, I got none of them last night (raspberries, violets, and wood smoke). I could've said pencil erasers and petrol gas and wouldn't've been any further from right. Overall an educational experience, though not in architecture.
meg chandler
Over the past fifty years in Genoa, Italy, multiple experimental modernist housing projects have developed in response to the growing number of subsidized households. Unfortunately, the majority of these developments have proven unsuccessful in creating a quality dwelling for the elderly and low income residents. One of these failing projects is “la Lavatrice” or "The Washing Machine”. Many aspects of this apartment complex add to the ineffectiveness of this modern housing solution. First, the entire community is situated at a distance so far from the city center that the complex becomes an isolated entity. With little connection to other citizens and economic classes, the apartments become less desirable to inhabit. Second, the placement of the two main structures creates a narrow alleyway. Because of this limited space, an opportunity to appreciate the facades of the building is nonexistent. Lastly, the view of the city from each apartment unit is obstructed by the addition of large partitions on the balconies. Even though these partitions contain a circular void, which is the element that aids in the labeling of the apartments as a “washing machine”, the bulkiness of the barrier blocks the view of the city. Additionally, a large amount of wasted space develops on the balcony façade due to the lack of extruded floor slabs for additional outdoor living space. Despite all the shortcomings of this modernist housing solution, everyone can learn from the mistakes in the project and begin to understand the disaster in segregating all economic classes to a specific region.
On the outskirts of Genova to the west of the city lies an area with a distinctive line of where developent ends and begins. The roads following the coast curve through with parallel buildings but the buildings no longer have a pre 18th century look as they're now much more minimalistic and depressing in comparison. As the development ends a particular pair of buildings stand out among the sudden vacant hills. The buildings contain some sort of telephone switchboards for the Genova region.
This location is where a group of us will do our studio project and it's our instructor, Stefano, who informed us that the architects were associates of Renzo Piano or Richard Rogers from the time the pair designed the Pompidou Center. I recognized the similarity via the color and exposed ductwork and moving parts. The building, though ugly, is fascinating and I believe it's in a style that can be known as British Constructivism. Although I have not found who the designers were I believe they are in some relation a part or remnant of a group known as Archigram from around the 1960's.
Brian
