Delight is a term defined differently by many people. However, when evaluating delight many people are faced with the same criteria. Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere may feel different to many people but to me it is a place of great comfort as it has become a common place in my life in Rome.
The piazza’s proximity to local attractions and buys roads is very small; this makes for high traffic flow in the area. There are people in the piazza at nearly any time of day. Having a constant population of people is very comforting because we crave interaction as humans. Also, where there are many people the chances of serious crimes being committed diminish.
There is repetition present in the piazza; however, it is mostly programmatic. There are many coffee bars and restaurants in and around the piazza. The establishments rest in the confines of the surrounding buildings enclosing the piazza. The organization of the outdoor seating becomes repetitive and fills the piazza with buzzing voices of friends coming together.
In the center of the piazza is its famous fountain. The fountain is essentially the largest figure in that it is the central focus to the piazza. As the central focus it is also one of the simplest elements in the piazza. There are fountains all over Rome and most are very similar. There is something simple and attractive to people about a fountain. It has seating surrounding the entire circumference and is magnetic to people looking to sit and enjoy a beautiful day.
The figure ground relationship in the piazza is rather simple. There are five arteries leading into the piazza with the fountain occupying the very center. The church, Santa Maria, is open to the public at nearly any time of day and traffic is easily able to move in and out of the church and through the piazza.
Proportionally there is nothing in the piazza that is overly large or intrusive. The only thing that could be considered slightly dominating is the tower that is part of the church. It looks over the whole piazza and stands alone.
All of the buildings in the piazza are at a similar scale and are meant to be engaged at a pedestrian level. Any point of the piazza is easily accessible for pedestrians.
The rhythm of the site is dictated mostly by the pedestrian traffic in the piazza. People move straight through the site, sit and enjoy the day, take photos, or entertain others. However, the rhythm is visibly disrupted when vehicles are forced to move through the space. The piazza is primarily meant for pedestrian traffic but there are some vehicles that must move through in order to make deliveries, drop off passengers, or deal with emergencies. When these vehicles move through the piazza people must be aware, stop moving, or move faster in order to accommodate the dominating vehicles in the narrow streets around the piazza.
Piazza Santa Maria, as well as much of Rome, has a unique texture in its cobble stone street. The streets are hundreds of years old and the surfaces are uneven. This texture is also perceived at different scales. One can feel them while walking, or experience the bumpy ride in a taxi.
The piazza is full of warm colored buildings. These buildings are sitting on the cool colored cobble stone streets as well as next to the cold feeling of the stone fountain and church. The light in the piazza operates in the same way. At different times of day there are brightly lit, warm spots in the piazza while others are cold and shaded.
The Piazza is ornamented via the fountain and the abundance of statues on and in the church. The statues are at such a scale that they can be read in any point in the piazza. At a distance they are strong figures and up close it is easy to see the remarkable detail in each of them. The fountain operates in much the same way. The sculptures on the fountain are not as large as the statues on the church; however they are at eye level and are close enough to be touched and can also be read from across the piazza.
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