As part of my teaching for the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Rome Program in Architecture this year I have worked hard to bring as many voices as possible into the (virtual) classroom. My small group of students, working from home (in California for the most part) are already feeling isolated during these difficult times and listening to me for hours on end isn’t going to solve that. I have …
I spent a blissful hour lounging on the banks of the Tiber today, taking in the September sun after several days of rain. I had put off my “site inspection” of the much awaited urban beach but I chose an excellent day to visit. The recent installation of grass, beach chairs and cafe furniture along the left bank between Ponte Sisto and Ponte Mazzini should be seen as a pilot …
As an American living in the heart of Rome (for almost thirty years now) and involved in teaching and travel consulting, the changes that I’ve seen since the start of the year and their impact on me have been enormous. In February I was scouting a program in the southern Italy and heard people on the Naples subway jokingly commenting about the Asian tourists they saw and the disease they …
We’re dealing with big problems, can we deal with the biggest of all? I took a long walk through Rome this morning, did a little sketching, enjoyed the late spring weather, the clean air after days of rain, the beautiful light illuminating rich colors of faded stucco, bubbling fountains, flowering trees and gleaming stone. But walking I reflected on the state of the world, swept by storm after storm. The …
As the coronavirus lockdown continues into its second month in Italy the mood has changed from the early collective sense of urgency and participation to a more reflective consideration of what could happen next. It is much easier to focus on the present and to repeat the mantras of “stay home” and “wash your hands” than it is to envision the world as it will change when the immediate medical …
Italy has been in the headlines and the attention of the world is focused on the European country with the most (though not the first) cases of the Covid-19 virus. We have an excellent public health care system and the medical profession moved quickly to extend Coronavirus testing wherever there was suspicion of outbreaks (one of the reasons for the particularly high numbers of positive results). For a country famed for often …
Yesterday I took a train to a small town outside of Rome to spend the day with my son who recently moved there. Descending, I notice a number of passengers greeted in English by a smiling hostess. “Are you here for the wine tour?” Soon a dozen mostly Americans (a fact gleaned from the “where are you from?” chatter I heard in passing) were following her up into the town. They probably had a great experience and tasted some lovely wines, but it left me reflecting on the problem of “turistificazione”, a term I had just read in an article about airbnb and its effects on our cities.
Any season has its reason, and every city shines under different lights at different times. Aside from whether or not that really means anything, Rome is worth visiting, even (especially?) in winter. Here are three reasons and a bunch more photos to explain why. 1. Far Fewer Tourists If you think of yourself as a tourist when you come to Rome, you might note the irony of trying to avoid …
For my readers in Rome (at least those with Italian language skills and architectural interests): come to the talk by Piero Sartogo this Friday 17 May 4:00 pm at the Sapienza University Architecture Department, Aula Bruno Zevi.
On Sunday I went out on my bike with the intention of filling some pages in a little sketchbook, pages that have been empty for too long. Somehow I found myself leaving Italy to enter Vatican City, inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the first time in years. I live less than a mile from Pope Francis but it is rare that I drop in on his little nation. The few …