In Naples; Not just Espresso

For centuries the light of the Bay of Naples has inspired poets and artists from Shelley to Cezanne. Even they occasionally had to take pause from their metaphors and hues to satiate their palates and fortify their spirit. To that end, is their a nectar more intense and more provocative than true Italian espresso? And where else but in Naples does espresso find its most refined manifestation? Ineed the ephemeral "crema" (pronounced kray-mah)of this elixir is elevated to ritualistic heights in this city of comedic tragedy and unbridled romance. To the Neapolitan, coffee is much more than a banal morning beverage. It is the sublime expression of a lifestyle, a gesture, at once bathed in comforting warmth of the Mediterranean sunlight and violently cast in the opaque shadow of Vesuvius's volcanic crucible. To taste it is to live it. What, though, is the secret of its power? Perhaps it is the amalgam of virgin spring water and the transcendent heat of olive wood embers that roasts the green Arabica beans until they are transformed to the perfect shade of burnt sienna and ochre.

Filippo Brunelleschi and the birth of Renaissance Architecture

Filippo Brunelleschi (Born 1377, Florence, Italy- died April 15, 1446, Florence, Italy) Florentine architect that trained as a sculptor and goldsmith.  How did Brunelleschi become interested in architecture? In 1403, he tied with Lorenzo Ghiberti in the competition for the Santa Maria del Fiore baptistery bronze doors in Florence.  While working on the competition he developed the principles of linear perspective and revolutionized the fields of painting and architecture forever.  The discovery had a staggering impact on artistic perception and representation. By the early 1420’s Brunelleschi rose to become the predominant architect of Florence.  His cardinal achievement was winning the competition for and executing the design of Santa Maria del Fiore’s immense dome.  The dome’s 44 meter (144 foot) span surpassed what was the largest span ever constructed; the Pantheon in Rome completed in 126 A.D. with its 43.3 meter (142 ft.) span.   

Origins of Italian Modernist Architecture

Giuseppe Terragni (April 18, 1904 - July 19, 1943) was an Italian architect who pioneered the Italian modern movement under the rubric of Rationalism. His most famous work is the Casa del Fascio built in Como, northern Italy, which was begun in 1932 and completed in 1936; it was designed in accordance with the International Style of architecture and frescoed by abstract artist Mario Radice.

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