Finding a niche is difficult enough, let alone trying to do so in a new country with a new language, new customs and new set of cultural rules and expectations to follow. My experience in Rome would be best described as my own personal struggle to blend in, with varying success. I feel that Campo dei Fiori has helped me come to realize my experience in Rome, coming in as an outsider who blends while maintaining his own personal identity, similar to the statue of Bruno in the center of the piazza. An area under constant transformation, while still keeping itself grounded in its surroundings.
While on the eastern side of the Tiber I often find myself drawn to the Old Rome district. Traversing through the winding streets, thin strings always anchoring to a nearby piazza. Meandering through this spaces, and taking a new route every so often has peaked my interest. It is an entirely different experience than the conventional grid of Northern American cities, and an experience I have found myself to rather enjoy. Instead of simply walking from one point to another, it is more of an adventure that takes place between the start and end of your journey. An adventure that can’t be repeated, striking an odd correlation with the study abroad experience in Rome itself.
I have an odd relationship with Campo dei fiori as my place in Rome. During the day, when market stalls and merchants set up their shops to peddle their goods for the day, the atmosphere is totally Roman. Those who are in the know can find amazing deals on meat and produce, as well as beverages and kitchen tools. Once the sun starts going down though, when the tents come down and the restaurants start lighting their portable heaters it is an entirely different atmosphere. The Romans of the day are replaced by the tourists of the night. The places where one would look for food during the day become the places where one looks for a cheap drink at night. All the while Bruno stands in the center of the piazza, silently watching this transformation. Although I much prefer the daytime identity of Campo dei Fiori, I think the transformation is interesting nonetheless. This transformation regularly happens every day at the same time, it isn’t based on some rare event occurring. I think this element of having a central body around an element of transition has rag true in both studio projects this semester. In both the building was the anchoring element, where the paths designed to traverse the site are the transitional element. In the kindergarten assignment I looked more towards the inherent boundaries in the site and how permeable they were. This also influenced the movement throughout the building, with some areas being easier than others to reach or leave from. In the campus project this element of transition was the means to access the riverfront from the street. There was also a play between the transitions from the old Arsenal building into the new addition of the campus building. A state of transformation as it was, between the old building practices of the 1700s and modern construction techniques. This dichotomy of the old and new also exists in Campo dei Fiori, in that the older elements (the Terrina Fountain, statue of Bruno, etc) mesh fairly well with the modern additions of the marketplace and restaurants.
The other aspect of Campo dei Fiori that I found to be interesting was that a space like that doesn’t really exist in Philadelphia. A space that acts not only as a market, but a restaurateur’s destination, a meet-up spot and home to an important landmark. All within the confines of one square block, densely woven into the urban fabric. My excursions in Philadelphia have found such places, but not one that encompasses all of these elements and in such a way that they fluidly mesh with one another. It is of note that because of all of these programs exists so close together, the people that inhabit the space interact very close together. The element of personal space doesn’t really exist in Campo dei Fiori, with the pedestrians passing the merchants and shoppers close enough as if to touch them. I rather enjoyed the fact that one central area could contain so much in terms of program, yet still read cohesively as its own space. I had attempted creating this in both studio projects as well, by creating a centralized location that held many different activities. This aspect really rang true with me, and I hope to keep it as a tool to use in future design issues.
Campo dei Fiori has been a place that I come to relax, to think, and to interact with the locals. By spending a sizeable amount of time there this semester I think that if I ever do have the chance to come back to Rome, seamlessly fitting back into the culture of Campo dei Fiori would not be too difficult. The statue of Bruno would be there to greet me, the restaurants would be open and welcoming me inside for a nice dinner underneath the familiar beige canopies. The merchants would still have their shops, spraying their fruits and vegetables to keep them from drying out, peddling sunglasses and watches among other knickknacks that one may need as an impulse buy. As my first trip draws to a close I find myself already looking forward to the next one.
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