Thoughts on my study abroad experience
In six weeks of travel I have experienced a whole new world in Europe. Unfortunately, this is only a glimpse of European culture and its built environ. I have seen the “sought after” cities of each nation, but did not have time to delve deeper into an environment that perhaps the average tourist is sheltered from. I cannot make generalizations about Italy, Germany, Spain, or the Netherlands. Regardless, I have thoughts, observations, and conclusions about the cities and micro cultures I have seen.
The difference between the traveled Italian cities and Barcelona is black and white. Italian cities were much cleaner than Barcelona. Many streets seemed to smell and there was garbage on the streets. Barcelona is a city of a different time than Italian cities. Italian cities are much older, with a built environment layered by history. They have ancient ruins, a medieval layer, a dominant renaissance layer (besides Siena), and then a 20th century neoclassical layer, comparable to the 20th century classical revival which took place in the western world. Within each Italian city center, there was virtually no contemporary architecture. This aesthetic was only seen towards the outskirts where new development has occurred. Barcelona had two distinct architectural layers. The first layer took shape during the early 20th century, which consists of Gaudi’s unique organic forms and other art nouvaeu architecture. The second layer is a contemporary urban renewal sparked by the redevelopment plan for the 1992 summer Olympics. This plan relocated Barcelona industrial ports and created beaches, malls, and other commercial areas capable of receiving large numbers of tourists.
Barcelona street scale and shape is evidently planned to incorporate the use of the automobile, in contrasts to the centralized shifting Italian street layout. Barcelona streets are fairly wide, as La Rambla consists of sidewalks and a car lane on each side, centered on a larger communal sidewalk on which street vendors can be found.
The next city in our Italian eurotrip, Berlin, was much different than anticipated. I expected to see older German architecture dating back to the cities origins, but was surprised to find a city similar in comparison to New York City in terms of street scale and building materiality, but shorter buildings. This may be due to bedrock issues as Berlin is founded on a swamp. Berlin buildings also hoover over the sidewalk, ending in a shaded colonnade, a modern interpretation of an Italian Piazza. New York City code does not allow this, and additionally orders setbacks for a building past a certain height.
As I had learned in an excellent bike tour led by Sam Noble, 92% of Berlin was destroyed in WWII. Therefore, almost the entire city was rebuilt with contemporary architecture. Some buildings did remain from WWII though, including the Nazi headquarters, which the Germans turned into the German IRS…a testament to humor. Other buildings which survived WWII, including the Altes Museum, have many bullet punctures and wounds reminiscent of the war. The Berlin wall can be seen only at certain parts, and in most parts only a dotted line remains as a reminder of the city’s history.
As a city, during the day Berlin is very desolate with far fewer people walking the streets in comparison to New York City. Berlin is a working city geared much less towards tourism than other major cities I have visited in Europe. In this way one can more easily understand German culture and attitudes. People are hardworking and travel mostly by bike. Our hostile, located in East Berlin and near many of the city’s most popular clubs, allowed me to perceive and understand the young culture of the city. They seem somewhat rebellious, and more questioning of their society than Italians, who seemed to embrace their culture and legacy. This is due to a stark contrast in the way the youth seem to dress and act in comparison to adults. Many dress in dark “gothic” clothing, spike their hair, and lead a seemingly more liberal life. I say this also with the knowledge provided to me in the bike tour, that Berlin society has structured itself to question the establishment through school curriculum. Students are made well aware of the city’s recent dark history, which is a commendable action in comparison to cultures, like the Japanese, who do not mention historical events like Pearl Harbor in the classroom.
Our Final city, Amsterdam, was more of what I expected it to look like, only far cleaner and charming. Much of the city was still reminiscent of its power during the 1600’s. This is evident in much of the street scale and organic formation of canal rings which focus on a city center. The building facades, different from Italian renaissance architecture, had a distinct attraction about them. In our bike tour, we learned that the buildings were actually tilted towards the street so that when lifting up heavy furniture on a rope connected to the top of the building, the furniture would not scrape windows on the way up. If one was to compare Amsterdam to an Italian city, naturally, it would be Venice. But this is not only due to only the canals, but the extruded buildings with a common language and heavy dependency on tourism. In contrast to Venice, a city which gives the streets to the people and water to the boats, Amsterdam streets are congested with a mix of residents, confused tourists, a complex above ground public transportation system powered by electric overhead wires, and more bikes than Berlin.
Also, the bike tour helped to clear up certain “liberal” developments in Amsterdam like the red light district. The Dutch have always been an accepting culture, specifically of Jews when they were shunned in other parts of the world. This is why so many Jewish people, including Ann Frank, immigrated to Holland in lieu of Hitler’s coming to power. This traditionally liberal culture led to the modern day liberal culture.
These final three cities provided a sense of comparison to the Italian culture and built environment. I better understand how unique the Italian renaissance city is, untouched by modern architecture, and seemingly stuck in time. Each city is rich with its own traditions, reminiscent of the renaissance powers which the country used to be divided into. Venice has its festival Redentore, Siena has Il Palio, and Padova its own festivals during our time there. The history provides each major city with more of a unique identity than the individual states in America.