December

So to kick off the start of December, Ruth Kidane, my good friend from high school, came to visit on the 3rd. She is studying in Valencia, Spain and got a chance to come visit for the weekend.

Wednesday the 3rd, we took a night tour of the city and stopped at the famous Bernini sculpted Four Rivers' fountain in Piazza Navona.

Then on the 4th we went over to Colosseum.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day, so before Ruth caught her flight back to Spain we went over to the greatest market in Rome- the famous, only-on-Sunday Porta Portese market. The market literally goes on for miles and miles and you can find anything you could possibly want. I got some soccer cleats, tennis shoes, and a belt, so I have to say that it was pretty successful shopping trip.

Monday the 8th, our History class toured the city and went to one of Borromini's masterworks the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. The church is designed with a series of ovals and curves, and has Borromini's trademark spiraling spire on top of the cupola.


Its kind of strange to end the entire month of December so abruptly, but that is the life an architecture student. For the last weeks of class in December, before Winter Break, I worked with the other 46 arkies to finish our Pienza project. The project consisted of a redesign of the historic city of Pienza in the Tuscany region of Sicily. The project was a highly regarded urban design project, which was reiterated by the jury we presented the project to. The jury included New Urbanists Leon Krier and Andres Duany, Italian Architect and Watercolorist Pier Carlo Bontempi, and the Mayor, City Planner, and City Architect of Pienza.

For my individual project, my partner Nick and I designed a theatre and cultural piazza for the city. Below are the three boards we presented for our design.

Oblique Elevations
Top: Oblique elevation of the piazza
Bottom: Oblique elevation of the theatre
Top Right: Scroll with Nolli of Proposed Piazza design
Bottom Right: Detail showing the location of the Piazza in relation to the entire city of Pienza
Elevation, Section, and Floor Plans of the theatre
Top Left: Front Elevation of the theatre
Bottom Left: Section of the theatre
Right: Scroll with Ground Floor Plan (Bottom of scroll) and First Floor Plan (Top of scroll)

Diagrams, Details, and Section of the piazza and theatre
Top: 4 Diagrams of the piazza design. From left to right: existing Nolli plan, existing Roof plan, proposed piazza design, and proposed underground parking diagram
Bottom Left: Entry Gate Detail
Bottom Middle: Section through theatre, piazza, and underground parking
Bottom Right: Fountain Detail

Thanksgiving in Dublin

For Thanksgiving my roommates and I had the chance to go visit Dublin and stay with my roommate Dan's friend at the University College Dublin (UCD) campus. Needless to say we immediately felt at ease back in an English speaking country, and on our first day we started our day with a tour at the Jameson Irish Whiskey factory.


After a tour through the Jameson factory, which included a brief history of the Triple-Distilled Jameson Irish Whiskey and an introduction to the brewing process, we got a chance to be certified Irish Whiskey taste testers. They put three different shots in front of us: one was Jack Daniel's, one was Johnnie Walker Black Label, and one was, of course, Jameson Irish Whiskey. After each shot that explained the smell, taste, etc differences between the whiskey types, and I have to say that I think Jameson was slightly better than Jack Daniel's.


Later that night, we got a chance to try shepherd's pie, the famous Irish dish of beef or lamb, vegetables, and lots ands lots of potatoes, at a restaurant called O'Neills. The funny story from the night was as we were eating shepherd's pie and enjoying some Irish cider (Bulmer's) a visibly drunk Irishman stumbled up to our table asking, "Where are you lads from?" After explaining that we were Americans studying abroad in Rome and visiting friends here in Dublin, he interrupted saying "You think you guys can drink. Well I have news for you! You may think you can get drunk, but you will never be able to get Irish drunk!" And just as quickly as he came, he stumbled away.


The next day we spent touring Dublin we stopped at the famous St. Stephen's Green and got a chance to relax and enjoy the amazing scenery.

We also got a chance to climb a tree in St. Stephen's Green, and Dan, who could not climb the tree (embarrassing!), got to take the picture.

After St. Stephen's Green, we went over to the Guinness Storehouse to learn all about the history and magic involved with the famous Dublin-based beer. It turns out Arthur Guinness was a pretty savvy businessman, and the tour turned out to be pretty amazing as walked up the 7 floors in a building which was designed as a large Guinness glass.


The next day we went over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Cathedral is the largest church in Ireland, and is an amazing Cathedral designed in the Gothic style.


After St. Patrick's Cathedral, we went on a night visit to the Dublin Castle.


Overall, it was an amazing weekend and it was great to spend time with the Notre Dame students studying in Dublin. The city has a great culture and it was nice getting in touch with my quarter-Irish heritage.