Yet another crazy week! In general I tried to cram as much studio time in as I could because 10 of my friends and I planned a weekend trip to Lugano, Switzerland, to see the American boarding school campus that our drawing professor designed! Fun fact, I have actually been to Lugano before when I was nine–we took a day trip while visiting my family in Italy. (Pictures of just Lugano are linked at the bottom)
I spent all of Monday working on my design project, and then we had a lecture in the evening with George Saumarez Smith from ADAM Architects. His lecture not only introduced us to his work, it also introduced us the process of measured drawing, the focus of our workshop with him the following day. He is a lively and engaging person and his work and drawings are incredible!
I had a great time at our Measured Drawing Workshop on Tuesday even though it was freezing and rainy! We were at the Villa Giulia taking measurements of architectural features and transferring them into detailed, scaled drawings in our sketchbooks.
On Wednesday my drawing class was at San Pietro in Montorio on the Janiculum Hill. The church originally had ties to Spanish Royalty and is currently part of the Spanish Academy. It has a unique Baroque chapel, the Raimondi Chapel, that was designed by Bernini and depicts the Ecstasy of St. Francis. The Tempietto, a tiny circular temple-like church designed by Bramante, is in the church’s courtyard and was the subject of our drawing. It was built on the supposed site of St. Peter’s martyrdom. The Tempietto’s early Renaissance design was considered so perfect it was regarded as classic ancient architecture.
My history class on Thursday was spent exploring the remnants of medieval Rome in the Trastevere neighborhood. Highlights of the class include a quick stop at our professor’s apartment to play with her cats and stops at many churches! For Italian Experience we went to Piazza del Popolo and walked down the Via del Babuino, which was and still is the artists’ quarter! We then went to Biblioteca Angelina and Sant’Agostino. The library was a spectacular space and open to the public so maybe I’ll try to study for finals there! We got to see a Caravaggio painting in Sant’Agostino!
On Friday morning we had class at two churches: Santa Maria in Cosmedin and San Giorgio in Velabro. Santa Maria in Cosmedin gained some fame from the movie Roman Holiday, when Gregory Peck’s character stuck his hand in the Bocca della Verita or Mouth of Truth. Unfortunately, we had to hurry to the next church so I couldn’t wait in line to stick my hand in but I plan on returning to do so! San Giorgio in Velabro is a small church that was destroyed and rebuilt many times, making it a unique collection from across history. Friday afternoon I had studio and worked till as late as I could before making dinner and finishing packing.
We left the Villa by 11 to catch our overnight bus to Milan, where we had a 2-hour break to explore before we caught the hour-long bus to Lugano. Once we arrived in Lugano, we hurried up to the TASIS (The American School in Switzerland) to meet its architecture teacher who kindly gave us a tour of the campus and buildings our own professor designed! Interestingly, too, our assistant rector used to work at TASIS. After we were done there, we hiked down the hill, stopping at the small church of Sant’Abbandio which had amazing views! After checking into the hostel, we went to the center of town for dinner. Afterward we explored a little, even though it’s a Swiss custom to close down and stay in Saturday night and most of Sunday. After grabbing some snacks, we went back to the hostel and watched a movie!
On Sunday we started the day with a stop at the grocery store to grab breakfast and food for a picnic lunch. We then walked through the city and by the lake to get to the bottom of Mt. Brè, where we took the funicular (an incline) up to the top! Once at the peak we enjoyed the views, took in the fresh air, discovered a small church, played on a playground, sketched in the sun, and ate our lunches! When we were finally able to pull ourselves away from the peak, we began our hike down the mountain! In total it took about an hour and 45 minutes as we wound our way through the woods and down the rocky path! Despite the strain on our knees, we loved it! At the bottom of the mountain, in a small village called Gandria, we caught a ferry back to Lugano. The ride was very scenic! After our morning and afternoon adventures we were pretty exhausted so we went to the hostel to grab our stuff, make a quick dinner, and rest up before our overnight bus ride back to Rome!
To see photos from Lugano, click here!
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