CUArchRome2012: Week 11

Jumping into the unknown, living in the moment, and just going for it, are terrifying ideas that create uncertainty. This week Professor Jenkins created uncertainty for us by not allowing time to think, he challenged us with urban design problems, telling us “Just Do It.” By rebuilding the urban fabric of selected cities with existing buildings removed, we created figural voids and attempted to reconstruct what we perceived was the original urban plan. Difficult to not spend hours strategically planning our every move, we learned to draw our thoughts as they came to us and not second-guess. Theses exercises led into this week’s project to design a theater in its surrounding urban context. Through a series of countless studies and applying skills from the pervious exercises, we have each created an urban space for a theater.

Diagrams From The Weekend Travels

Urban Design Exercise

Two Potential Theater Sites

Villa Giulia

Entrance To Villa Giulia

Experience The Villa and The Beautiful Weather

Sketching The Curve

Following the unknown, joined by Professor Jenkin’s family for an evening of wine tasting, we learned the art of deciphering between wines, quickly and efficiently, through color, smell, and taste. For many of us this was a new experience that led us to a new appreciation for the world of wines. Throughout our lives we will encounter the unexpected; this week taught us not to fear the unexpected, but to embrace challenges and to “JUST DO IT”.