Here is another example on my work with exploring the model as a design tool in the course "Alla Scoperta della manualità." This time the assignment was to work on an urban level, creating a model 50x50 cm representing a city and/or a landscape based on certain rules we set up by ourselves. As in the work with the etruscan tombs the goal was to explore the aspects of the physical model as a design tool. I chose to work with density, setting up a grid with different shades of black symbolizing different amount of tissue in each square. Then I thought of a river (blue in the image above) which would attract tissue, and a motor way (red) which would repell it. I quickly made a first verison of my "city", called "densicittà" without thinking too much. When studying the result questions started to arise. How were the borders between the squares to be dealt with? Should I also work with height or just on how much the tissue covered the surface? Thinking about these things, I modified my first verison and let the tissue swell and grow across the borders. Somehow though the whole system lost some of it's clearity and for the final version I tried to tidy things up a bit again. I also introduced some new materials. Suddenly there was some kind of fortress, thoughts of parts representing settlements in the mountains and other "towns" or "countries" (could it represent a region? A city? the whole world? etc.) beeing harbour cities or classical italian cities like Venice... Discovering my city through the camera lens was a pure joy... a medieval city in Holland? The highway passing a fortress? A dense city sprawling across the highway... old town meeting the new town?
// What I would really like to take with me from this project is the feeling of working without beeing in control of things, letting something just grow and then have a look upon it trying to see what it could be... An interesting experience was also to change scale all the time, sometimes thinking of it as the whole world and sometimes like a single city... What are the rules that decide how our cities grow today? How can we change them?

The strict but wonderful Professoressa Cianci wanted us to draw everything we saw, more or less. In the end of the course "Disegno e Rilievo" the students were asked to hand in 100 drawings size A4 or A5 +make 3 posters in A1 on the themes ancient, modern and contemporary architecture in Rome. Prof. Cianci pushed me to work hard and to try techniques I had never used before. See the blog of Ciancis courses here: http://disegnoerilievo.blogspot.com/

After having posted the drawings above, I got an interesting comment on whether "analyzing" drawing was allowed in the course. The prof. focused both on having us think about the materials we used when we drew, (talking about the quality of the paper, which pens to use etc.) composition and how we worked with lines and surfaces and then, at last, she encouraged us to just draw draw draw - and write - about everything that interested us. She pointed out that doing "good drawings" was not (always) the goal. She surely wanted us to draw in an "analyzing" way though she was also really crazy about perfect perspectives and slick facades and all that... She wanted us to do all... Since I normally draw alot, almost in a maniac way, and almost only with a black Pilot G-tec 0.4 or HB 0.7 pencil l took the opportunity in this course to work more with colour (something which has really "slipped over" to my everyday sketching now) and to try for once to be a bit more "realistic" and detailed when drawing a building to remember what it looked and felt like ...The prof. often thought in the end that the drawings I had made when not trying to be proper were the best.. The question about what an "analyzing drawing" is very interesting...

I post a few more pictures which could maybe boost that interesting discussion. What is the difference between an illustration, a drawing, a sketch and an "analyzing drawing"?

On request :D :

The most inspiring course during my year at Roma Tre was called "Alla scoperta della manualità" , where we learned about how to use physical models in the design process. These pictures give you an insigt in one of the projects, led by Bruna Cohan, a very skillful teacher. The theme I explored was "dug-out architecture", using Etruscan tombs in Cervetervi, north of Rome as a starting point for a 12x12x12m underground building. The whole project was drawn and sculpted, no computers used... Read more about the Etruscan culture here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etrusco Photo from the tomb area

Light, efficient structures with the splendid prof. Rossi. Learning to think about shape and structure as something developing, evolving from simple rules. Talking about geometry, studying shapes of nature. Meditative work. Cardboard, sewing the pieces together. Light light light. shade shade shade