OUGD502 - Easter Break 2018, Italy Trip - Florence

The second stop on our travels was Florence, home to much of Italy's Renaissance art and architecture. The Il Duomo di Firenze (also known as the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) is the main church of Florence and has become one of the cities most iconic pieces of architecture. The design of the cathedral is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white and adorned with Gothic style features by Italian architects Arnolfo di Cambio and Emilio De Fabris. Like the Duomo in Milan, this kind of attention to detail was also something to be admired.

After two very tiring climbs of both the bell tower and the dome of the cathedral, I could no longer feel my legs but the views were totally worth it, being able to gaze upon the whole city of Florence in all it's glory. One interesting thing which I gained from this was the way in which the streets themselves had been designed. Long, straight roads which seemed to go on for eternity. It was found that back in the time this was built and religion was something most people believed in, the cathedral was built to be the tallest building in the city to represent its importance over everything else and since navigation devices didn't exist at the time, this allowed people to see the cathedral from wherever they were and the development of long streets leading directly to this was something to help lead others here. Transferring this into the design world, this shows how a wider audience and purpose for your designs is important to consider when designing a piece of work. How will this help them? What purpose does it serve? Consider the appeals? Not only this, but the climb up both these buildings to admire the view from above also taught me that hard work truly does pay off! (Eventually!)

The next day, we visited the Uffizi Gallery, one of the largest and most famous galleries in the city. This was home to much Italian Renaissance art, however something other which had me with my mouth wide open in amazement was the ceilings. Typically, ceilings are nothing to get excited about, simply painted a solid colour with no apparent need for any sort of detail or design. However, the Uffizi took this to a new level and showed me things which are generally considered 'everyday' and boring can be transformed into something incredible and become a piece of art in itself. This taught me to always look up. We spend so much time in our own little bubbles with our heads towards the ground that we end up missing anything interesting that goes on around us, therefore it is important to step back sometimes and admire such things.

Home to beautiful ceilings and the God of beauty. One of the most famous pieces of artwork held in this gallery was 'The Birth of Venus' painted by Sandro Botticelli. Produced between 1482 and 1485, the painting is described as becoming almost a landmark of 15th Century Italian painting. The painting depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore, fully-grown, after her birth from the sea. I have always had a love for Renaissance art and seeing this painting in person was something I almost feel privileged to have experienced.

Our next destination in Florence was another gallery, this time the Galleria dell'Accademia, home to the famous David of Michelangelo sculpture. Again, I had some previous knowledge of this sculpture, however the grand scale of it was something which took my breath away. It was huge! And to think this was supposedly made out of a 'bad' piece of marble which Michelangelo had been given to work with almost seems like an impossible concept. This taught me that even if things don't go to plan when producing a piece of design, for instance materials or processes, that amazing work can still be produced, it all depends on how you tackle the challenge at hand.