Dolce Vita

I was feeling especially tired after Construction class and felt like some coffee was in order, so I decided to go to Dolce Vita. I had seen and heard of this coffee and dessert shop before but had never been there myself. I figured it would be pretty busy, and it was, although not as busy as I have seen it at night when driving on Duval. After ordering a coffee I sat down to read. It took a few moments to concentrate and I had to read over the first few sentences four or five times, but then I became absorbed in the story. After reading the first selection, I noted some observations and thoughts, drank some of my coffee, and turned to the next story. Once again it took a minute to gain back my concentration, but once I did I kept focused until the end of the story. However, I always had some knowledge of what was going on around me and if someone said something extraordinarily loud my attention would be transferred to them. The other major distraction I noticed were people standing up. It didn’t really bother me when other seated people moved around, but people standing did bother me probably because they were on a completely different level then I was.

Each story led me to think about different things connecting the place I was to those in the stories. My notes from the reading are as follows:

1- Cities and the Sky

· Building anticipating how nature works- not wise- nature is unpredictable and ultimately you cannot outsmart nature with manmade creations

· Sky= windows, evidence of outside/nature, lighting

· Inside Dolce Vita- natural light was evident but not overwhelming- created a calm atmosphere

2- Cities and Desire

· The background of landscape- what a place sits against is crucial in defining it

· Different perspectives- perspective as opinion or sight

· Desire- what you want is what you may choose to see in something

· When people reach the plaza of Dolce Vita, Mothers, Quack…., they are ready to reach a destination and do not really notice too much of the outside

i. However once inside and sitting they admire the cars passing by outside

· People sitting inside look at those sitting outside

3- Cities and Memory

· Forms shape what activities can be done on/around them

· People find new uses for architecture that was not originally intended buy gives the character to the place

· Nothing much here because tables are set up and used how they were intended and not much room for anything else to happen

· Window seats are more popular

· Chairs are re-arranged to bring people closer or facilitate conversations

· Distances of tables= modules for how far people can sit from each other

· Coffee shop à small- all sounds can be heard, coffee grinder, espresso machine, people talking, orders taken, jazz music playing, traffic

4- Trading Cities

· When people have been talking and then get up to leave, their table seems empty for a while- placement of chairs is how they left them

· At one point, I was the only person in the shop, and it seemed so quiet and almost harder to concentrate on the reading

i. As long as there is a consistent level of noise I can concentrate, but when there is a change whether it be louder or quieter, I become aware of where I am and lose my train of thought

5- Trading Cities

· People tend to follow each other as they come in and order

· Seating area is the “zig zag” path

6- Cities and the Sky