I was kneeling in the dust of a crumbling nave near Cremona last autumn, my fingers tracing the uneven edge of a single, sun-baked unit, when I realized how much we misinterpret the Lombard brick tradition. Most people—and even some…
I remember standing in a narrow alleyway in Naples last October, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and espresso, staring at a crumbling lintel that everyone else had dismissed as “decaying.” My hands were coated in a…
I was standing in the dust of a site near Segovia last autumn, squinting at a series of weathered stone channels, when it hit me how much we overcomplicate this. People love to talk about the “grandeur” of Roman engineering…
I remember standing in a narrow alleyway in Naples last autumn, my fingers tracing a seam where a jagged piece of 1950s concrete had been shoved against a centuries-old limestone block. The texture was wrong—too smooth, too cold, and utterly…
I was standing in the Piazza della Rotonda last Tuesday, watching a tour group shuffle past, and I felt that familiar, sharp irritation. Everyone was staring up at the massive portico, talking about “divine proportions” and “architectural miracles,” as if…
I was standing in a humid courtyard in Palermo last Tuesday, squinting at a modern facade that tried far too hard to look “timeless.” It was one of those recent attempts at the classical orders revived, but instead of the…
I was standing near the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana last Tuesday, watching a group of tourists snap photos of the arches, looking for that “classic Rome” feeling they expected. They were looking for the warm, crumbling patina of the Trastevere…
I was crouched in a narrow alleyway off Via di Città last Tuesday, my knees aching against the damp cobblestones, when I realized most people walk through this city completely blind. They look up at the sweeping facades of the…
I was standing on a scaffold in a courtyard near Tivoli last autumn, my fingers tracing a particularly deep void in a weathered block, when I realized how much we misinterpret this material. Most people—and certainly most glossy interior design…
I was standing in the Piazza della Cisterna last July, watching a tour group cluster around the base of a stone wall, listening to a guide drone on about the “romantic skyline” of the town. It’s the same old script,…