Archinect - Kansas State University (Bo)

Pop-Up Urbanism

2012-02-11T18:59:00-05:00

In the last post, I outlined the theoretical foundation for my study abroad proposal from Spring 2011. The project, in short, was about contextualizing temporary events within the culture and history of a significant place.

Thom Browne, Pitti 75 (via http://foreverydaypeople.net/2011/09/28/the-uniformity-thom-browne-at-pitti-uomo/)

Most of the research for the project was taken on weekend trips to Florence. Through the week, I would read Florentine history and prepare an itinerary which would take me to historically significant buildings with ties to the history of fashion within the city. I would then take pictures, map my route, and make notes on each place I visited.
These were compiled into master maps, which were used to determine the most meaningful route through the city.

Composite of Mapping Exercises

The route was broken up into four segments:

The first route (A), from the train station to the first major venue (Brunelleschi's Ospedale degli Inno...

Catch-Up/Catch-All

2012-02-09T19:11:00-05:00

It's the home stretch....

As the end of my time at K-State rapidly approaches, I decided it would be a good idea to pick up my Archinect blog for this final semester. To properly put the current term in perspective, I will try to do a series of short posts replaying the events since my last post.

The last time I posted, I was a few weeks into a semester abroad in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Most of the semester was devoted to travel, but we also were tasked with developing an independent study project located somewhere in Italy.

My project for the semester, titled "Pop-Up Urbanism," dealt with temporary event spaces and their relation to the urban fabric, culture, and history of a city. The end goal was to create a narrative locating contemporary design culture within the broader climate of a city's past. This becomes increasingly important in historically significant cities (like Florence) that are still struggling to acclimate to globalization and the digital age.

...

Rome and the Mnemonic City

2011-03-04T18:34:08-05:00

Currently reading: Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

After starting and stalling four different times on a post about Florence, I’ve decided to move forward…

Last week was our first Rome trip. To be more accurate, it was comprised of Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capris, and, briefly, Naples. The content and composition of the city is breathtaking, containing iconic historical sights from thousands of years of history, from the Etruscan to the Roman to the Baroque.

Our home-base for the week was the Hotel Albergo Sole, next to the Teatro di Pompeo, the historical site of Julius Caesar’s death at the hands of Liberatores of the Roman Senate. Hotel Sole occupies a small lot south of the Piazza Navona (which contains Borromini’s Sant'Agnese in Agone and Bernini’s Four Rivers Fountain).

Piazza Navona

To supplement our travels, we’ve been asked to read Timeless Cities by David Mayernik, explaining the evolution of the most important Italian cities. In the first chapter, which deals with Rome,...

Injured Reserve

2011-02-02T16:33:17-05:00

Sidelined.

On Monday I hurt (pulled? strained?) my Achilles Tendon, leaving me virtually sedentary and only able to handle small amounts of walking and even less stair-climbing. It’s unfortunate because the city is basically one huge hill with a large amount of precarious, winding alleyways and steps. The study center itself is a scene from a MC Escher lithograph. Because of this, I have spent the last three days indoors, missing a temperature spike into the low-50s and a trip, today, to Florence (including tours of San Miniato, Santa Croce, and a short excursion to the Ponte Vecchio). Luckily, we’ll be going back to the city next week (with some tentative plans to make it up there on Saturday for a chocolate fair [yum]).

Tomorrow, I’ll be seeing a physical therapist in the afternoon, although I assume she’ll tell me what I already know: elevate, ice, and rest. We’ll see.

As I've been out of commission, I've been thinking about accessibility. Living in a city in which defensibili...

First Steps

2011-01-26T12:24:31-05:00

Buonasera a tutti!

After a month and a half of general laziness and sloth, followed by a furious week of packing and portfolio-creation, and culminating in 17 hours of airplanes and two meals of airplane food, sono qui!

The reality of being in Italy is a bit surreal, and the picturesque landscape and town make it even more so. Jet lag has been mild (incredible meals and the after-lunch siestas have helped) and the study center is starting to feel like home. It's been an interesting feeling of liminality as we transition into our new surroundings, with the understanding that we will be here for the next three months. Not speaking the language in any kind of fluid or even recognizable form in addition to having not fully grasped the local culture and traditions leaves one feeling vulnerable, but the city has been warm and welcoming thus far.

Home base for the semester is Santa Chiara, a converted convent located in the hill city of Castiglion Fiorentino, in the Arezzo region of Tu...

Introduction

2011-01-19T17:48:48-05:00

Hello Archinect, I'm Bo, nice to meet you.

As I write this (my first) blog entry, I sit in a model-strewn man cave in the basement of my parent's house in Kansas City, frenetically trying to arrange my life before I depart to Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. I will be spending the spring semester in this small Tuscan hill town which is about an hour south of Florence.

Now for the customary background information:

I am currently studying in my fourth year at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. The program is a five year non-baccalaureate accredited Master's degree, which means that this will be my last undergraduate semester before I begin the only year of graduate school.

I grew up in a suburb Prairie Village, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. Despite having a totally skewed and nebulous understanding of the profession, there was always this latent understanding in my mind that I would grow up to be an architect. When it came time to graduate, despite flirting with other m...