A little more Italy

I've been on an Italian kick lately. I'm putting together a trip for myself and a couple of friends (are you reading this Saxon Henry and my beloved brother Steve?) for the fall. Houzz.com had me interview Milan-based architect Marco Dellatorre and seeing the modern face of Italy through his projects is making me ache for a return to the bel paese all the more.

Here's the piece I wrote for Houzz on Marco's loft in Milan. As much as I love southern Italy, Marco's loft makes me want to shift my attention north.

Houzz Tour: Warm and Seductive Loft in Milan

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The splendor of Ancient Rome in New York

On the morning of August 24th in the year 79, a sleeping giant awoke on the sunny shores of the Bay of Naples in what's now southern Italy.

Within 24 hours, Mount Vesuvius wiped out 700 years of human history and habitation. I have been all over the place but no places haunt me the way the surviving Roman ruins around the Bay of Naples do.

The Romans who lived in Pompeii were us and there's no escaping that. When you stand in their homes, in their shops or in their baths, Roman us-ness stares you in the face. Uncomfortably. The Romans were the ancient world's super power. They set the tone and led the world in innovation and culture. And they're not here anymore.

Their legacy is alive though. Every time you give somebody a birthday present, or celebrate Christmas in December, or root for a team in the Super Bowl you're living that Roman legacy. Being in a place like Pompeii drives that point home to an uncomfortable degree. Mercifully for us however, the Romans were a prolific lot and their artifacts are as numerous as they are widespread. As of the 4th of March, a new collection of those artifacts is in New York.

Discovery Communications' Discovery Times Square is an exhibit space the brings in immersive, large-scale, limited-run and educational experiences while exploring the world’s defining cultures, art, history and events.

Now through September 5th, 2011, Discover Times Square is exhibiting Pompeii The Exhibit: Life and Death in the Shadow of Vesuvius.

If you find yourself in or around New York at any point in the next six months, don't miss this. Discovery Times Square is at 226 West 44th Street. You can learn more about the exhibit and about the facility on their website.

It's the 2011 Mosaic Masterpieces tour

Two of my favorite people in fine art mosaic-dom are leading a tour of the great mosaics of Italy from October 3rd through October 10th, 2011.

These favorite people are 2011 Best 3-D Mosaic at Mosaic Art International Julie Richey (on the left) and the editor of Mosaic Art Now Nancie Mills-Pipgras (on the right). That these two are leading it ought to make anybody drop what they're doing and register immediately. These women know their stuff and they're animated and fun at the same time. Witty repartee and thorough explanations are guaranteed.

The tour begins in Rome, my favorite city on the planet. You'll be in Rome for three days and while you're there you'll get a backstage tour of the Vatican Museums micromosaic studio and see mosaics from the 4th Century in Santa Maria in Trestavere and from the 20th Century in the Museo Ara Pacis.

After three days in Rome you'll head to the Tuscan Coast and the small city of Porto Santo Stefano for lunch and then to Capalbio to see Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden. After a leisurely stroll through the gardens it's back to Rome.

After Rome, the tour takes the train to Ravenna where Ravenna's annual Notte d'Oro will be taking place. Notte d'Oro is Ravenna's mosaic festival and in a city synonymous with the art form, it's a big deal. After three days in Ravenna (with an optional two-day class at the Mosaic Art School of Ravenna), folks on the tour have the option to head to Venice for three days or to fly home from Ravenna.

The tour costs $2850 USD (not including airfare) prior to April 1st, $2950 thereafter. There's a $400 payment due upon registration and the final payment is due August 1, 2011. You can read the entire itinerary on Julie's website and you have any questions, her contact information is there. The tour includes meals, transfers and hotel stays.

Whattya Say? Who wants to go to Italy?

This is even better

I just made this one the site Animoto. I think I just found a new hobby.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Exploring Moorish and Mudéjar influences in Aragon and Teruel

In the year 711, a loose confederacy of Berber, Black African and Arab tribes invaded and conquered most of what is now Spain. In English, we call these people Moors though that's not a term they used for themselves. They called their conquered territory Al-Andalus and they remained on the Iberian peninsula for nearly 800 years. The Islamic impact of the Moors was profound and it can still be felt and seen in modern Spain today. Here are some details of the Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza. This is true Moorish architecture.

Starting in the 1200s, a coalition of Christian kings started to drive the Moors from Spain in a three century long campaign called the Reconquista. As Moorish territory fell to the Christian kings of Spain, the Moors who stayed behind were allowed to continue to practice their religion. At least until the 15th century that is.

The Spanish called the Moors who remained in these newly conquered territories Mudéjar. The word itself is a Medieval Spanish reworking of an Arabic term for "the ones who stayed." Mudéjar is also the name of the architectural style from this period. Mudéjar is a hybrid of Moorish, Gothic and Romanesque styles.

It is this Mudéjar architecture that most non-Spaniards think of when they think of Moorish architecture. Mudéjar reached its highest degree of sophistication in the Spanish provinces of Aragon and Teruel. Thanks to the generosity of The Spanish Tile Manufacturer's Association (ASCER) and Tile of Spain, I had the chance to be in both of those places last week and to see for myself what Mudéjar looks like in person.

Here's a collection of architectural details and all of it is in the Mudéjar style. I took these photos in Zaragoza and Teruel and they're not in any particular order.

So the next time someone starts talking about Moorish or Moorish Revival architecture, ask that person to clarify whether he's talking about true Moorish or Mudéjar. It will make you sound smart.

Standing in the footsteps of Columbus

Last Wednesday, thanks to the generosity of Tile of Spain and the Spanish Trade Commission, I toured the grounds of the Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon, Spain.

Of course, my camera's battery was dying so I have to use a Wikimedia shot for the outside of the castle. The rest of the photos here are original though.

The Aljafería Palace is the largest, preserved Moorish structure in Spain and it tells a history that won't stop. It dates from the mid-11th Century and it was the fortified palace of Ahmad I al-Muqtadir. Moorish Spain wasn't a single entity, rather, it was a collection of independent kingdoms.

The Moors were a force in Northern Spain until mid-11th century and even after the reconquest of northern Spain, a now Christian Aragon remained an independent nation and the Aljafería remained the seat of power.

Fast forward to the mid-15th Century and the marriage of Isabella, Queen of Castile and Ferdinand II, King of Aragon. Their union formed the foundation of the modern nation of Spain and they ruled over their newly joined kingdom from the Aljafería Palace.

Fast forward another 540 years and some guy from St. Petersburg, FL (me) found himself standing in the inner courtyard of the Aljafería.

I've been fortunate to stand in some pretty significant places in my life and I can't be in a place like the Aljafería and not feel the humanity of the people who've been there before me. So as I was standing there it hit me like a rock that since this was the palace of Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus would have passed through this courtyard on his way up to his audience with them.

Christopher Columbus was an idea man. Contrary to popular belief, people had known that the earth was round since the Egyptians ruled over the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Columbus was a visionary and he was determined to find someone to fund his great idea to sail across the Ocean Sea to reap the riches of India. For eight years he'd been pestering royal courts all over Europe and it was in Spain that he found a receptive audience.

It took him years to convince the Spanish Monarchs that his was a can't lose proposition. Ultimately, they decided to fund his expedition from an encampment in Granada but the preliminary meetings took place in the Aljafería.

So as I was standing in that Courtyard, I had a flash of insight into Columbus. I deliver pitches all the time. I'm an idea guy too. In fact, I have another pitch today at 10am. I'm nervous about it and I know Columbus was nervous about his too. The stakes for him were infinitely higher than my stakes are but the anxiety he felt then and the anxiety I feel now are the same.

As different as the world is now from what it looked like 500 years ago, what those two worlds have in common is people. We're the same now as we've ever been. We may know more stuff but our emotional ranges haven't changed. Anxiety now is the same as it's ever been. The same thing's true for love, or joy, or anger, or fear.

It's great to have the opportunity to stand in a truly old place such as the Aljafería Palace and to see and feel those common threads of humanity. Places like that help me put myself into some kind of historical context and to see that I'm really not so important or significant after all. I mean, I'm pretty important in the context of my own life but so far as the big picture goes, I'm not such a big deal. I find that comforting, that perspective.

Places that afford that kind of reflection are a dime a dozen all over Europe but they're pretty uncommon on this side of the Atlantic. I know that the profusion of such places is what draws me to Europe so strongly. But the very fact that I'm drawn so strongly marks me as an American. It's a curious thing.

Valencia's spectacular Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències is this complex's name in Valencian. In Spanish it's known as the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias and in English it's The City of Arts and Sciences. What ever the language, the entire complex is nothing short of magic.

I was in Valencia to attend Cevisama, the Spanish tile and bath industry's massive trade show and I was there as a journalist. My transportation, food and lodging were taken care of by ASCER, the Spanish tile manufacturer's association. ASCER is known in North America as Tile of Spain.

Valencia is an ancient city. It was founded along the banks of the Turia river by the Romans in 137 BCE. The Romans called it Valentia. Valentia means valor in Latin and Valencia was a city established for the benefit of retired Roman soldiers.

The heart of Valencia looks like an ancient city should and the buildings show the effects of 2100 years' worth of human habitation and development. Like a lot of European cities, Valencia juxtaposes the ancient with the shockingly modern with grace and gusto. That's definitely true of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. In this case, Valenica let homegrown architects Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela go wild and despite the free form nature of these buildings, they relate to the actual uses of the buildings and they're thoroughly grounded in Valencian culture.


The complex consists of seven principle structures and they are:

• L'Hemisfèric — an Imax Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium. Built in the shape of the eye and has an approximate surface of 13,000 m².
• El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe — an interactive museum of science but resembling the skeleton of a whale. It occupies around 40,000 m² on three flats.
• L'Umbracle — a landscaped walk with plant species indigenous to Valencia (such as rockrose, lentisca, romero, lavender, honeysuckle, bougainvillea, palm tree). It harbors in its interior The Walk of the Sculptures, an outdoor art gallery with sculptures from contemporary artists. (Miquel from Navarre, Francesc Abbot, Yoko Ono and others).
• L'Oceanogràfic — an open-air oceanographic park. It is the largest oceanographic aquarium in Europe with 110,000 square meters and 42 million liters of water. It was built in the shape of a water lily and is the work of architect Félix Candela.
• El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía — an opera house and performing arts center. It contains four large rooms: a Main Room, Magisterial Classroom, Amphitheater and Theater of Camera. It is dedicated to music and the scenic arts.
• El Puente de l'Assut de l'Or — a bridge that connects the south side with Minorca Street, whose 125 meters high pillar is the highest point in the city.
• L'Àgora — a covered plaza in which concerts and sporting events (such as the Valencia Open 500) are held.

I walked around it for a few hours on Friday afternoon and I was struck mute by the experience. It was great to have the chance to be alone with these buildings and I could let the complex affect me without having to worry about other people's reactions to my oftentimes emotional responses to what I saw.

I'm standing under one of the support structures of El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, the Science Museum. That's El Puente de l'Assut de l'Or bridge and L'Àgora in the background. The entire structure of L'Àgora is covered with deep blue Trencadís mosaic. Trencadís is shattered, ceramic tile and is a very traditional material all over Spain.

I'm looking to the northeast of the complex in this photo. To the right is El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe and to the left is the underside of L'Umbracle. To the rear is L'Hemisfèric and behind it is El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.

The first shot I ran is one I took in the opposite direction to this shot. Here it is again.

So looking to the southwest shows L'Hemisfèric and El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe to the left, L'Umbracle to the right, and El Puente de l'Assut de l'Or bridge and L'Àgora to the rear.

There was an art installation going on along the walkway next to L'Umbracle and like a fool I didn't write down the name of the artist. I apologize to the artist, the work was exuberant and cheerful.

I'm standing on a bridge directly in front of El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, the Valencia Opera House. The Palau shines because it's covered entirely in white Trencadís mosaic. Here's a detail shot of Trencadís.

Here's another shot of the Palau.

The cantilevered roof over the Palau is nothing shot of miraculous. The building itself is enormous and its unsupported roof is the largest cantilever I've ever seen. That it arcs down over the course of its run defies every rule of physics there is.

Here's a shot of the concrete work of El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe. I kept marveling the whole time I was there, how do you get building products like concrete and steel to behave like this?

I've been following the building of this complex since it started in the late '90s and that I've now seen it with my own eyes makes me wonder whose life it is I'm living all of the sudden. I cannot thank Tile of Spain enough for the chance to experience the wonders of Spain.

Spain was spectacular

The Reign in Spain tour ended Friday and I flew home yesterday. While I can't say that it's good to be home I will say that it's nice to set aside my suitcases for the time being.

Spain was spectacular in every sense of the word. Prior to leaving, I used the following stock photo a number of times to illustrate what I was going to see in Teruel.

Well as luck would have it, I was in Teruel last Wednesday. I was walking through the Teruel Museum and walked out onto their fifth floor balcony. I was hoping to get a better perspective on the city but what I got was the chance to stand where the photographer who took that stock shot stood. How cool is that?

Now that I'm back, for a month anyway, I'm going to go back to my regular schedule here at good old K&RD. I have learned volumes about the global design scene in the last few weeks and even more about the world political and economic situation. I'm going to start sorting through my findings tomorrow. At first I'll start with the sights and sounds of Spain, then the things I learned about Spanish tile. I'll probably loop back to some other things I found in Germany and Canada after that.

This has been a crazy, wonderful last few weeks and I owe you guys a huge debt of gratitude. Thanks for reading and commenting here and I'm looking forward to being a blogger again.

¡Viva La España!

I am in Spain. Actually, I'm probably not there yet but I'm en route. I've been invited to Spain by ASCER, a Spanish Trade organization that promotes Spanish tile sales in North America under the name Tile of Spain.

I'm part of a small group of designers, architects and press who will spend the next eight days exploring Spain's historic and modern architecture in the cities of Zaragoza, Teruel and Valencia. Our arrival in Valencia next week coincides with the opening of Cevisama, Spain's international showcase for tile, natural stone and bath design.

I'll be checking in regularly with Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare. Additionally, I'll be updating this blog (albeit sporadically) and writing for Contract Design and Houzz.com. This will be a well-documented trip indeed. Let's go to Spain!