The Gravity

Today, we present our finished projects assigned during Stanley Hallet's visit to Rome. For the past week, we studied the different ways to capture architecture in the city as well as the experience of people around. Through the lens of a camera, we discovered how passersby interact with each other and the buildings around, what catches people's eyes, and noticed the fluid motion of the city. It was a fun project, and now I feel like I could very quickly become addicted to telling stories through pictures and music.

Next week is another regular one -- and when I say "regular," take note that I'm attempting to encompass everything we do in a week, from studying the urban fabric of Rome in the classroom to becoming involved in it on our spare time. We will continue with Project 3 (which is much like Projects 1 and 2 but on a grander scale that is to be carried out with all the lessons we've learned and taken from the previous).

And then.....

• Southern Italy for a week.
• A week or two of school again (not sure, can't remember right now).
• Easter break.
• Final week.
• And then I check out of Rome, hop on a plane, and set foot in Philadelphia again.

Going back to semesters at CUA's main campus is going to be a rude awakening.

Or maybe this semester was the rude awakening to CUArch's overall curriculum. For there's definitely something here in the Rome study abroad program that's different from everything I've yet covered.

Duh, how about -- "I'm in Rome"?

Well, yes.

But while there's the aspect of taking a vacation in The Eternal City and beyond, this program is very practical. In some ways, I believe that studying the fabric of a city to understand it is more important than designing one building. It goes past the singular projects that we've had in studio before, in which we design and fit a building on a site, taking into consideration the context, concept, etc.

For the past few months, I've been studying nothing but the workings of a city itself. A brilliant, dilapidated, forgotten, rediscovered, thriving city that's lasted not centuries, but millennia. The same gravity that's pulled down part of the Colosseum is the same gravity that allows it to stand today. It holds everyone down and makes everything one entity.

Sometimes, as I walk around on my own whether I'm just going to class or wandering aimlessly, I feel like the gravity here is stronger. I could just be walking in a different layer of the atmosphere that I'm imagining, a layer of pride and a sense of belonging.... much closer to the ground... The people here are so embedded in their culture. I know I've written this before, but I wonder if they know. Are they aware that they are the seams holding this place together?

I guess this happens in any foreign city that you've been in for "too long." I've become detached from my own culture, but I'm not quite here. So where am I? Outside, looking in.

I'm running out of time here. It's as if the wind is snatching it away from me and I can't run fast enough to catch up. I can't believe I once thought that 4 months was a long time.