Weekends in Punta Ala July 21, 2007

Punta Ala means “Wing Point” because of the shape of this point of land that extends out into the Mediterranean sea toward the Island of Elba in Tuscany near Grossetto. This land was received by Eleonora of Toledo in donation around 1560 and after many invasions by sea and by barbarians she decided to guard her land and to build the tower “Torre Nuova” on the hill which is in front of the Island of Troia and the nearby rocks raising out of the water named “li Porcellini”. Then in 1577 Torre Hildago, a second tower, was built to the North-West on another hill right in front of Piombino.

In the 1700s Feaudalism with its taxes, dues, servitude and priviledges gave way to a better economy with betterment of the swampy areas, extension of agriculture and production of iron, only to name a few.

The pleasant climate, the promising agriculture now with cattle and horse raising, new roads and more natural resorses being utilized, Punta Ala was becoming liberated and free and more inviting in the 1900s. It also lent itself quite well to leisure time activity along the seaside and at the new port completed after 1973.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa July 17, 2007

The Tower of Pisa was a work of art, performed in three stages over a period of about 174 years. Construction of the first floor of the white marble campanile began on August 9, 1173, a period of military success and prosperity. This first floor is surrounded by pillars with classical capitals, leaning against blind arches.

The tower began to sink after construction progressed to the third floor. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built higher floors with one side taller than the other. This made the tower begin lean in the other direction. Because of this, the tower is actually curved.^[2]

After a phase (1990-2001) of structural strengthening, the tower is currently undergoing gradual surface restoration, in order to repair visual damage, mostly corrosion and blackening. These are particularly strong due to the tower’s age and to its particular conditions with respect to wind and rain.^[3]

Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their descending speed was independent of their mass. This is considered an apocryphal tale, and the only source for it comes from Galileo’s secretary.

Benito Mussolini ordered that the tower be returned to a vertical position, so concrete was poured into its foundation. However, the result was that the tower actually sank further into the soil.^[4]

During World War II, the Allies discovered that the Nazis were using it as an observation post. A humble U.S. Army sergeant was briefly entrusted with the fate of the tower. His decision not to call in an artillery strike saved the edifice.^[4]

On February 27, 1964, the government of Italy requested aid in preventing the tower from toppling. It was, however, considered important to retain the current tilt, due to the vital role that this element played in promoting the tourism industry of Pisa.^[5] A multinational task force of engineers, mathematicians and historians was assigned and met on the Azores islands to discuss stabilization methods. After over two decades of work on the subject, the tower was closed to the public in January 1990. While the tower was closed, the bells were removed to relieve some weight, and cables were cinched around the third level and anchored several hundred meters away. Apartments and houses in the path of the tower were vacated for safety. After a decade of corrective reconstruction and stabilization efforts, the tower was reopened to the public on December 15, 2001. It was found that the lean was increasing due to the stonework expanding and contracting each day due to the heat of sunlight. This was working in combination with the softer foundations on the lower side. Many methods were proposed to stabilize the tower, including the addition of 800 metric tons of lead counterweights to the raised end of the base.^[6] The final solution to prevent the collapse of the tower was to slightly straighten the tower to a safer angle, by removing 38 m³ of soil from underneath the raised end. The tower has been declared stable for at least another 300 years.^[6]

Being inside a Van Gogh painting July 10, 2007

A huge iron door opends…we are slowly moving inside the field…I am watching the horses running on both sides. I am watching their beauty their dignity. After some minutes when we arrive where we are supposed to be, a tired injured old building greets us. A building which sheltered the farmers before now sheltering the birds.A building from 15th century which has many stories to tell…many stories now burried in silence.

Silence disappears while we are walking in the courtyard of the building…there are so many machines working with a big noise. Inside isnt as peaceful as outside. We are in a temporary office now which used to be a church before. There are plans of the building hang on the wall, there are some untidy desks, a coffee machine. Around the table architects… engineers…italians…and a little turkish girl. “è in Italia perche suo fidanzato è italiano…non capisce una parola”

…ma capite turco al meno quanto io capisco italiano? I say inside myself. I mind it only for a second…I feel too good to mind it so much…I go out of the office looking around. Galileo shows me the buildings, he explains what they do , I take photos in curiosity… Oh my…little little birds in a nest inside the building!…they are extremely cute!! But I should calm down because Galileo is still seriously talking about why they will demolish the concrete columns…ok I am concentrated on what he says…Then while entering from a door I see a lizard, I show it in enthusiasm…” are you scared?”…no, I just love so much. It’s just too beautiful to ignore.

“Only little girls care such things , you are a little girl” says Lorenzo

I am a little girl who spent the day inside a Van Gogh painting today

in Le Cascine di Tavola

On Saturday July 8, 2007

On saturday after lunch we went to Florence to Palazzo Strozzi to Cezanne exhibition. l liked it but we were a bit disappointed because we excepted to see more paintings of Cezanne. Although the name of the exhibition was “Cezanne” , there were more paintings which belong to other painters.

Paul Cézanne , (January 19, 1839 – October 22, 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th century Impressionism and the early 20th century’s new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism. The line attributed to both Matisse and Picasso that Cézanne “is the father of us all” cannot be easily dismissed.

Cézanne’s work demonstrates a mastery of design, colour, composition and draftsmanship. His often repetitive, sensitive and exploratory brushstrokes are highly characteristic and clearly recognisable. Using planes of colour and small brushstrokes that build up to form complex fields, at once both a direct expression of the sensations of the observing eye and an abstraction from observed nature, Cézanne’s paintings convey intense study of his subjects, a searching gaze and a dogged struggle to deal with the complexity of human visual perception.

Cézanne’s explorations of geometric simplification and optical phenomena inspired Picasso, Braque, Gris, and others to experiment with ever more complex multiple views of the same subject, and, eventually, to the fracturing of form. Cézanne thus sparked one of the most revolutionary areas of artistic enquiry of the 20th Century, one which was to affect profoundly the development of modern art.

Morning July 7, 2007

She’s in the bathroom after getting upset for several things…looking at herself in the mirror, watching her warm tears falling down from her red eyes…she’s looking at her hair…how long it got…She’s breathing irregularly…

It’s a small gloomy bathroom decorated in shades of brown…She cant believe how she finds peace there…she’s listening the silence, she hears only birds and a fly. She cries more when she thinks that she can find peace only in a miserable bathroom.

Then she looks in the mirror again remembering what her mom tells her…” dont let anyone to make you sad”…lt’s not easy…But she’s strong, she has always been so, she’ll always be…Everyone is selfish in this world so she needs to be strong and independent in every situation.

She leaves the bathroom …

Our Car Accident July 5, 2007

click to see better
In the first week l have come to ltaly, while we were going to Florence from Prato at night, we made an accident with the car of Lorenzo on the highway. In the beginning of the highway a TIR appeared just next to our car, so Lorenzo slowed down immediately, just in that moment the car behind us has crashed us. We didnt hear any break voice, he was probably going too close to our car and has been distracted by something so he didnt notice we made a break. lt was pretty strong crash, l hit my arm somewhere in the car and it got bruised. And for whole week after the accident Lorenzo and l had both neckache badly.

After the accident we waited in the highway for half an hour for the police to arrive. lt was very sad to see Lorenzo’s car damaged. The other car didnt have so much damage as ours. it had just front glass broken because of the airbags got opened. When the police came, they asked my passport but l didnt have it with me. Luckily they didnt mind it too much. After that day l carry my passport everywhere with me =)

We turned back home with the truck which carries our car behind…

MY DAYS IN ITALY July 4, 2007

l have been in ltaly for a month this week. 3 weeks ago l started my internship in Studio Perri & Ceccarini .lt didnt take long to get used to the people who work in the studio.They are all very sweet. In the first day while l was going to the office l was like a little girl who has just started school, holding Lorenzo’s hand tight.

The architect wasnt in the office because she was on honeymoon.So l took her desk in the same room with Serena. l started working in the project which Galileo is responsible with. Luckily he speaks english a bit. Very few but better than nothing. lt helped me a lot to get used to the office environment =)) Coz it was very difficult for me to speak italian with people l dont know. l am already a timid person. l made silly mistake which made people laugh a lot like saying “primo piatto” instead of “primo piano”! After a while l started working with Emiliano on the Travalle project. He cant speak english at all but l got used to the italian language anymore so l understand and speak a lot better. In Travalle we are transforming a medieval villa to seperate little residences.Last friday we went to see the villa. lt’s very beautiful place, the building is very beautiful too. l got amazed. l enjoy working on it.Thanks to it l learnt many things about traditional construction style of Toscana.

Last weekend we went to Punta Ala. What a peaceful place! l like it a lot. The beach the sea the huge garden…But turning back to Prato was a torture. There was traffic in the high way. l have seen traffic jam in the high way the first time in my life…Incredible. ltalian people like cars a lot. They have lack of public transport in the cities so every member in the family has a car. One person= one car

Cars are also perfect instruments to make show for the italian people who like showing a lot. The better car you have, the better you are. The new values of the world. Lorenzo asks me why l like chinese movies…but they are the only place you can see the word “virtue”. Anyway l am not a chinese movie fan. Last week we watched “Hero” with Lorenzo. He hated it but l liked the artistic scenes a lot. l wanted to buy DVD of “Tiger and Dragon” , another chinese movie, but Lorenzo didnt want. Humanity, love and virtue dont sell anymore…they are old fashioned…people die for love only in chinese movies….

 

il Romanticismo July 4, 2007

Il romanticismo e’ dove ci sono emozioni forti come l’amore, la passione,l’odio,il dolore,la solitudine, la felicita…il romanticismo e’ nel momento che giaccio sull’amaca nel giardino tra le braccia del mio amore quando guardiamo le stelle. E’ nel momento che siedo sul muretto del ponte di Charles sotto la pioggia a Praga. Il romanticismo e’ nel momento che sento il vento di Bosforo sulla mia faccia…E’ a lstanbul, a Roma, a Parigi…e’ nella mia lacrima, e’ nel mio sorriso.