Starting with the Building Blocks

Hello Fellow Classmates/ Bloggers, my name is Ali Fieder.

Growing up with Urban Development and Commercial Real Estate as a general theme of many family dinner conversations, it was only natural that I study those subjects at university. I am currently enrolled in 3rd Honours Specialization Urban Development. Given my extensive knowledge of the subject from an economic and geographical perspective, I cannot express my interest enough in this subject through the visual arts history perspective. I anticipate urbanism will be delineated through different examples of architecture throughout history, and am eager to know if the outcome of this course reflects that.

Architecture has always been of interest to me, as I am an art student outside of the university. I have been fortunate enough to travel to many parts of North America, Central America and Europe, experiencing some of the largest buildings constituting beautiful forms of art. 

In the summer of my graduating year of high school I travelled to London, England. While visiting I was the most captivated with the large scale and extremely intricate architecture of the London Parliament buildings. This explains my use of this building, as the back drop for my blog.

This past summer I travelled through the South of France and Italy. Since then, two examples of extravagant architecture have remained in the forefront of my mind. The first is the town of Orvieto, Umbria, Italy. The town was picturesque, situated on the top of a mountain. The sight of such a well planned and well preserved ancient city is one I hope all can experience.

Figure 1: Riservati, Tutti I Diritti. Orvieto Wines: Wine Tasting and Wine Tour. 2013. http://www.orvietowines.com/

The second example of architecture that remains in my mind is the Duomo in Florence, Italy. The large scale of the building along with the intricate details that one can only see when very up close, I will never forget. I also found the use of colour, rather than the usual brick or stone to be very interesting and captivating. 

Figure 2: eTravelPhotos.com. Florence Cathedral (Duomo). 2008. http://www.etravelphotos.com/photo.php?pid=11467

It is obvious that architecture and urbanism is something that is prevalent in my everyday life, and a highlight of my travels.

I look forward to posting more on this blog as I am exposed to history and information in regards to architecture and urbanism, that I otherwise would not know.