Despite being told that it could be covered in a day trip, I found that a day was too little and so I had to concentrate on mapping one particular area. For this trip I chose Senado Square, which is centrally located and therefore a good place to start one's subconscious mapping of the city. If I have the luxury of time, I prefer to spend my first day somewhere entirely without a map. I find that it is a great way to really open your eyes and get to know the rhythm and pattern of your area. You also need to pay attention because you have to find your way back home!
I began by getting on the first bus I could find and getting off when something interested me. My eyes were arrested as we drove down Ave. de Almeida Ribeiro and I saw what I was looking for. Three things immediately attracted me: the change in tile patterns, abundance of colonial buildings, and urban space.
Patterns: I enjoy ornament. For many years it was a dirty word in architecture, pitted against the clean lines of modernism. Today it is creeping back into consciousness as even those who idealize the city as a machine for living admit that there is beauty in the application of ornament. I may always detest the giant stone acorns adorning the fence-posts of most country clubs, but I drool over the shiny wrappings of the Signal Boxes in Basel or the decadence of l'Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. Here in Senado Square, the very simplest form of ornament made a great impact upon the viewer. The change in paving, with undulating waves of colored stone and floral motifs marked the entry into the center of town. It reminded me of going into Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, where the cobblestones were a vivid and beautiful indigo color. I found out that these stones had come over from Spain, where they were used to balance the weight of the ships until they were swapped out for gold. I wonder what the story behind Senado Square is.
Buildings: There are few Colonial cities that keep their buildings. I can understand this because these marvelous buildings are also edifices erected to showcase the grandeur and supremacy of the rulers who colonized the countries. Why, indeed, would you be compelled to keep that up as a reminder. But I am still impressed by the European styling taken from Italy to the rest of Europe, and then now sitting grandly in a tropical city with very little variation in form. Some colonial buildings have taken into account the different climate, extending verandas and widening windows, but the old proportion system is still in play with a lot of buildings and you can trace the Greek golden section as it was carried from antiquity to the Renaissance, and now to the façades of churches on the shores of the Pacific.
Urban Spaces: Also imported by the colonials are the squares and piazzas located across Macau. These squares served an important function in the past because that was where the locals would gather to exchange goods, celebrate events, and share news. Most of the functions of today's Internet were conducted in the public space. Now we can still enjoy the spaces to see, be seen, and see others seeing us. You can sit at a cafe (or McDonald's) and watch the day go by. The paving patterns are especially prominent in the piazzas with waves giving way to floral and marine designs. You can still feel the cultural exchange as tourists mingle with locals.
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