Small Town, Big City

The city is organized in a way that is completely different from what I am used to. The blocks of city streets are not numbered and roads are not laid out in a parallel or perpendicular structure. Instead, roads twist and turn and every “city block” created within them is different from the next. Some roads surround shops that line the sidewalk. Others filter into enclosed spaces, such as piazzas where restaurants, markets, and famous sights stand. These places are enclosed spaces in themselves. For example, restaurants are normally small with tables outdoors that are surrounded by plants or a fence. This creates the feeling of intimate space in the midst of the city around it. Sometimes it seems like you are in a smaller town rather than one of the major cities in the world. In contrast, walking down a narrow street can often lead you to an enormous area that could not be seen just around the corner.

Visiting the Trevi Fountain the other day, we found our way through the streets, turned the corner and were be finally confronted with a huge piazza and an incredibly enormous structure. Streets meet at the sight of the fountain from multiple directions, so the fountain cannot be spotted until you are actually in the piazza. When we had almost found it, we heard the roar of the water before we could actually spot the fountain. Though the piazza is an enormous space, the monumentality of the fountain is enhanced by the surrounding buildings, which seem to close off the rest of the city to the site. It seems like this fountain has been standing here forever, and the city built up around it over time, crowding it from all sides. Everything around the structure is centered around it, and the piazza is its own separate place, devoted to the fountain it holds. Places in the city are designed in a way that focuses your attention on that specific space, whether the area is as large as a piazza or as small as restaurant or bar.