FRESCO REVIVED

SUMMER 2022
STUDY ABROAD
INSTRUCTOR: SHANTEL BLAKELY

I started my journey in Italy with my sincere appreciation and love for frescoes from all genres, as I travelled to the most distant and rural villages to see the masterpieces painted by unknown artists. Their passion and efforts could never be summarized by all those paintings on wall. Since Florence has been a center for artistic conversations from hundreds of years ago, the city shows its diversity and tolerance toward art in different cultures.

Hence, I proposed a fresco center that incorporates frescoes painted by unknown artists and mural works from all over the world. Diverse murals and fresco paintings would be projected on the interior wall of the tower, and as visitors walk up to the tower, all art works would be unrolled. The tower massing was inspired by my journey in San Gimignano that openings on the bell tower frame the landscape as paintings. It is a unique experience waking from the bottom to top as view changes.

The design of the loggia and elevated path is responding to the site and the secret Vasari Corridor. The fresco center connects the exit of the Uffizi Gallery and the Vasari Corridor, responding the urban dialogues with purpose to revitalize the corridor and bring new artistic energy to the city.

Site: Florence, Italy
Individual