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"Il centro," la piazza IV Novembre, Perugia, Italy.
Overview of "il centro" in Perugia.
"Il centro," la piazza IV Novembre, Perugia, Italy.
| | Architecture & Urban Planning in Umbria, Italy
1995-present
Michelle LaFoe has organized and led several workshop and study trips in Umbria for architecture, urban design, history, and visual studies students. The focus of the Umbria trips was the city of Perugia, where Michelle formerly lived and worked as a Fulbright Scholar and where she participated in a number of international design workshops and symposia in conjunction with the Università degli Studi di Perugia.
Perugia served as a base of study for the students, who visited nearby towns such as Gubbio, Todi, Foligno, Spoleto, and Orvieto as part of the urban study. The focus of the study was the relationship between the history of the urban network, the process of designing new architectural and urban elements, and general principles involved in the creation of a successful and thriving 'place'. The students maintained sketchbooks and participated in daily discussions with a focus on critical issues presented in articles and texts as they related to the workshop theme.
The workshop study commenced in Perugia with daily morning walks along the five primary streets (vie regali, or regal streets), with ancient, medieval, and Renaissance foundations, in an effort to promote discussion and debate on the intricate, overlapping network of urban spaces and the principles employed in their design and delineation at different times. Lectures included themes such as the late medieval designers and urban policy-makers who intentionally planned for the convergence of these primary streets at the 'centro', or city center, which is the cultural, political and social heart of Perugia. In addition, discussions of 'how' to represent these types of spaces and places and the study of visual precedents and modern examples were a fundamental part of the sessions.
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