My favorite "piece" in this section of the Biennale was this installation titled "House Behaviourology" by Atelier Bow-Wow. There were 11 models of different homes, each unique in their own individual way. This installation really captured the whole theme of the Biennale this year, with connecting architecture with people and people with architecture. A couple of my friends and I decided to go through this part of the exhibit and pick out our favorite house and say why we chose that particular house. (We decided this before we read that the point behind this installation was showing how the lifestyle of the "user" really influences the architecture of the home.) I chose this house because I liked all the different levels and openness, but most importantly, the hammock hanging in the middle of the house! =D
The other part that I got all giddy over was this giant layout of a miniature town, or really county I guess you could say. I'm not sure of the title of the display but I do know the artist/architect behind the model was Aldo Cibic. (I referenced my map we were given that showed the layout of the exhibits by room but only listed the architects and/or their firms. Probably because there were so many pieces in each room.) Like I said earlier, I absolutely love "mini" things so I was getting very excited at all the "mini" things in this display like the tiny sheep, people, gardens, houses, buildings and cars. It was also just my luck that my camera battery was minutes away from dying so after I had taken my pictures, I didn't really have much more of an excuse to stay in the room so my friends pulled me out of the room, heels dragging in the ground and all. (Not really, but that was how I felt internally)
Day One in Venice was coming to a close and we headed back out towards the Grand Canal to walk along the water back to our hotel. Much to our surprise, we emerged from the gardens to see one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen! I of course took a couple of pictures! :-)
Day Two in Venice:
We started out the morning by visiting the Doge's Palace (Doge = Duke). This whole palace was so extravegant and I could go on for days about all the beautiful things we saw! However, I will just point out my favorite part of it, which was the Staircase of the Giants. This elegant and enormous staircase was the entrance to be used for all the "special" guests and important people. We didn't get to walk up it (because it's blocked off) but we did get to view it from the base of the stairs and also from the very top so we got somewhat of a sense of what it might have felt like enterring and leaving the palace. Either way, whether you were leaving or entering, you could feel the sense of being aware of the wealth, power, and prestige of the Doge because of the amazing architecture of the staircase itself as well as the buildings surrounding it.
After Palazzo Ducale we made our way to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art. Much to my grandparen'ts displeasure, I'm not always keen to some modern art, however the majority of the pieces in this museum were quite interesting and I did actually enjoy them. They weren't too "ecentric" for me :)
One of my favorite pieces here was actually a tree that was planted with a box of little pieces of papers left underneath it for people to write their wishes on and then stick them onto the tree. It was called "The Wishing Tree". It was really neat to see the different wishes each person had and also to be a part of this piece of art and leave our own mark behind.
After the Guggenheim we went to our last stop, Ca' Rezzonico, which used to be an old home I think in the 18th century and is now a museum. There were a lot of beautiful rooms here and we weren't allowed to take pictures but I snapped a couple of quick shots while the guards weren't looking. One of my favorites was this large, open hall that had two huge, beautiful chandeliers.
Overall, I enjoyed Venice a lot and hope to go back another day to explore different things and take more of a relaxing trip there. It was a great time for our Freshman group to take a trip together and I think a lot of us really bonded over this weekend.
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