SNOW!!! & Mt'e San Gorgio

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 -- 12:20pm
(PS. I do this at the beginning of every post because apparently blogger sucks at figuring out what time zone I'm in)

SNOW IN RIVA! We finally got some snow here. It made everything even that much more beautiful. It was only like 2 inches and a lot of it melted by the morning, but it is snowing again now. So I'll post some pictures of that.
Also, I realized I never posted about my hike to the top of Mt'e San Gorgio, one of the two mountains that create the valley that Riva San Vitale sits in. I went with Rick, Chris, & Gavin. It was a brutal hike, but soooo rewarding. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top but it is like straight up the entire way. It's about an 800 meter climb. When it gets warmer and there isn't snow I plan on hiking Mount Generoso which is the other mountain creating the valley. That is about an 1800 meter elevation change and takes all day. About 5 1/2 hours up. The views were absolutely incredible and were definitely the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed.

Looking towards Lugano from Mt'e San Gorgio

We are going to Vals, Switzerland in two days to stay in Peter Zumthor's Thermal Bathes. I also get my first chance to snowboard in the Swiss Alps. It's going to amazing, and freezing (apparently). There will definitely be a post this weekend after that trip.

Riva chillin'

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 -- 6:01PM

I haven't posted in a couple days because I've just been chilling in Riva the last week or so. We had our first pinup Tuesday (yesterday) of our Monastery proposals. We were all expected to be in studio most of the weekend which had it's highs and lows. It would have been nice to get out and explore Mendrisio or hike San Gorgio or San Generoso (the two mountains creating the valley we live in) but we had to push ahead in our projects. I plan on hiking on of them tomorrow morning, since we have Thursdays off to do what we want. I'm going to upload the only recent images I have, aka sketches/models of iterations I used for my pinup. We are going back to Lugano Saturday and then we have Vals/Sumvitg next Thursday/Friday! I can't be more excited for the Zumthor's Thermal Bathes in Vals and more Zumthor in Sumvitg. I think we get to go snowboarding as well!!! More to come about all of that...

The discussion went until 10pm...hopefully that never happens again. At least it was a good discussion.

(Our site is on a crazy hill with multiple terraces)

Chisea di Santa Croce

View of Riva San Vitale and the Canton Ticino from the bell tower

January 20, 2012 -- 6:19PM

In Riva San Vitale there is a very old Baptistry that dates back to the late 1500s. We saw it on the first day here and it happens to be the site of our studio project this semester. It is the church of Santa Croce. It has been closed to public for the winter while a man restores some of the flooring and the holy water baths. We ran into him the other day and he said he would allow us in today to take pictures and whatnot. We spent some time there and it was amazing to see how rugged it is. We have already been able to see extremely pristine churches with amazing detail and perfect ornamentation and paintings, but this one actually had some signs of it being crafted and painted by a normal human. It was wonderful to see. We were able to get through the door that opens to the spiral staircase leading to the top of the bell tower. It was quite breathtaking.

Some of the flooring patterns

This is a crawl space above the alter in between the ceiling in the roof.

Staircase to the bell tower

Lugano, Switzerland

January 20, 2012 -- 3:40PM

Yesterday we traveled 15 minutes north to Lugano. It is the nearest "city" to us. It is very small and tucked in between the mountains on the Ticino River, just like Riva. It is an absolutely beautiful city. You can find anything from high design fashion/high end food/high end, international businesses to small businesses, small shops, small cafes, and brilliant parks. The architecture was absolutely amazing. It was like every other turn you took you found at least one nice building/detail to take a picture of. Many famous architects have built in this city such as Mario Botta and Thomas Durisch. We met with Lucy Ferrari, who founded this program with her husband who is the founder of Virginia Tech's College of Architecture.

Università della Svizzera italiana

Biblioteca

This building used to have an operable shading system but it broke within the first year

Mario Botta building

Milano, Italia

This is funny

January 16, 2012 -- 11:50PM

Today we took a day trip to Milan, Italy. The city began as an Industrial Engineering city making it a hub for train travel for exports/imports. When design became to consume Western Europe a great deal of Italian design came from Milan. Beginning with industrial designs, it took off into the world of art, architecture, and fashion. Fashion took the city by storm with designers such as SuperStudio, Armani, etc. This weekend was actually men's fashion week in Milano, so we were able to see a lot of models and showcases going on. Milan has a lot of style but is extremely juxtaposed by it's almost run down looking buildings. Most of the design headquarters are located behind the elder facades in the inner-block courtyards. Funny enough, Milan is Italy's finest fashion district and one of the best for fashion in Europe/the World.

We got to see the Duomo, an amazing Gothic church.

Another castle in Milan

I wasn't as overwhelmed and impressed with Milan like I thought I would be. Part might be because it was super cold all day, or because we just toured around the streets for the most part and didn't really have main destinations in our tour. We didn't get a chance to see Palazzo Lombardia, unfortunately, so I will definitely be returning for that and some other important places. It's only 45 minutes away so this is the first of many trips. This is probably my last post for a couple days since classes will start and we won't be traveling to crazy awesome new places everyday. Maybe a trip to Mendrisio on Thursday!

Ps. Their street art is amazing!

Castles and Chapels -- Bellinzona, Switzerland

Castelgrande

January 15, 2012 -- 11:55PM

Today we took a 45 minute train trip north to Bellinzona, Switzerland, a town found in the connection of two valleys created by the Alps. This town is defined by 3 large castles and it's main chapel. Back in the 1500s when glacier erosion finally cleared the area, the Castelgrande was constructed to block the trading routes for taxing. The Montebello and Sasso Corbaro were also built to extend the barracks so the traders couldn't get through the valley without running into the walls of the castles which all connected. The Ticino River ran mostly through this area making it easy to control the traders coming through. But that's enough history blabber. Here are some pictures...

Castelgrande from the remains of the wall

Castelgrande - One of the towers we were able to get to the top of

Montebello

Draw bridge at Montebello

Unknown Architects' villa addition in Bellinzona

There are more pictures from the trip on my Facebook. Tomorrow we are up early again to take a day trip to Milano, Italy. It's men's fashion week there so we should see a lot of activity. Until then...

Ciao!

Finally Here! -- 11:22PM

After a little bit of flight delays I finally made it to Milan, Italy around 8:30AM Central European Time...aka 2:30AM Eastern Time. We had an amazingly beautiful taxi trip up to Riva San Vitale, Switzerland to find our home (as seen above).


We immediately checked in and toured the small town. It is absolutely incredible. The only way I can describe it is that every building was planned so beautifully, not only as an individual building but as a part of a whole. No matter where I pointed my camera today, it resulted in a beautiful picture. Everything just seems to be perfectly in place whether it be a 200 yr old building or a 10 yr old building. It all blends perfectly and flawlessly.


We helped Paola, our professor, set up the studio this afternoon, which is located on the top floor of the Villa (the three center windows on the front facade of the villa). My bedroom is connected adjacent to studio, so I will literally be living in studio.


Calling it early tonight since we have all been up for almost 24 hours due to our overnight flights. More images to come once I sort through all the pictures I took today of the villa and the town. Let's just say I have already easily fallen in love with this place and I still have 4 months to enjoy it.

Welcome

Here we go!

In 4 days I will embark in one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far. I will be living in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland for 4 months. Not only will I be studying Architecture, but studying a new culture and taking in as much as humanly possible during the process. I will attempt to frequently update this blog with hundreds of pictures and narratives of my life during this semester. I will attempt to keep my posts frequent, brief and full of pictures because nobody wants to read a bunch of words.

I assume my next post will be my first day in town, January 13th. Until then...CAIO!