Architecture Throughout the City

 

Throughout the week, I have seen piece after piece of beautiful and historical architecture. I have never been around building so old and have been around few that were created by such influential architects. I find architecture to be fascinating as it is a combination of art, functionality, science, and culture. Venice has been a phenomenal place to grow my knowledge of architecture as it has such a highly condensed collection of beautiful buildings. Walking through Venice is like walking through time: side by side there are the Byzantine, Venetian Gothic, Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, and Baroque structures. In traveling a quarter mile, I often feel as if I have travelled through centuries. As a city, Venice is a functional museum, a historical record in which people live.

I had never realized extent to which architecture reflects the culture that built a building. In my mind, I had simplified architecture as a simple artistic expression of aesthetic appeal. Travelling through Venice has completely changed that idea for me. I understand how the Basilica San Marco is an expression of power over other people and a display of wealth. The ornate decorations and exotic marble as well as the loot from Constantinople reflect the conqueror mentality of the early Venetian empire.  I see the Venetian Gothic churches as a way to humble man before God and create massive buildings with common materials such as brick. I understand that Palladio created surreal colors and harmonious, symmetrical buildings as an expression of the wonder of not only God, but man as well. The simplicity of the Renaissance churches feel as if they are not a representation of God, but a canvas or a starting point for man to grow from and then connect with God. Inside a bare church such as San Francesco della Vigna, man must look to himself to find the wonders of God, rather than to the glory of his surroundings. I find architecture fascinating as a reflection of the evolution of human culture.

            As interesting as the buildings themselves is my reaction to them. I often feel a pull to choose a favorite time period or building, and to rank those that cannot be first. I ask myself if I prefer Venetian Gothic to Renaissance, or Palladio to Codussi. I had the urge to reject Baroque, until I found the marvelous Santa Maria della Salute. And when I cannot choose I become frustrated and ask why I must choose at all. But after I decide to accept all of the buildings equally, appreciating each one unbiased, I come across another magnificent building and think it is my favorite, until the next block when I find another favorite, repeating the cycle. I’m not sure why I feel the urge to rank the building and the architects. It may be the linear way that I think and process information, or it may have to do with the desire to learn about myself. There is a sense that in choosing a favorite period of architecture, or rejecting another, I have a better understanding of myself with respect to the values and defining aspects of that time period. I find that as the week passes, however, I am better able to take pieces from every architectural experience that I have and weave them together. Learning about architecture in Venice has been an unexpected and interesting way to learn more about myself.