Esmeralda

Description: In Calvino Italo's book Invisible Cities, the city of Esmeralda is described as a network of streets that span and intersect each other. There are several routes so the citizens do not have to follow the same path every day. The network of routes are not arranged on one level, but follow instead an up-and-down course of steps, landings, cambered bridges, hanging streets. The paths are created for different people in mind as well, paths for the adventurous lives, paths for those who play it safe, and paths for the unseen. A map of Esmeralda should include, marked in different colored inks, all these routes, solid and liquid, evident and hidden. The paths of the bazaar were taken from corners of the buildings on Central Parkway in Cincinnati. There are hidden as well as visible paths that connect from the median to the city blocks, and this happens where there is an insertion into the site. The insertions are where the program for the bazaar happens: the merchant housing, public performance space, and the black box.