Today we went to Locarno and visited the site where our project will be built. I feel odd typing this blog because while I was there I got heat stroke and hallucinated that I was writing today's blog. It makes me feel that I am doing something I have already done, but I know I haven't.
It was between one and two hours to get to Locarno, which houses the site for which we will be designing a cultural center. The castle (from the 10th century) that was there was destructed in order to use the stone for the foundations of the surrounding buildings after the castle was no longer necessary. The fortress was built in 15o7 and still exists. It is said to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but this is also being debated.
When we got to the fortress, we had about an hour before we were supposed to meet with people, so I walked back to a department store we had passed in order to pick up a watch since I didn't bring mine as I was accustomed to using the cell phone I don't have here. The woman in that department didn't speak English, but she knew the phrase, "not water resistant," so we communicated well enough for her to point me away from the cheap watches I was looking at towards the more expensive water-resistant section. I went with the cheap one anyway, and after I bought it I saw that it says "water resistant" on the back of the battery. Cheap here is not the same as cheap in the states. I like this watch and will (hopefully) wear it for years to come. If I keep the receipt and will ever be back here again, it came with a 1-year warranty.
(Fr. 12.- or $13.50 for the cheapest watch I've ever seen in this country)
When I got back, everyone was standing in the sun on top of the fortress listening to the owners talk about the history of the place. I got very uncomfortable very quickly after joining them, and was reminded strongly of summers back home in Bakersfield. My thoughts kept refocusing themselves on the heat until the only thing I could think of was that. Eventually I noticed that my thoughts were also extremely sluggish. I decided I would need to walk away from the group and get to the shade for my own health, but then I heard one of them say, "...just to wrap this up, ..." so I stayed in the sun for I-don't-know-how-long until they were done talking, two presenters later. When we walked through the shade and I didn't feel any better, my very sluggish brain finally started to realize that something might be really wrong. When we walked up the hill and inside the slightly cooler building and I still didn't feel any better, the thought began to finally be a real one. When we walked up the stairs and I sat in one of the two chairs and I didn't realize that my knee was touching the person sitting next to me until he stood up and walked away, I finally decided that yes, my brain is not functioning and I need help. I don't know how long I was sitting there; I think I was slipping in and out of consciousness. It was sometime during this that I thought I was writing in this blog. As my group descended the stairs, I caught Jeffrey's eye. He's one of the architects who lives here in Ticino (tee-chee-noh). He could tell something was wrong and asked if I felt sick. I nodded and said, "heat stroke," thankful that he seemed to understand the term and I didn't have to try to think well enough to explain in different words. I said that I needed water. He told me to sit and wait, and came back shortly with a cup of cold apple juice. I was skeptical at first, thinking it was beer and not wanting a migraine, but grateful when I found out what it was. While my group went on a trek in the heat to see something some of them report as unimpressive, I sat in a chair in what I believe is the only mechanically cooled room in the building. There were beds and a shower, both of which I was offered by the owner if it would make me feel better. I just wanted to sit and take off my shoes to cool down faster, so that is what I did. I am very humbled by the caring nature of the people here. They made sure that I was comfortable and took very good care of me, and this is not out of character for what I have seen of the Swiss in Tichino (the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland).
Soon after I had recovered, the group returned from their walk and we sat in a courtyard area while the owners made us rissoto (ree-zoh-toh) and socialized with each other, the architects with our group, and the students. They brought out red and white wines and shared with all who wanted it, keeping the small cups full. Lunch was absolutely delicious, and I have a video clip of the explanation they gave us of the recipe, so I will try to make it when I get back. The majority of my class got a little tipsy, half were a little more than tipsy, and a few were really quite drunk. Quietly drunk, but still drunk. If they didn't understand wine and how little it really takes, they do now. When I politely turned down a glass of white wine, the man offering it joked that he should fetch me the vodka instead.
(The building on the right is the main public building. The stone wall is part of the fortress. The pole in the middle is actually a sculpture made of stacked 10-cent Swiss Franc pieces held together with pressure and no glue.)
After lunch we got a tour of the earthworks under the fortress, part of which has become a concert and exhibition space. The acoustics are perfect for such a use.
(The main exhibition space in the fortress includes a catwalk, projection screen, and reflective panels. This was a short artistic video documenting the construction of the sculpture in the previous photo.)
After the tour we went inside to discuss the project and what they (our clients) want us to design. Our site includes part of the fortress and three surrounding buildings, one of which is built right on top of the fortress. We have permission to change anything we want to except the curved facade of one building and the walls of the fortress itself. For some reason the earth in the earthworks is protected; if we want to grade the earth in the interior, we can move the dirt around but not remove any. The project turns out to not really be a cultural center in the sense I've designed before, but rather an international place for all forms of art, art students, and art exhibitions. There will be classroom space, places for students to live, places for exhibitions, etc. The best part is this: Locarno will be the site of an international art festival in 2015, and this center will be one of the pavilions. This means that any ideas we come up with could potentially be part of this festival. This is the first opportunity I have had to work on something that could end up built, or that could end up the basis of whatever design does get built. I am now, for the first time, excited about the architecture and not just for learning Italian!
Speaking of Italian, I had a wonderful experience on the way back to the train station from the project site. We had half an hour to make a 10-minute walk, so most of us stopped in to the department store on the way. Some needed towels, some just wanted to shop. I decided to get myself a wallet that's the right size for Swiss Francs and fits in my pocket. I didn't speak any English the entire time and I understood all of the Italian that was spoken to me! Granted, it was very simple, but I understood all of it right away without having to translate into English first. That means I'm learning Italian correctly instead of categorizing it against English inside my brain. Thrilled!
Even now that dinner is over at the ostello, Enrico (en-ree-coh), one of the architects with the group, checked with me to be sure I am feeling okay now. The people here really do care. It is beyond refreshing to see that a place like this exists.
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