Making conservation district for East Cambridge would be a step in addressing development crises. When I left Forli, Italy, in 2010, I brought a suitcase full of curiosity, a great desire to become a fluent English speaker and a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning from the oldest university in the world. I knew little about Cambridge, but I was welcomed by a much more vibrant atmosphere than I could’ve anticipated. I had the chance to expand my knowledge for vernacular residential architecture types, and also the luxury of having such a significant collection of 19th and early 20th century architecture at my disposal, much like an open-air museum of architecture. Living in Cambridge meant I could finally experience many of the buildings described by Kenneth Frampton and the other college bibles I studied for years. The location in which they’re situated, a marvelous blend of historical and traditional shingle homes from various eras, makes them stand out even more. It’s as if the Museum of Fine Arts placed Picasso’s art in the middle of a Renaissance collection. After all, the destruction of two world wars and a loss of identity shifted the center of architecture to the United States from Europe.
