Europe Journal: Home Base

An interesting aspect of the European journey was the ability not to stay in hostels or hotels, but to live in some of the places that people actually inhabit in these cities.  This was done courtesy of crashing on my sisters couch in London, and utilizing the fabulous air.bnb for finding amazing flats to stay at along the way (highly recommended btw). 

This yielded an interesting experience in understanding cities not as a tourist, but in the words of Rick Steves - as a "temporary local".  More on some of these home bases and the ways in which one connects with a certain neighborhood, but for now, I found it interesting, via Google Earth, to look at the locations in comparison of urban form - each one at approximately the same scale - with a yellow dot on where we lived.

London  (Waltham Forest)

Barcelona (Gracia)

Rome (2 locations in Coliseum/Forum area)

Siena (near the Duomo)

Europe Journal: Diana Memorial Fountain

Located at one of the far ends of Hyde Park in London is the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, an elegantly curved ring of water opened in 2004 (design by Kathryn Gustafson  from her London office of Gustafson Porter).  Although somewhat controversial, I found the feature quite engaging, even experiencing it late in the day in somewhat rainy weather.  The flattened perspective gives subtle hints to the overall shape, but invites exploration.

Simple pathways were added after the fact due to some issues with sogginess, but are done pretty well.  You can never really see the entire feature in one view due to some subtle berming of the interior areas as well.

The movement and sound of water is subtle as well, with a variety of textures and smooth falls that glide along - not rushing rapids, but a trickling and bubbling that is peaceful.

Some details show the different water flow characteristics, and you see the construction technique of the individual computer-cut pieces of granite connected together at intervals - a sort of sculptural feat in it's own right.

 

The aerial shows the overall configuration of the oval, with some of the context of the adjacent Serpentine Lake.

Unfortunately, videos of the features didn't make it back from Europe with me - so there is the missing experiential aspects and the sound and movement of water - which is really part of the experience.  If you are in the area, definitely worth a side trip to check it out for yourself

Europe Journal: Signs of the Times

A photographic exploration of a few of the more interesting tidbits of signage from the recent travels to Europe.  Enjoy.

Sad day when you need prohibit street musicians (London)

Excellent advice for those from the states (London)

Creative sign manipulation (London)

The Catalan spirit continues (Barcelona)

Closeup of doors of the Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)

Taking advantage of contrast on the Mediterranean Sky (Florence)

The Communal Water - Gaia Fountain in Il Campo (Siena)

A metaphor riffing on 'Dead End Street'?  (Rome)

Remnants of Roman Power - Obelisk in the Piazza de Popolo (Rome)

Cardinal directional markers in St. Peters Square (Vatican City)

Europe Journal - Green Wall Art

Sep. 17:  On a rainy day next to Trafalgar Square we discovered a somewhat odd installation of a living wall adjacent to the National Gallery which I of course had to sprint over to check out. 

Closer inspection shows it to be a living representation of Van Gogh's 'A Wheatfield with Cypresses' painted in 1889 and rendered here in a variety of plantings.  As sponsor GE mentions, the idea is to bring art to life... and they also have developed a companion website that includes a montage of photos from viewers that tweet photos of the installation.

Is the translation from art to living wall a success... I guess that is in the eye of the beholder.  Decide for yourself.

L+U Travels - The Prelude

England, Spain, Italy.  While a couple of weeks is not long enough to spend in any one of these countries (or cities for that matter), the agenda is set.  Thus I'm considering an upcoming trip to Europe and actual vacation (what the hell is that?) and a scouting trip for further visits.  The itinerary starts in London, where my sister recently moved to  so definitely no shortage of things to see.

:: image via Boston magazine


I definitely want to check out some of the early green spaces such as Hyde Park (below) as well as some of the newer public spaces but mostly, as with many of the destinations, not trying to see the sights but rather experience the place.  That said, any ideas for some more contemporary must-see public space, urbanism, open spaces - drop a line.

::  image via Fanpop


A off-the-beaten path highlight we will travelling to our birthplace in Mildenhall (near RAF Lakenheath where our father was stationed in the early 1970s).  I alas, spent my first six weeks there prior to be shipped back to the states, so this is a long-awaited homecoming and should be a wonderful part of the trip.

:: image via England Road Ways

A quintessential English town north of London, a google search yields more photos of uniforms and jets than the actual character of the town - but this one gives you a bit of the flavor.

:: image via Pfann Photography

London and family hang-out will lead to Barcelona, a city that has held fascination for me for many years.  The significance of the city has been reinforced in some recent readings discussing the transformation of the old city into the more modern gridded perimeter by Ildefons Cerdà in the 1850s.  His plan shows the application of the grid on the more organic old town.

:: image via Wikipedia

Any trip to Barcelona must of course include Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell, some of the amazing urban design built for the 1992 Olympic Games and and I particularly fascinated by the Catalan 'modernisme' from the late 19th to early 20th century.  And of course a wander down Las Ramblas is definitely in order...

:: image via here in van nuys

Finally, a hop over to Rome where one could spend months without making a dent in - so some of the main sights of course... what to see, is the problem.  Villas, Vatican, Colosseum, Pantheon... uh, yep, its rome.

 :: image via zoodoo's world

Although maybe not a problem, as I am perfectly content to do some sight-seeing by let vacation-mode take over I feel like sitting and drinking along a cafe and taking in some of the street life.

:: image via Life by Days

For a little variety, we are staying in two different neighborhoods in Rome as bookends with a trip up to Tuscany to see Florence and Siena in the middle.  Florence to me says art and the Ponte Vecchio - with some chill time that will perhaps include a bottle of wine, or two.

:: image via Wikipedia

While Florence is amazing - my heart is in Siena - most likely standing in the Piazza del Campo... thinking of the wonder's of history... (and why public space is so different in Europe than the US)...

:: image via Wikipedia

Or maybe just absorbing the adjacent hillsides from the top of the campanile...

:: image via Wikipedia

Either way, for all of these cities and countries, I will be looking forward to replacing guidebooks, historical records and internet images with good actual imagery and experiences... stay tuned mid-late September for some posts - infusing landscape, urbanism, history and more in these amazingly rich areas of the world.  A taste perhaps, part vacation, part urban studies, part landscape architecture research.  What could be better.