Visiones de una Ciudad Renovada // Visions of a Renewed City

I penned this essay for a scholarship application which asked us to take a stance on key issues in our society that architects today must deal with. I didn’t have to look very far, as San Antonio has a multitude of urban planning issues it faces in the upcoming future…

“To position itself as a world class city that respects its past while looking to the future, San Antonio must come up with a long term vision for the best use of buildings that stand vacant, including those with a historical designation. San Antonio needs to achieve a thoughtful balance of existing buildings and new complementary buildings. Despite calls for new skyscrapers and development, city officials and architects would do well to instead come up with a plan to revitalize what is already here, as a vital part of a long term plan. Reinvigorating long neglected historical buildings will also help to alleviate the pressing issue of excess building vacancies in the downtown area.

With renewed interest in a thriving city center counterbalancing San Antonio’s long-time urban sprawl, the time is ripe for refocusing on the downtown infrastructure. And with land resources on the path to exhaustion as a result of the introduction of major highways and a culture centered around personal vehicular transport, what was once a blank canvas is now nearly completely filled in.

For a prime example of this issue, look to the immediate environment surrounding the UTSA downtown campus. While the campus is an active and lively space, one simply has to walk one block in any direction in order to come across numerous vacant and neglected buildings that are deemed historical by the San Antonio Conservation Society. This is not a unique situation in our city. Countless other examples similar to this are seen frequently within the downtown corridor. With the red tape that surrounds the development of these buildings, it is plain to see why many developers would prefer the easier route. Yet, redevelopment can actually strengthen the local community. By gaining an understanding of the problems associated with these buildings, an architect can formulate solutions to repurpose a building to fit changing societal and community needs. The surrounding community witnesses not a tearing down and starting all over process, but a respectful one in which a building that is already part of the community is thoughtfully renovated to increase community utility.

To look for precedents in adaptive reuse at such a large scale, we can look to San Francisco, California. One of the main tourist attractions and first examples of en masse repurposing is the Ghirardelli Factory Square. Once a bustling area that produced chocolate, landscape architect Lawrence Halprin recognized the inherent potential of the abandoned buildings and sought to humanize them in order to relate to everyday people. By reanimating the existing buildings, he successfully instilled a new sense of purpose. Today, it is one of the premier attractions in the city.

Similarly, San Antonio is in a unique position to preserve its historical buildings while simultaneously repurposing them to fit changing needs. Before major changes are made to the city’s skyline, it is important to look at what is already here and work together to use the existing infrastructure as building blocks towards our city’s bright future.”

Even having just written this earlier this year, a whole wide range of new development is taking shape in San Antonio. Frost Bank is currently planning a new skyscraper adjacent to their existing one downtown. One only hopes that it breathes fresh new life into the downtown corridor where beige and tired looking buildings dominate the skyline. San Pedro Creek is being planned into what I dubbed, ‘Riverwalk 2.0″, a more intimate riverwalk experience that caters more to residents of the city who hope to avoid the long strip of bars and hotels that we actively skip around.

San Antonio has a bright future, but it will take the right blend of modern interjections and cultural considerations to fully realize its veiled potential.

Roma parte due // Rome part 2

What a semester! I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to spend 3 months in Urbino, Italy to study architecture and immerse myself in Italian culture. In between, we were able to take day trips to towns like Assisi and Gradara, while taking long weekend trips with the group to Roma, Firenze, and Venezia. After finals, a few of us decided to fly out a few days later so that we could go spend some more time in Roma. Having been our first long trip, we felt rushed and wanted to go back to see new sights (and recapture the 400 photos I accidentally deleted off of my camera). I’m still not fully sure how I feel about the city yet.  I like how large it is so its easy to see a lot without getting bored. But on the other hand, because of its size, its very dirty and disorganized. Traveling out of the main touristy spots back to our flat led us to seeing a different side of the city, away from the manicured street signs and decorations and towards the unlit streets and homeless camps 50 meters away from where we slept. Similarly, Venice had another side to it if you looked more closely at the graffiti on the walls. “Let’s Strike”, in simple lettering was pretty common and served as a stark contrast to the richness of the city. Despite its wealth, the cities residents were obviously unhappy, a stigma that was further perpetuated by the two strikes that were held while we were there for 4 days. That being said, there did seem to be a harmonious relationship between the discontent and the rest of the cities. If i were to go back again I’d definitely explore it a bit further, as 3 days was just enough for a second time to get a further glimpse into the different social structures.

Overall, if I had the choice, I’d definitely do another trip like this. Texas is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but there is something about the Italian people, culture, and landscape that is unparalleled in the rest of the world. I felt like I was walking in a painting at some points, and literally was at another when I was asked to hold still as my figure was placed into a watercolored scene. One thing I didn’t expect was the vast amount of churches in Rome and in Italy as a whole. Rome itself has over 2,000 churches, and surprisingly, only one of them was Gothic. A few weeks in though, they all started to blend together, with exception of course to St. Peters Basilica and La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. There is something to be said about the extent of Christianity and the massive reach it had uniting a region for over 2,000 years.

This truly was the greatest experience of my life and I am grateful to have had the support of my family, friends (old and new), and my school. I am taking these memories with me and getting excited for what’s next to come.

More pics/thoughts to come as soon as I get fully settled back into life in the United States. Stay tuned!

Venezia // Venice

At long last our group made it to the final weekend trip of the semester. Venice did not disappoint. A city built from the wealth of its inhabitants, no detail was spared.

I was a little apprehensive because of all the talk about having to take water taxis, or, vaporettos, around as the main form of transport. But, as we took the first ferry through the islands towards Lido, my fears faded as I was fully distracted by the great views in every direction. The first day we arrived in the evening at our hotel on the island of Lido, around a 25 minute bus ride from the island of Venice. Tired from the day of traveling and sightseeing from Vicenza, we opted to just relax on our island for the rest of the day, checking out the deserted beach and walking down the few main streets that were there. The beach itself was empty, as high season in the area isn’t for another month or two away. Gates closed off a few areas we wanted to go but the change in scenery away from pure concrete/stone/asphalt environments was nice enough for the day.

The next day we head out in the morning towards the city with the group. Though 2 hours into our day seeing the sights in Piazza San Marco, the professor had a change of heart and gave the rest of the weekend to us. We didn’t complain. At the suggestions of the professor, we went out to the Cementerio, Murano, and  Burano and spent the day out there to get some nice pictures. But, we all really knew he just didn’t want to run into us on the island anymore. If you go to Venice though, traveling to these islands is a definite must, as they all have unique qualities to them.

The Cementerio was a breath of fresh air, as its the least crowded of the surrounding islands. I was surprised that most of the graves were relatively recent (70’s-early 2000’s) but later found out that it is a symbolic temporary resting place for the Venetians before being moved somewhere else. There are a few permanent additions though from important merchants and politicians along the outer edges of the site. The thing that was most surprising though was that there were pictures on each of the graves.

Murano was probably my favorite part of this day though. Ever since I saw a live demonstration of glass blowing at a festival in San Antonio, Texas, I’ve always appreciated it and have collected a few pieces myself. We must have went into 50 different shops looking at all of the different glass. As amazing as it was though, I couldn’t help but feel offput by the signs on local craftsman doors calling attention to fake Murano glass imported from China and machine made. It made it a little more pricy to find legitimate glass you could feel comfortable buying, but the quality was there, and typically the store owners were more knowledgeable of the pieces and methods of creation.

Burano was the most reserved of the islands. Sure, it had its touristic streets with restaurants lined up, but venture down a back street or two and you find yourself in complete silence. The colorful facades are what draws everyone to the island, originally meant to differentiate themselves when the fishermen came home from the day. Lace is popular here as well, but I can’t say I looked at pieces for more than a minute.

Venice is a completely different island on its own. Its jam packed full of tourists, as one of the most visited places in Europe all together. We were on our own from here, but not before the professor could give us an assignment to go on a Carlo Scarpa scavenger hunt around the city. Most of our walking followed a map that had his works laid out. What surprised me most about Scarpa is that I actually appreciate his work in/on/outside of existing buildings more so than his architectural work creating a building from nothing. The time in between buildings was spent getting lost on accident trying to navigate our way with maps that didn’t have all of the streets, tourist shops that sold a specific boating hat people in the group wanted, and of course finding the best gelato (this required a tasting of 10 minimum gelaterias).

Venice was similar to Rome in that there were protests while we were there. Though in Rome it was more football related, as AS Roma had beaten Feyenoord in Champion’s League, Venice saw out strikes by the vaporetto workers who stopped running boats for a few hours throughout the day. While taking a vaporetto back to Venice from the Cementerio, there was a dummy hanged from the wall dressed in the worker’s attire. We made it a game to find the most graffiti with the tagline, “Let’s strike!” around the city in alleyways. The most we found was 7.

Verona + Vicenza // Verona + Vicenza

This extra long weekend the group was able to make it out to the Venezia area to visit a multitude of buildings and cities. Because of the length, I thought it best to separate the trip it into two posts, this first one focusing on the days in the cities of Verona and Vicenza in Northern Italy.

We first traveled to Verona to start off the trip and our first stop was of course the Castlevecchio Museum renovated/designed by the architect Carlo Scarpa. Scarpa is a favorite among the professors at my school, so we all knew what we were in for when we arrived. Scarpa’s influence on this museum is found solely on spaces, adding to the building without subtracting. Due to the history behind the castle, the museum’s facade went untouched, leaving his mark everywhere else.

The experience when you first walk inside (after getting your ticket of course) is that you can sense a delicateness in the way materials and compositional elements come together. Scarpa as an architect truly epitomises the art of detailing and separating the old and new. Whether it be the new floor inserted on top of but separated from the original walls by 1″ to distinguish the two, or the peeling back of the roof at a corner of the building to expose the different layerings of its makeup, he sets out to create a sense of respect towards the past.

This staircase designed by Scarpa gently touched the historical remains of the castle while burdening most of its load on the left side hanging from the inserted structure above.

Photo showing the detailed corner in the courtyard of the Castlevecchio Museum. Note the peeled back roof and inserted windows behind the untouched facade.

Staircase leading up into the Lamberti Tower in Verona

I wasn’t really sure of what to see in Venezia in the two hours I had to explore so I took twisting turns down back alleyways and roads trying to find a Palladio work before I came across this neglected classical building. I liked the juxtaposition of the barbed wire in front of it, as it directly contrasted the fine facade on the street it lines. Unfortunately, the street was too narrow to get a good picture, but imagination in this case works just as well.

After wandering a bit more trying to find a good gelato, I turned down another road closer to the main piazza and found this entryway that lead into the Palladio Museum. From there, I wasn’t able to go in due to having to find my way back to the bus to Venice, but the courtyard was a nice welcome with some greenery away from the paved streets in every direction.

These first two days of the trip were rather okay. I think the anticipation of visiting Venice was on everybody’s minds and we were all trying to hurry through to get there faster. Palladio definitely left his influence in Vicenza, as I was able to find 7 of the however many works he has there in a close proximity. Scarpa’s Castlevecchio definitely lived up to the professor’s hype and I came away with 4 sketches in the time we were there. Who knew that a blogger who likes the finer details would enjoy an architect who’s sole purpose it seems is to excel at creating those same things.

Firenze // Florence

Florence is without a doubt my favorite Italian city that I’ve visited thus far. It was large enough to get the big city feel while not being close to as hectic as Rome was. Mainly, I appreciated not being asked to buy a selfie stick on every block I walked on.

Before getting to Florence, we stopped off in Siena where we learned about the struggle for who would come out on top during the beginnings of the Renaissance, rivaling nearby Florence in the Tuscany area. But, due to the black plague, much of the city was wiped out and all of the progress made had been lost.

This picture was looking up in a courtyard space at the large tower in Siena. Unfortunately, due to “weather conditions” (30 mph wind and snow never hurt anybody), access up was closed off.

Again, the overcast skies were unrelenting, but led to some dramatic pictures like this one of the underside of an arch, The duomo in Siena was originally built on one axis, but they ran out of room and only built on the opposite axis. This arch is the beginning of a facade being built that was left unfinished.

Dark colored and white stone is highly symbolic in Siena, representing the white and black horses of the nobles in the city. This is a view from underneath the arch looking towards the duomo.

After spending the morning and afternoon in Siena, we went on towards Florence. To end the day we traveled to the Accademia Gallery (location of Michelangelo’s sculpture of David). As good as a picture as I could get without being seen (I’m getting better at sneaking in shots), they had a cool gallery of string instruments on display that were used by the Medici family.

You could never have too much Michelangelo. The famous steps of his lead right up to this library space. Proportionally perfect, this space was just comforting to walk through. Detailing on the ceiling was intricately carved wood. On one end there are his steps, while behind me in this photo were remnants from ancient texts and artifacts from Pre-Roman times.

Photo of a 8th century church. This church is actually composed of 3 different churches all added onto one another as time progressed and new stylizations came about. This is the oldest of the three, where each of the column capitals were different, sculpted by various artists. Because of this, it has a different personality than the perfection found in newer churches. The space felt heavy and dormant.

Probably the toughest of the days walking wise, we climbed the dome and the tower seen in the shadow after walking around 8 miles throughout the city. It was exhausting but worth it. The history behind Brunelleschi’s duomo structure goes without saying, so this picture will suffice.

One of my favorite spots in visiting Florence was the San Lorenzo Market. Aside from all of the stalls lining the exterior streets with knockoff jerseys and fake leather, the interior was quite pleasant. Genuine Italian food ranging from pastas to meats to wine bars lined the outer edges while the interior was full of various seating types. Hanging lights shown below formed an artificial ceiling and helped contribute to the atmosphere. Below is a mural of photos the artist took himself and stylized to create the overall composition.

Overall, Florence was the favorite of everyone’s time spent in Italy so far. It seemed a bit more genuine than Rome, where tourist traps seemed to be less prevalent and if the effort was put in, local Italians would warm up to you (hello 15% Bistecca alla Florentina discount).

In addition to photography, the group had around 10 sketches at the end of the trip. I’ll dedicate a couple of posts to them once I get to a working scanner (currently 0 for 6). My sketches are definitely a work in progress, but they’re getting there. The hardest part is finding my own styling, but 15 minute pencil sketches seem to be working out fine.

The blog’s strayed a bit from its overall intentions, but starting a separate one seemed a bit pointless. So, enjoy these pictures from my time here until I can refocus back in the States!

Ciao until next time

Barcelona // Barcelona

With the little free time I’m able to get on this study abroad, blogging has been a great way to clear my head of all these experiences. Probably my favorite out of the 3 cities we traveled to for Spring break, Barcelona had everything. Between the architecture, delicious food, and not to mention me actually being able to speak the language when I got lost, it was just nice.

One of the buildings we visited on the first day we got there was the Disseny Musem, a building dedicated to showing off a range of subjects from fashion design to graphic, and from pottery to a case study of Barcelona’s urban expansions. Set into the more modern part of Barcelona, it stands out with a gigantic cantilever that is pointed towards the Sagrada Familia in the distance. I snuck down the employee staircase to take this photo that I saw from the ground floor balcony looking down the atrium. Between the dark green in the back, the dark grey reflections off the ceiling, and deep brown floor, it felt very calming. The reflecting pool outside certainly helped add to the overall aura in the building.

 

Right next door to the Disseny is Jean Nouvel’s Torre Agbar. Built for the Agbar corporation, the facade slightly resembles a QR code. Im kidding, but the facade with its random coloring and patterns was definitely a sight to see if you are ever there. The interior was remarkable, and the darkness and reflections are amazing. I wasn’t able to take pictures with security questioning why 5 random people wanted to take pictures of the skyscraper’s lobby, but try to go inside if you’re there.

 

It wouldn’t be Barcelona without visiting Antoni Gaudi’s works. Parc Guell is a place I visited once before in 10th grade, but didn’t remember at all. The liquid-esque forms Gaudi was able to imagine and design at the time period is great. Risk takers like Gaudi are far a few in between these days unfortunately. The building on the site were okay to be honest, it looked like someone melted a marshmallow on top and threw on sprinkles and this doesn’t come close to my favorite of his works. But, the hike around the park was great in itself with its views and who am I to say what a building should look like. I’d rather there be buildings like this than another cookie cutter replica of the newest trends in architecture.

 

The Sagrada Familia is easily my favorite piece of architecture I’e visited in all of Europe so far. This building exceeded my expectations, it blew them away. This building was ahead of its time, and would be difficult to build in 20 years even. The experience was ethereal, unlike any other church with its white interiors with vivid stained glass windows allowing light to bounce over the edges and curves. As amazing as the interior is only rivaled by the buildings exterior. Said to be completed in the next 20 years, its going to be worth another visit.

 

And lastly, though I wasn’t able to catch a game, I got to visit the home of my favorite football club, FC Barcelona. Bonus shot of me on the pitch included.

Next up is Paris, adios

Bruxelles / Brussels

Spring break finally came around and our first stop was Brussels (booked the night before like responsible architecture students). Aside from Belgian beers and chocolate, we didn’t know what to expect at all. But, it turned out to be pleasantly  similar to Austin, Texas, laid-back with 3 juicing shops on one street.

Throughout the streets we wandered and found a lot of contemporary buildings sandwiched between historic ones. Glass and steel were predominant, but we went through a lot of restored brick and stone buildings as well.

This cubed building in the government district served as the entrance to a conference center. Its structure was angled steel pipes supporting a glazed facade. Its a reserved design which is appropriate in this park. The contrast between the new and old parts of the city is something I have a few more pictures of. Sometimes architects get it right, but most of the time I feel that intervention buildings like this can feel out of place like the fish sculpture in Barcelona, Spain.

 

I never got a definite answer as to why the bottom half of these tree trunks were painted white, but I assume its for preservation. Either way, it made for a cool shot.

 

 

I had forgotten comic books are big in Belgium, and only remembered when I came across this mural on the side of the TinTin museum.

 

Overall, Brussels was a nice change of pace for the day and a half we were there from the bustling cities we’ve been visiting like Rome and Florence. As you can tell, lighting was pretty terrible, as it rained and was overcast our whole stay there.

Barcelona coming next, stay tuned

Prime Esperienze in Italia // First Experiences in Italy

As part of my major, there is a great opportunity for a study abroad experience in Italy, so these next few posts will have a little bit of change in content. So, along with 25 students, we are living in a small hilltop castle town in Urbino, Italy, in the state of Marche.

Words cannot even begin to describe the scenery and architecture here. Hopefully my posts will begin to tell that story. Here are a collection of my favorite moments in the area.

Hopefully I will have some more free time to do a complete write up, but these pictures will have to do for now.

ciao

Viaje a Fort Worth // Trip to Fort Worth

The Architecture studio takes a trip each semester to a place of significance in the field. The trip to Dallas was in the Fall, while this separate trip was taken in the early Spring semester, after a light snowfall. Thus, the all of the outdoor pictures are a bit dreary, but the buildings themselves were enjoyable. We ended up visiting another cluster of museums; This time designed by Louis Kahn, Renzo Piano, and Tadao Ando, who’s work I have quite an admiration for, as I really appreciate simplistic, concrete forms that respect and pay tribute to the natural environment around it.

 

Kimbell Art Museum  //  Louis Kahn_

This is considered to be one of Kahn’s greatest works, and is recognized deservingly because of its distribution of natural light. I’d almost describe the shading device as a delicate metal screen, which reflects light coming through an opening in the roof and almost bounces it towards the concrete walls, allowing for a pleasantly lit interior. Art doesn’t do well with direct light, so the soft light, is enhanced a little by the finished concrete. The Southern courtyard seemed to be overlooked by pretty much everyone, but gave more information about the plan of the building and how the curved roofline looked from the exterior. The strips of teal glazing on the exterior of the building lets in additional light, almost giving off the impression that the roof doesn’t come to an end, sort of like the light at the end of a short tunnel, which is essentially what the series of buildings are. The courtyard was purposed to be just that, but became a stage for a piece by Isamu Noguchi, aptly titled “Constellation.” It served as an homage to Kahn, whom Noguchi was friends with, and his interest in pre-historic architecture, placing sculpted basalt rock that recalled the menhirs in pre-historic times.

 

 

Kimbell Art Museum Expansion  //  Renzo Piano_

The expansion to the original Kimbell was long overdue, with additional space having been needed for 20+ years. The Piano expansion is a purely complementary piece of architecture, paying respect to the Kimbell, not trying to outdo it. With a simplistic exterior and plan, the complexity lies in the attention to detail. The facade of the building aligns perfectly on a grid layout with the Kimbell. The columns supporting the roof structure of the Piano building are directly in line with the beginning and ends of the forms of the Kimbell. Like the Kahn building, the Piano’s roof features a domed roof in the same direction, although it is more repetitive and at a smaller scale.

 

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth  //  Tadao Ando_

I was excited to come to this building in particular because of the Y-shaped columns used. We had watched a short documentary on how they overcame the problems associated in the design of them, as to how they would actually be put together. Eventually, they came up with the idea to build the V and I parts separately, and screwing the V shape on top, fastening it into place. This museum was definitely the most complex in terms of plan, where one side was dedicated to the art, while the other, a restaurant which led to the courtyard outdoors. As for the art, it was definitely more abstract and experimental than the ones found in the Kimbell + expansion, which I think is why I enjoyed this museum the most.

Looking up at a column supporting a catwalk

 

Overall, I’d give the trip a 9.5/10. It lost a point because it was ridiculously freezing, but was made up for the fact that I was able to eat some In-n-Out. Here is a bonus picture of me in front of a ridiculously large Richard Serra sculpture in front of the Ando building.

 

 

 

Viaje a Dallas // Trip to Dallas

Earlier this year the whole Architecture studio road tripped to Dallas, Texas to look at the Dallas Arts District. Its an area just North of the Downtown full of museums built by world renowned Architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Renzo Piano, Thom Mayne, and Norman Foster. After a grueling 6 hour drive to the city, we were finally able to explore the area, where a few of my best photos come from.

 

Perot Museum  //  Morphosis Architects_

This is one of the more visually stimulating buildings on the trip, as it was designed to cater to children, emphasizing the cool things about science, featuring exhibits on subjects from ridiculously large gems and minerals, to a studio which lets you take a more mathematical look at the physics of sports. I think I was a little more excited about everything than the kids that were there for the field trip.

View from the plaza in front. The protruding rectangular prism encloses an escalator

View from the escalator

 

Winspear Opera House  //  Foster and Partners_

I’ve visited this building before when my parents begrudgingly dragged me to a famous pianist whose name I can’t remember. I was 14, give me a break. However, I do remember the stark red interior of the building. In fact, that is the only part of the trip that I remember, having slept through the performance. Alas, we visited it in the daylight and I got to see just how massive the building is. I’d like to say the site is one half building, and one half shaded pavilion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Massive chandelier in the performance hall

Metal texture along seat railing

Wyly Theater  //  REX/OMA_

The Wyly was the most loud of the three buildings, with a distinctive facade made of vertical metal tubes, and a bright, lime green interior accents. The facade both reveals and hides, with a large patio on the roof of the building with views of the downtown. Unfortunately, we were unable to see the coolest part of the building, the transforming interior layout of the performance hall according to what the theater would be showcasing that night.

View from the Winspear

View from the rooftop patio

 

The Dallas Arts District is a symphony of its own, with each building complimenting the other. There’s no other place in the world where these world class architect’s have a chance to build in such close proximity to one another (Except for in Fort Worth, but I haven’t written that post yet). The whole day was pretty enjoyable; We stopped at the food truck lineup and had some delicious burgers on the way to the Nasher Sculpture Center by Piano. I kind of forgot to take pictures there, as I was enjoying the tensile pieces too much, so here’s a consolation picture of the famous shading device.