When I first arrived in Bologna, in the December of 2018, I was in the midst of designing my Independent Major of Architectural Studies, and so naturally I thought that my first opinions on Bologna were going to be formed through an architectural lens. However, what really stuck with me was the experience of walking through Bologna, and living through Bologna. From an architectural standpoint, I already knew that Bologna was the only city in the world with 38 kilometers of porticoes, baroque, renaissance, and medieval, and I admired this architectural feature for what it was. However, experiencing the portici in person changed what I thought I knew about them. Yes, in their form they shelter Bolognesi from the rain and the sun, but they also provide a meeting point, a place of socialization, a place for shopkeepers to demonstrate their best and freshest-made products, for performers to dance and sing, for young university students to study and for activists to organize political events with posters and graffiti. Lucio Dalla, arguably the most famous and adored singer who lived in Bologna, on the same Via D’Azeglio where I would later live as a study-abroad student, said that the portici offered him il nido sotto i tetti al fresco, or a nest under the roofs in the cool. I find a tinge of sadness in the reality of this quote – as the portici also serve as the homes of the homeless population of Bologna. The portici to me, are museums, clubs, restaurants, boutiques and art galleries themselves, not only extensions. The widest, the longest, the tallest, and narrowest porticoes in the world all call Bologna home, and to me, it is a representation of Bologna’s welcome to people of all walks of life: all of whom find shelter under the portici. – Tara
Click on the photo above to watch a short film (in Italian) on the Portici
If someone had asked me to imagine a portico before living in Bologna for four months, I maybe would have imagined some sort of an arch or an entryway. Now, the word carries a whole new meaning. Not only does it evoke the image of the Bolognese streets, the orange facade of the buildings but also a feeling. A feeling of shelter, both physically from any unpleasant weather and mentally they create a deeper sense of community as you pass by local inhabitants all under the same portici. As you walk away from the city center, toward the city walls, the portici become less frequent, the city feels bigger and it is easy to feel lost. I know I am not alone in this feeling. The portici are a fixture in the daily lives of the Bolognese people. On every street, any time of day, workers can be seen smoking just outside their shop, artists can be seen selling their crafts, and the laughs of schoolchildren are amplified and bounced back under the arches. To most, admittedly also myself prior to living here, Bologna is a city known for its food (tortellini, Ragù alla Bolognese, and Lasagna all native to Bologna) and its accademia (the University of Bologna is the oldest university in Europe). My four months living here taught me what it meant to embrace Bologna as a whole city, with its own history, culture, and way of life. Now, after embarking on this research, I see Bologna through a new lens. Narrowing my focus on the physical spaces of the portici and Làbas, I have developed a new appreciation for how the city has adapted to its people and how its people have embraced all that Bologna has to offer. – Louisa