|
|
Pockets
Elemental. When something or someone is defined with this esteemed characteristic, it is impossible to ignore the absolute necessity of their role, whatever that may be. An essential cog in the system, in its purest and rawest form. However, when considering the elemental in regards to cities, where history spans millenniums, it is difficult to define anything as truly raw. The culture of Naples and Rome within their respective communities has woven itself into an intricate tapestry of a living breathing metropolis. Structurally evolving: the old becoming the new, the new becoming the old, generations of unchanged practice combating the rising growth of tourism. Time’s impact visible in the layout of buildings, the layout of people. The passage of time sculpts a model of change that only becomes visible through observation of the little details that make up the network of the city. Within building walls, doors, and churches, each ornament, restoration, and erosion provides a new insight into its history. Each corner turned is a different era, each door walked through provides a pocket of archive, an experience of different times.
These cavities are discoverable throughout the vastness of these two capitals. Rome, although expanded far past the constraints of the ancient walls, is still marked by the historical legacies which provide a border leading into a different era. Naples rests under the shadow of Vesuvius, oriented along a coastline defined by craters created eons ago– shaping the area and defining the elevations in which the cultural urbanization of the city has taken place.
The streets of Rome differ greatly from each other, the patterned volcanic rock seemingly the only constant within the ancient walls. Large, francophile streets display a visualization of the city's expansion, while a couple blocks down an alley spanning a meter wide has existed as a walking path to marketplaces since the community’s creation. Pockets of history can be found within the sanctity of churches along the street side; escape the hustle and bustle of tourist traps to find yourself in vast silence, surrounded by a multitude of objects and artworks that don’t quite fit together. The silence is striking, even with the echoing voices of priests or ministers. The vastness is even more so, the marbled walls seeming to stretch upwards for miles. The objects, stolen items from other civilizations, pagan imagery redesigned in the catholic image, provide insight into the city’s boundless history. Layers of age, redesign, and reinvention are apparent within the placement of every artwork, marble tile, and painted plaster. But these alcoves surpass historical significance, providing tranquility and faith for many.
Refuge can be found within massive historical doors, leading into hidden residential areas or piazzas. A secret garden, with hidden gates, stairwells, and bright open spaces tucked away behind a busy street. Pockets of peace, quiet, and reflection. They speak again to the nature of the city, different energies segmented from each other, providing possible solace around every corner. These escapes provide sanctity for those suffering from the crowds of tourism and heat. To this effect, Rome collects hollows of coolness as well. Beginning from pools of water tapped directly along aqueducts in Parco Degli Acquedotti, leading to fountains that open up space and provide an oasis on a blazing sunny day. Within an interwoven community, niches form which provide exquisitely unique experiences. Patches of a quilt with different sizes, materials, and thread, sewn together to guide the movement of Rome.
The quilt of Naples weaves itself in the same way, the lavish nature of the previous Italian capital making way to the chaotic and beautifully eroded nature of the modern day city. The layers of houses along the mountainous terrain provide refuge for each other, the architecture hiding behind itself in layers of community. Building upon building rests precariously on mountainsides, shadowing each other, protecting each other. Pockets as hiding places pepper themselves along Naples’s tapestry. Abandoned ancient aqueducts, subway systems, and quarries, becoming a hiding place for copious amounts of waste. Mountains of trash, excrement, and tricked-out vespas dumped into the hollowed out tufa stone. These same spaces, filled with artifacts, then transformed into bomb shelters during World War II. The fearful find sanctum within the grime and history, marking their existence on the walls to be observed and excavated decades later.
Pockets of peace and escape are found along the streetside, forming altars and sanctuaries honoring modern-day saints and lost loved ones. Street art depicting Naples’s most beloved adorn even the most commercialized streets, providing as alcoved reminders of the community in areas where tourism is beginning to overpower. The city naturally reminds of its past versions as well. Erosion, buildings centuries old that have slowly been stripped down to their foundations, provide naturally occuring chambers. Rain over time washes away the fragile and permeable tufa stone to become hiding places for beer bottles, lost soccer balls, abandoned shoes. These moments are altars in themselves, representative of the complex history in which they reside.
As we observe these civilizations, with portable chargers, cameras, and sunscreen in our pockets, it becomes clear the overwhelming vastness that encompasses cities with such a monumental history, and the permeability of which these histories rest. Witnessing the scope of generations that the city has supported is hard to conceptualize, especially compared to the novelty of our home country. Our pockets, in comparison to these cities, are shallow in experience. Through discovering the different segments of the cities, I believe we can begin to understand the inconsequential weight Rome and Naples holds. Little, imperceivable moments are woven together with grand historical significance. These cities stitch themselves together through these moments in a twistingly integrated manner, shaping momentum, development, culture, power. It is raw, and it is essential.
Elemental. When something or someone is defined with this esteemed characteristic, it is impossible to ignore the absolute necessity of their role, whatever that may be. An essential cog in the system, in its purest and rawest form. However, when considering the elemental in regards to cities, where history spans millenniums, it is difficult to define anything as truly raw. The culture of Naples and Rome within their respective communities has woven itself into an intricate tapestry of a living breathing metropolis. Structurally evolving: the old becoming the new, the new becoming the old, generations of unchanged practice combating the rising growth of tourism. Time’s impact visible in the layout of buildings, the layout of people. The passage of time sculpts a model of change that only becomes visible through observation of the little details that make up the network of the city. Within building walls, doors, and churches, each ornament, restoration, and erosion provides a new insight into its history. Each corner turned is a different era, each door walked through provides a pocket of archive, an experience of different times.
These cavities are discoverable throughout the vastness of these two capitals. Rome, although expanded far past the constraints of the ancient walls, is still marked by the historical legacies which provide a border leading into a different era. Naples rests under the shadow of Vesuvius, oriented along a coastline defined by craters created eons ago– shaping the area and defining the elevations in which the cultural urbanization of the city has taken place.
The streets of Rome differ greatly from each other, the patterned volcanic rock seemingly the only constant within the ancient walls. Large, francophile streets display a visualization of the city's expansion, while a couple blocks down an alley spanning a meter wide has existed as a walking path to marketplaces since the community’s creation. Pockets of history can be found within the sanctity of churches along the street side; escape the hustle and bustle of tourist traps to find yourself in vast silence, surrounded by a multitude of objects and artworks that don’t quite fit together. The silence is striking, even with the echoing voices of priests or ministers. The vastness is even more so, the marbled walls seeming to stretch upwards for miles. The objects, stolen items from other civilizations, pagan imagery redesigned in the catholic image, provide insight into the city’s boundless history. Layers of age, redesign, and reinvention are apparent within the placement of every artwork, marble tile, and painted plaster. But these alcoves surpass historical significance, providing tranquility and faith for many.
Refuge can be found within massive historical doors, leading into hidden residential areas or piazzas. A secret garden, with hidden gates, stairwells, and bright open spaces tucked away behind a busy street. Pockets of peace, quiet, and reflection. They speak again to the nature of the city, different energies segmented from each other, providing possible solace around every corner. These escapes provide sanctity for those suffering from the crowds of tourism and heat. To this effect, Rome collects hollows of coolness as well. Beginning from pools of water tapped directly along aqueducts in Parco Degli Acquedotti, leading to fountains that open up space and provide an oasis on a blazing sunny day. Within an interwoven community, niches form which provide exquisitely unique experiences. Patches of a quilt with different sizes, materials, and thread, sewn together to guide the movement of Rome.
The quilt of Naples weaves itself in the same way, the lavish nature of the previous Italian capital making way to the chaotic and beautifully eroded nature of the modern day city. The layers of houses along the mountainous terrain provide refuge for each other, the architecture hiding behind itself in layers of community. Building upon building rests precariously on mountainsides, shadowing each other, protecting each other. Pockets as hiding places pepper themselves along Naples’s tapestry. Abandoned ancient aqueducts, subway systems, and quarries, becoming a hiding place for copious amounts of waste. Mountains of trash, excrement, and tricked-out vespas dumped into the hollowed out tufa stone. These same spaces, filled with artifacts, then transformed into bomb shelters during World War II. The fearful find sanctum within the grime and history, marking their existence on the walls to be observed and excavated decades later.
Pockets of peace and escape are found along the streetside, forming altars and sanctuaries honoring modern-day saints and lost loved ones. Street art depicting Naples’s most beloved adorn even the most commercialized streets, providing as alcoved reminders of the community in areas where tourism is beginning to overpower. The city naturally reminds of its past versions as well. Erosion, buildings centuries old that have slowly been stripped down to their foundations, provide naturally occuring chambers. Rain over time washes away the fragile and permeable tufa stone to become hiding places for beer bottles, lost soccer balls, abandoned shoes. These moments are altars in themselves, representative of the complex history in which they reside.
As we observe these civilizations, with portable chargers, cameras, and sunscreen in our pockets, it becomes clear the overwhelming vastness that encompasses cities with such a monumental history, and the permeability of which these histories rest. Witnessing the scope of generations that the city has supported is hard to conceptualize, especially compared to the novelty of our home country. Our pockets, in comparison to these cities, are shallow in experience. Through discovering the different segments of the cities, I believe we can begin to understand the inconsequential weight Rome and Naples holds. Little, imperceivable moments are woven together with grand historical significance. These cities stitch themselves together through these moments in a twistingly integrated manner, shaping momentum, development, culture, power. It is raw, and it is essential.