We didn’t have to look far to find the perfect spot for our anchors to record intros. We stayed in a hotel, Le Due Fontane, a former palazzo in one of Florence’s most historic piazzas, Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. The anchors and crew, including our broadcast professor, worked in 90-degree heat, but the sacrifice was worth it. With the Duomo of the Florence Cathedral in view, the piazza, were it not named for the basilica there, could be thought of as Brunelleschi’s square. In 1420, Filippo Brunelleschi, the master Renaissance architect, beat out competition from around Europe to take on the engineering feat of designing what at the time was the world’s largest dome. He designed much of the piazza, including Ospedale degli Innocenti, one of the world’s first hospitals for orphaned infants. Brunelleschi advanced the concept of linear perspective for the flat, symmetrical design of the hospital, which was inspired by his studies of Roman ruins. Other architects building around the piazza in the 15th and 16th centuries adopted Brunelleschi’s style. Although some facades on the piazza have been updated over the centuries, some buildings and the awe-inspiring view of the Duomo have commanded the square for more than 500 years. Vivian B. Martin, faculty co-director
