Inspired by Italo Calvino's novel of the same name, this exercise took three of Calvino's descriptions of imagined places and translated them into three-dimensional spaces. Following from Calvino's narratives describing the cities of Euphemia, Chloe, and Baucis, a series of models and accompanying drawings were created to capture the essence of the metaphysical explored in the writing while also responding to Calvino's description of the cities' spatial characteristics. These new imaginative designs were then introduced to the real world by placing them in polar orientation and under Boston weather conditions to create solar irradiation and wind pattern maps. Inspired by Calvino's framing of Marco Polo reporting to Kublai Khan, the final drawings draw their palette from a fifteenth-century illustrated manuscript of Polo's Travels, and they are set against a copy of the Fra Mauro map of the known world, developed after Polo's death and based primarily on the information provided by his expeditions.
Scale models of each imagined city built using laser cut-and-folded paper
Euphemia
The Plaza
Isometric projection
Solar radiation map measuring kilowatts per hour
Chloe
The Street
Isometric projection
Wind speed study in feet per second
Baucis
The Woods
Isometric projection
Solar radiation map measuring kilowatts per hour