Aix-en-Provence is about 15 miles north of Marseille and is known simply as "Ex." This beautiful city is known as the 'City of a 1000 fountains' as many of its squares contain one (though I think its probably closer to 50 fountains as I saw it...). The assignment for the students today was one of scale. Looking for plazas with fountains, how big were the fountains? how much room was around them for people to walk by? how tall were the fountains in proportion to the adjacent buildings? what were the materials and forms of the fountains and what did they mean?
As a design instructor, I believe design can be taught, but scale (or the size of things) is discovered through experience. My students design a lot, but have rarely had a project built. The purpose of this assignment was to better understand space that is well designed so that when they return to California, they will be better at implementing these ideas into their designs. While scale can be similar in spatial design of landscapes all over the world, the scale of things in Europe is not even closely related to the Texas-size scale of things in the U.S. My washing machine in the apartment in Marseille holds a bunch of underwear, socks and a thin sweater with a full load. The dishwasher is like a single Fisher Paykel drawer and the refrigerator is the one we had in our college dorms. If you ask for a cafe (or coffee) there is no double grande, but a dixie cup size. What does this tell us about ourselves...?.
Back to Aix. The city is divided in half by the long promenade street called Cours Mirabeau. It divides the Medieval part of the city from the "new" 17th Century section. What I had not noticed in my last trips was the lack of an understory plant palette: there are only trees and hardscape. What is interesting about this is that the spaces do no look sterile without plants. In fact the plants would constrain the way the spaces could be used. We were drawing one plaza today which at 10am had a flower market in it. Within 30 minutes of the flower market's closure, the plaza was swept and restaurants pulled tables and chairs into the same place. Though it was relatively cold again today (50 - 60's with frigid wind), no one sat inside, but outside with a scarf, coffee and in a seat where they could see people. The paving is all stone with a variety of patterns (all neutral) which make it less sterile than the American use of concrete and asphalt. Additionally, the Medieval part of the city has unusual edges that are not symmetrical; however, this lack of uniformity makes the space all the more interesting and intimate. (Thought I'd insert an image of my students hard at work...)
While waiting for the bus, I took a couple more neighborhood photos. Check out the way the city and landscape are built as one.
As a design instructor, I believe design can be taught, but scale (or the size of things) is discovered through experience. My students design a lot, but have rarely had a project built. The purpose of this assignment was to better understand space that is well designed so that when they return to California, they will be better at implementing these ideas into their designs. While scale can be similar in spatial design of landscapes all over the world, the scale of things in Europe is not even closely related to the Texas-size scale of things in the U.S. My washing machine in the apartment in Marseille holds a bunch of underwear, socks and a thin sweater with a full load. The dishwasher is like a single Fisher Paykel drawer and the refrigerator is the one we had in our college dorms. If you ask for a cafe (or coffee) there is no double grande, but a dixie cup size. What does this tell us about ourselves...?.
Back to Aix. The city is divided in half by the long promenade street called Cours Mirabeau. It divides the Medieval part of the city from the "new" 17th Century section. What I had not noticed in my last trips was the lack of an understory plant palette: there are only trees and hardscape. What is interesting about this is that the spaces do no look sterile without plants. In fact the plants would constrain the way the spaces could be used. We were drawing one plaza today which at 10am had a flower market in it. Within 30 minutes of the flower market's closure, the plaza was swept and restaurants pulled tables and chairs into the same place. Though it was relatively cold again today (50 - 60's with frigid wind), no one sat inside, but outside with a scarf, coffee and in a seat where they could see people. The paving is all stone with a variety of patterns (all neutral) which make it less sterile than the American use of concrete and asphalt. Additionally, the Medieval part of the city has unusual edges that are not symmetrical; however, this lack of uniformity makes the space all the more interesting and intimate. (Thought I'd insert an image of my students hard at work...)
While waiting for the bus, I took a couple more neighborhood photos. Check out the way the city and landscape are built as one.
What wonderful way to join you in europe! Loving the description of everything....keep going!
ReplyDeleteI hope you can have a vicarious trip!
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