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Effective, Intentional Designs |
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written
by daw84 / 10.24.2005 |
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Assignment |
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Tucked away in the basement of Santa Maria della Concezione, is the most impactful tourist destination in Rome, largely due to its directional form. The Colosseum encloses the memory of thousands of gruesome deaths and the Arch of Titus clearly depicts Jewish prisoners being led as sacrificial lambs to the slaughter, but only this hidden walkway has the audacity to blatantly reveal the final destination of all mankind, physically as well as spiritually. The lengthy hallway leads you from a faint glimmer of hope in the painting of Jesus reaching down to help the poor to the absolute depths of despair of full children’s skeletons surrounded by thousands of dead man’s bones. Most importantly, at the end of this long corridor, the horrified and appalled viewer is trapped, as if they themselves have been damned to hell. The only escape is back through the sea of death and decay through which they just came.
However, the narrow walkway dictating the movement of the visitor accomplishes the desired effect. The brief hope had upon entering the dark path is entirely lost by the end of the revolting tunnel, but forcing you to retrace your steps beautifully achieves the motives of the church. Walking back through partially restores hope, as the scenes become relatively less gruesome, but the effect of the intense scenes remains at the core of the observer’s consciousness. With personal salvation comes the responsibility to go and save those presently damned to hell. The culmination of this effect lies in the old man’s penetrating eyes shooting out from the bottom of the second painting along the way. Surrounded by others reaching, clawing, and screeching vainly to the friars above for relief from the ever-consuming flames, he looks straight into the heart of the viewer now vulnerable due to the commanded procession. No longer reaching or hoping, accepting his fate in full, his powerful, challenging gaze places the responsibility of his fate squarely on the shoulders of the living. The directionality and control of the site enable it to achieve its goal.
In contrast to the rigid, planned structure of the church, the Spanish Steps encourage meandering. Before I could read, my favorite comics where those which portrayed a child in the Family Circus walking with apparent ADD throughout the neighborhood taking the longest route possible to their destination originally only meters away. This mentality is mysteriously imposed on the traveler by the interesting design of the Spanish Steps. Physically impossible to descend in a straight path, the expansive staircase invites people to step out of their busy lives and take time to sit, relax, and chat. A direct, hurried path is further discouraged by the sea of intimately cuddling lovers and loudly joking friends forcing passersby to weave in and out of the maze of humanity. As can be seen from the abundance of people sitting on the steps, the structure, although very open and different from that of Santa Maria della Concezione, again meets its aim, wooing people to stop, sit, relax, and enjoy life.
The directionality of the church and meandering of the Spanish Steps are sharply contrasted by the tangled, dangerous web of the Via Veneto. The expensive stores lining the busy street cast their bait into the chaotic crowds, reeling in victim after victim. While the church had direction and desired to give the observer purpose, the Via Veneto aims to do the exact opposite. The stores try, in any way possible, to distract the vulnerable from their previous intentions and suck them into their dead-end stores before emptying their pocketbooks with promises of fame, fortune, and sexual appeal. First, the crowded street pushes innocent pedestrians to the sides, and as the pace slows due to traffic, their wandering eyes are drawn to the store windows by the provocative music and lavishly clad mannequins donning thousands of dollars worth of clothing. The easily-swayed quickly find themselves lured inside, trying on the sexy, truly life-giving, manipulated sheets of fabric assembled by the most famous Italian designers, and finally, the stores have you in their grasp as the hand reaches for the well-used piece of plastic in the fading purse. The Via Veneto has accomplished its final goal.
The three sites, although very different in form and function, each have specific, intentional designs which enable the designers to effectively achieve their goals, no matter what they may be.
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