Category: Weekly Posts_2018

Weekend in Milan

This weekend I stayed in town and got to explore Milan a little bit more. The first place I went was the Sforza Castle, called the Castello Sforzesco in its native Italian. It is right next to Cairoli Station and sits at the end of Via Dante, a very pleasant pedestrian street that connects the Duomo to the Sforza Castle. Cars re not allowed on it, leaving pedestrians to roam freely and the sidewalks are lined with restaurants, shops, and cafes. Most of the restaurants have large eating areas situated outside on the sidewalks, giving the street plenty of life and constant energy.

The castle itself was really cool to explore and had numerous galleries. There were old columns, tapestries, and paintings detailing the history of the castle and its role in Milanese history. The armory was especially fascinating as it showcased 18th and 19th century weapons ranging from swords and glaives to early rifles.

On the upper level there was a large gallery with 20th century furniture, many of which were made by people we had learned about or at least briefly referenced. The Memphis Group had a lot of work there in particular.

Week 4: Artemide!

Today we went to Artemide Factory and learned about their production process and the values that shape it. We took a van/ bus to Pregnana Milanese and I slept all the way there. Then, after arriving we were greeted with little candies and waters that we, of course, devoured. Artemide was “born in Italy in 1959”. It consists of worldwide designers, distribution, and awareness. All products are made in Europe and thoroughly tested before shipment. They have interest in new technologies which involves a lot of engineering and brainstorming. However, they also think about traditional arts and worldwide awareness. THis is where their slogan “the human light” comes from. I thought it was fascinating to see the way the workers interacted with each other and with the machinery. I have never seen such giant laser cutters in my life! I also loved getting to put a strip of their packing tape in my sketchbook! The packing tape has great typography and bold colors. I love the way the serifs and san serifs balance and the weight of the typefaces. I also love that the tape is colored brown so that when it is overlapped, you still see the integrity of the design rather than having it chaotically overlap.

lovin the orange vests and name tags :)

A day in Paris

After an intense week, Kalissa, Neesha, Moira, Courtney and I decided to spend a more exhausting weekend in Paris. Even there were a lot of things that we couldn’t have done due to the short time of our stay, the trip was definitely worth it.
The highlight of the trip for me was the visit to the Foundation Louis Vuitton, designed by Frank Gehry. The most famous work from him has to be the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. The opening of this Museum had brought a huge economic and cultural revitalization to the city Bilbao, and this phenomenon is known as the Bilbao effect. Gehry’s success in his works made me want to see the Foundation Louis Vuitton in person so bad when I was in Paris. And we finally made it.

The Foundation Louis Vuitton 

The Foundation Loius Vuitton was opened in the year 2014 and located next to the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris. The placement of the building was in the middle of one of the biggest natural attraction of the city. The luxurious look of the Foundation gives an interesting industrialized touch to the Bois de Boulogne Park. But the reflection of the natural landscape from the building also works well in neutralized this industrial interaction with nature.

We could see the Jardin d’Acclimatation from the terrace of the building 

The exhibition of the Foundation Louis Vitton consists of two parts: half of the permanent exhibition about the architecture of the Foundation itself and the other half was some temporary exhibitions with some museum collections of modern art exhibitions.

the prototype of the Foundation Louis Vuitton

The combination of the building and art collections is also a highlight for the Foundation. For example, Olafur Eliasson’s work Inside the Horizon created a particular interactive space with illuminated yellow columns for the public in a walkway.

Inside the Horizon

 

Picture of the week

 

Metropolis_a critical review of the Venice Biennale

“Freespace” Shows That Architects Must Retool Their Relationship to Power—and to the Biennale

Review: At this year’s edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, there was little evidence of a discipline coming to grips with pressing issues.

http://www.metropolismag.com/homepage/venice-architecture-biennale-review/?utm_source=Main+List&utm_campaign=d13ca23196-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_02_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ceb057ffe6-d13ca23196-290296165&mc_cid=d13ca23196&mc_eid=d810f19d64

Kenneth Frampton received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale

The architecture critic/theoretician who wrote so eloquently about Carlo Scarpa – see this weeks available texts – wins a lifetime achievement award.

https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/13422-interview-with-kenneth-frampton?id=13422-interview-with-kenneth-frampton&ajs_uid=0229H2750601H3U&ajs_trait_oebid=3782E0258467B1M

A weekend in Milano

This week had some great highlights. Some of my favorite places we visited were the Armani Silos, The Triennale, the Fondazione Achille Castiglioni, and the Ballet at La Scala. It’s really amazing to see such interesting designs by different people. At Armani, the reoccurring trend seemed to be the intricate beading on many of the dresses. Castiglioni said “Function, what a beautiful form” and this remained relevant in his designs. Another great week filled with many design lessons.

On our own time, we explored the city. One night, we decided to check out the club scene and danced the night away. We ate dinner at the authentic Trattoria da Mauro and had amazing pasta. We also went to some vintage shops and scored some sweet souvenirs for friends and family (as well as some things for myself). I downloaded an app called “LOST iN”, which also does publications, but the app is much easier to use on the go.

Also just a fun little story: One of the nights at our apartment, our electricity went out. We had no idea how to get it back on. We tried all the switches that our CA had told us to try. Pamela went knocking on our neighbors’ doors but no one opened. Finally, on the floor below us, an older woman named Lorenza came up to help us. She was extremely sweet and reminded all of us of our own grandmothers. The next day we bought her a small tiramisu cake. She (and her husband) were absolutely delighted. The day after that- she made us homemade spaghetti!! It was SO good. How lucky are we to get homemade cooking from a real Italian grandma???!

Alessi

Week 2 passed by so fast. By the end of the week, we went to the Alessi Museum. We had to wake up early and take a bus ride from the Cadorna station to there. The weather was cool and refreshing that very woke me up when we arrived the Alessi Museum.

These sculpture and building really caught my attention when we first got there. I didn’t know that it was a real project until later. But later, we were welcomed by Alessi’s stuff with a free hot drink which was a totally a plus to my personal experience at the museum. After the small break with my Italian cappuccino, the staff gave us a long but impressive lecture about the history and goals of Alessi as a company:

“A true work of design must move people, convey feelings, bring back memories, surprise, transgress… It must make us feel intensely that we are living our one single life.” —— Alberto Alessi

The criteria formula that they mentioned was interesting for me too:

SMI (Sensoriality Memory Imaginary) + CL (Communication Language) + F (Function) + P (Price) = SSS

For Alessi, it is almost impossible to make something that can be perfectly scored using this criteria test.  Therefore, Alessi would prefer to sacrifice the price and the function of the object to have a more personal and communicational product: “For Alessi, Design is not a simple formal project for an object but it is a sort of “overall philosophy”. ”

After the visit to the Museum and the lunchtime, I took a small walk with Moira in the city Omegna which was a really nice ending to my second week in Italy.

 

Picture of the week