As I have been exploring the city of Florence, I have noticed that there are some key differences between this ancient city and the modern cities I am used to:
First off, Florence is a small, walkable city that was designed around the movement of people and goods, not cars, so the roads are very narrow. This means that it is very difficult for cars to navigate these roads, so most people choose to walk or bike everywhere. However, Pittsburgh is a very car centered environment, so it takes a long time to walk anywhere if you don’t own or have access to a car. In modern society we have shifted from prioritizing the movement of people to prioritizing the movement of cars when designing and improving cities.
Also, aesthetic values seem to have drastically changed as well. Massive buildings and churches like the Duomo and the Santa Maria Novella took a very long time to build with the construction spanning multiple generations. Renaissance cities built these huge constructions with so much attention to detail because they wanted to showcase their wealth and talent. Meanwhile, back home in Oakland, the construction of the new addition to Presbyterian hospital has been going on for just a few years, and people complain that it is not done yet. I think that people’s values have shifted from making something that is beautiful to making something that is quick and convenient.
Swanson School of Engineering 