cosi veloce
Although life seems to be slowly returning, the project is anything but slow. It’s been going full-speed ahead since this past Monday when the restrictions on construction were lifted. The phrase that keeps getting repeated by us, the architect team, and mostly anyone who have received the updates this week is “cosi veloce!” (so fast)!
On Monday, we arrived to say hello to the team and saw them completing the last of the foundation works which had stopped mid-way back in March. Then it wasn’t until Thursday until I returned again and this time I could see a structure even as we were driving up…one that had actual walls! Well, only one wall officially but plenty of the structural columns had been erected as well.
It seemed like so much had happened in just a few days! The foundation was fully complete, and this was the first time that I’d sensed the spacial outlines of the house. I stood for a bit looking down into the garage area just to take it in, then I walked down to where one would enter the front door where I imagined walking in, then turning right into the living room. Here is where one of the unexpected views happened. The line of sight from the full length of the living area leading through the kitchen and ending with the glass sun room, there is a perfect frame of Monte Amiata, the dormant volcano which extends over the Tuscan landscape. I noticed it as one of the workers was also pointing it out to us.
Then by Friday, they’d already began putting up the struts that hold up the frame for the roof structure on the main section. This part is a flat roof of fully poured concrete with a suspended, exposed concrete ceiling. I don’t have any idea how they are truly going to make this, but I’m excited to find out. I love the exposed concrete done with the wooden molds where you can see the wood grain and seams peeking through in the finished product. The columns are like this already, although these will be covered in the final build, but the texture gives an example of what the ceiling will look like. (More thoughts on concrete to come…)
Yesterday we went back up to say hello, and see the progress, and they were finishing up with the structural columns, wiring the rebar, erecting the steel cages into place, constructing the wooden molds and pouring the concrete. I said that I wanted to see when the wood was removed so they said we should be there tomorrow at 8:00 am.
I’d also woken up early enough to bake an apple/cinnamon bread to take to site with us for the crew. Since I’m the only woman ever on site, surrounded by a big team of construction workers (and I only really know two or three of them), and the fact that I really have no idea what’s going on at this stage I find myself a bit more timid than usual. Plus, after being in isolation for a couple of months, my Italian isn’t on the tip of my tongue as it was before and I’m having to get the construction vocab back up to speed. For all of these reasons I find myself being quieter when I’m around on site. It also doesn’t help to have my face covered with a mask and sunglasses so no facial expressions can be communicated either. So somehow I hope my warm apple bread with a note of thanks … and explanation of this “recetta americana” (American recipe) as well as a disclaimer that I used safety gloves in the preparation… can help express my appreciation for me.