Taubman College We received an enjoyable account from Neal Robinson, lecturer in architecture and instructor for the architecture Florence studio:
The 2008 Florence studio recently completed a swashbuckling 15-hour trek through the tenuous matrix of Italian rail, bus, and just-in-the-nick-of-time connections to visit a collection of architectural wonders by Carlo Scarpa and Andrea Palladio. Thanks to the running speed of the students and the blood-pressure meds of the professor, Scarpa’s remote Museo Canova adddition in Possagno was visited, as well as his Brion Family Cemetery in San Vito d’Altivole. A stop at Paladio’s Villa Barbaro at Maser and a drive-by of the Tempietto rounded out the cat-napped, sack-o-snacks, bathroom-free morning. Off to Vicenza!
The afternoon found us joining the crowds at Palladio’s Villa Capra (La Rotonda) for lunch on the lawn and a visit inside the famed “perfect work.” Teatro Olympico and an assortment of 16 Palladian projects in downtown Vicenza were next up, along with some sleuthing to track down an apartment building by Carlo Scarpa. Returning to Padova for the train back Sesto, we convinced our bus driver to help us find Daniel Libeskind’s recently completed 9/11 memorial in Downtown Padova. After listening to the ground and activating the architectural mojo, Bingo! We found it. Nearing exhaustion, two students jumped ship towards Venice to scout out logistics for the next venture while the rest of us hopped the Eurostar home to a very good, very appreciated home-cooked meal. [Don’t tell the scouts!]
