What’s on: Reopening
Category: Weekly posts_2016
Triennale di Milano 2020
Salone di Mobile 2019
In Reflection
Arriving for the first time in a foreign country was quite a stressful experience. Although IES and UT did everything in their power to make our experiences perfect, there are always discomforts with traveling. However, after the traveling was over and I had some much needed sleep the exploration of the city was the best experience I’ve had in a long time. After arriving at my apartment, the first thing I did was make the trip to cioccolati italiani with my roommates, and although I was exhausted it was, by far, the best ice cream I had ever had.
After seemingly just arriving in Milan, I then experienced, in my opinion, the best view in the city. From the top of the Duomo, you could see the amazing Milano skyline and the beautiful mixture of old and new architecture. After just a little exploring of Milan’s park and beautiful sforza castle, I visited one of the most scenic locations in italy, Cinque Terre. It was wonderful to visit a much smaller town with such a different atmosphere, however my stay was much too short as I could have explored this small area for days. When it came time to make the journey back to Milan, I was surprisingly relieved to be back in a familiar city. Even in just a short time, the subway and train station of Milan had become oddly comforting, especially after hopping on the wrong train home from Cinque Terre.
The few other trips out of Milan each had their own atmosphere. The trip to Lake Como had a surprisingly different weather as I had not brought a jacket. However, by the end of the day I managed to get a sunburn standing on top the beautiful World War II monument. The view of the lake and mild wind that day were well worth the sunburn though. Visiting Venice was a wonderful and beautiful trip, however one of the most memorable parts of the trip was the visit to the typography museum. Preparing the print of our names for the poster was so interesting to watch and so much fun to actually do the printing as well. Finally, visiting one of my oldest friends at her university in London was an amazing opportunity to see the lifestyle and culture of another European city and perhaps country.
Preparing for this trip I did not expect Milan to be much different from what I was used to, and in some ways I was right. What I did not expect however, was the way in which this trip and the Milanese lifestyle would change my perspective. At first I was mildly annoyed to have to dry my hair in the morning and the recycling and sorting of all the garbage every day seemed like a lot of work. I loved walking absolutely everywhere and the subway system made travelling around the city even more freeing. Everything was within a reasonable distance by walk or subway. I felt like I could see a lot of the city, without having to put in too much effort. Siesta times, although sometimes inconvenient at the beginning, were quite an enjoyable excuse to take a nap by the end of the trip. Adapting to the eating habits of the Milanese was not very difficult for me as I typically enjoy eating a late dinner, but discovering aperitivo was one of the best discoveries we made in Milan. After falling into the habit of doing some of these things, I feel like they are small, simple things I could take back with me and adapt a little to my own.
Week 3 in Review
The Triennale di Milano was one of my favorite museum experiences so far in Milan. It provided an extensive opportunity to sketch chairs that were quite different than those typically found elsewhere in the city. The modern art style of museum was an exciting and bright atmosphere to be in. The fun-mirror decorations and the hidden corners of the museum made the act of seeing the actual art more exciting.
The other museum we went to this week had a very different atmosphere than the previous. The setting was much darker and as the we progressed through the exhibit, it became more and more unsettling. These huge leaning towers, however seemed to be the most unsettling part of the tour. They looked as if they could collapse at any moment and their size would make anyone feel small.
My favorite part of the week, attending the La Scala ballet, was exciting in all parts. From getting ready for the ballet to discussing the movements of the dancers from afar, everything about the evening was incredible.
Venice
Although Venice was VERY touristy, I really enjoyed my time there. Typically, not knowing if the street I’m going down is the right one or not drives me crazy. However, this was the case the entire time we were in Venice and I loved every minute of it. Whether we knew where we were going or not, every turn leads you to a new maze or an unexpectedly low ceiling. I loved seeing all the different shops and knick knacks.
I was especially happy that we were able to go to Murano and see all the glassworks there. It was amazing to see the pieces they made and the range from classical to more modern work.
The Biennale was a fun stop on the trip as well as all the Pavilions were so diverse in what they displayed. My absolute favorite was Romania because it had a swing set and a ping pong table. It was really fun and a successful exhibit because it got attendees to interact with it.
Venice
This past weekend the class took an excursion to the Veneto region of Italy, located in the Northeast of the country and along the Adriatic Sea. Our first stop was at TipoTeca and it was fascinating to learn about how people use font and typography in design, especially how they curate different types of fonts. After that we went to an interesting cemetery that used lots of concrete and used various waterways. It was interesting how the concrete was done in such a way to appear so weightless despite being such a heavy, blocky material. The cemetery also used Asian motifs. There were very similar themes in his work on the art museum we visited in Venice where geometric concrete shapes stepped down against the canal and also used Asian motifs. The museum even filled the room with Asian artwork. The garden was similar in that there was water running through it. For our last day in Venice we visited the Biennale exhibition in a large public to the south of San Marco Square. It was interesting to see how so many different countries chose to represent themselves, and I particularly liked Denmark’s pavilion and its focus on a connected city and bridging modern design onto historic sites.
The Storm and Rainbow
This week we went in saw a lot of furniture. Very interesting and confusing furniture. Some very functional, some not so functional.
I have been collecting what I call “stocker pictures” of people’s shoes for my sketchbook. I have had to be a little sneaky at taking pictures of shoes in order to sketch them. It’s easier to take the picture when the owner of the shoes is not moving away from the loud crazy Americans.
We also got to go to the Armani Museo. It was interesting to see how strange he is as a designer. He is very classic in all his silhouettes. Every single one (on all 3 floors) had a very similar silhouette than the next. He and I definitely have very different taste in style and fashion. It was nice to see fashion through his lens.
This week was back to back days with many things to see. I was able to leave a few marks of my own doodle art at ______
Venezia, una città magica
In my head, Venice is a magical city that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world, so visiting it was a dream come true. At first we arrived to Treviso and it was such a cute little town. Everyone in this town was so nice! We went for drinks, met some locals, watched soccer games and cheered all night. They also had the best gelato store, it was so fresh. When I first arrived to Venice, I went outside of the train station and looked around for a few seconds… it was exactly what I expected and more. The buildings were right at the shore, people were commuting in boats, and the metro system was based on taxi buses.
As a class, we went to a museum with many floors and multiple attracting pieces. Then, we headed to lunch and we got to explore the city. We walked between some fancy shops, and we walked between the market where everyone was trying to sell Murano glass. I got all my friend’s souvenirs from Venice and that gave me a piece of mind. After walking through its tiniest pathways and taking the boat to get from a destination to another, we met with the class to visit a store where they made the glass. That store was on a different island so we had to take the boat bus!
On the boat, I was splashed with sea water and my hair changed completely, it loves sea water. It looked a lot better so I wasn’t too upset about it.
At the store, we weren’t able to see them make the glass, but the ladies were very sweet and gave us a souvenir at the end. However, my favorite part of this weekend was at the Tipoteca Italian Fondazione; we got to assemble our names and make posters. I really enjoyed the work especially since it was like a puzzle and the men that were helping us were the sweetest people on earth.
I wish we spent more time there but other than that, this weekend is to forever be remembered.
