Writing in the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau and later republishing in Toward a New Architecture, Le Corbusier said, "To send an architectural student to Rome, this to cripple them for life." Nothing could be further from the truth. This is just how wrong Le Corbusier got it.
Sending students abroad is absolutely essential. Not only does it give them exposure to different cultures and ways of doing things, but it opens their eyes to a new way of seeing and thinking about the world around them. Students that have come here this summer to Florence and Tuscany have benefited from visiting some of the greatest buildings, villas, and cities that the Western world has to offer.
And they do this in part because of your generosity. I want to thank each one of you who have supported education abroad over the course of the past few years and encourage you to keep doing so into the future. It is our intention to allow every University of Maryland student in the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation an opportunity to start a study abroad, whether it be for a semester, or a short-term program like this one, a month, in Tuscany and Florence.
Hey, Shannon, what are you drawing?
I'm drawing [inaudible] and I'm doing the wall poche'.
Excellent. I told somebody else a moment ago, "Do you realize that students have been doing this exercise for several 100 years?"
Really?
This is a classic exercise. Yeah. So welcome to the club. Great. Are you enjoying yourself?
Yes.
How do you like the trip so far? Has it been good? Sad to see it end?
Yeah.
Yeah, indeed. Thank you.
Joseph, how are you doing today?
Doing well, how are you?
Okay, so tell us. So you are both a Master of Architecture and a Master of Historic Preservation student. And so what did it mean to you to be here in Florence, Italy for a month?
Oh, gosh, so many things. Let's see. Well, obviously, being in a city of great culture is important. A lot of history here to see. And I think also for me, just seeing a lot of the buildings, which I've studied before, and seeing books in person was really important. You know, it's just a different approach to preservation, I think. More of a sort of a living instead of more of a museum approach, which I think was really interesting. Yeah, both actually, it's both a living and a museum approach, I think.
Good, and you did a bit of travel on weekends.
Yeah.
And it was that good?
It was good. Yeah.
A little bit hurried? A little bit. Yeah, a little bit. Bologna, Venice, and Rome.
Fantastic. Okay, thank you!
Sure.
What are you drawing?
I'm trying this face of the building. I'm trying to like detail it really well to try to show the depth. Like what you're saying, how I sculpted the outsides. I just have a little bit done.
Okay, good. Are you enjoying us?
Yeah!
Yeah? Have you learned a lot?
Yeah. For sure.
Good.
Look who I found drawing. Are you enjoying this?
Yes. I am enjoying this.
You have a big smile. I can always tell if you're enjoying something. You have a big smile typically when you are.
Yes, I am enjoying this. It is amazing. And [inaudible].
So would you recommend that other students do this?
100%!
Good. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of your day.
So what was your favorite thing about being in Florence?
My favorite thing was looking at the Duomo.
The Duomo?
Yeah. Beautiful.
Yeah, kind of exciting, isn't it? It's a huge building. And when we saw it from the top of the plots of vecchio it looked like a mountain in the middle of the city didn't. Right. Well, I'm glad you enjoyed that.
And how about you Jordan?
My favorite part was absolutely the food. The food is amazing. I've been to so many pizza places, sandwich places, pasta places, of course. So absolutely branch out with the food!
You mean it's something other than New Jersey gravy on top of spaghetti with meatballs?
Oh my gosh. We can't find mac and cheese which is great!
There you go. Good, would you recommend doing this again?
Absolutely.
Good, good. Good.
[Inaudible], tell me what you think was the best part of your experience here in Florence.
I love the field trips, especially Seanna because we got to explore a lot of villas and I mean, the artist and a lot of the field trips I really enjoy.
And I think you'd like the gelato too? The other day I caught you going into a gelato shop. You didn't see me but I walked behind you and I thought, Oh, he's enjoying the gelato.
That was actually a shake. I like, I love the shakes.
Okay, great. Thank you. So other than the downpours that we experience from time to time, what was your favorite memory of being here in Florence?
Oddly enough, I think my favorite one was the downpour.
Really?
In [inaudible].
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Well, that was fun for me too. That's when I realized I had a good group when everybody laughs.
Yeah.
Good.
That was fun.
So I see that you have with you a portable cappuccino which is something when I was a student did not exist. It's just simply, you could not get a cup to go. Besides cappuccino, tell me what are you going to remember most about being here in Florence?
I think like just going on walks along the Arno and like walking out into the countryside. It was like my favorite thing to do here.
Oh, you walked up to Piazzale?
Yep!
Which is about 250 meters above the level of Florence and several kilometers outside of the city. So that's one big hike.
Yes.
Extraordinary, extraordinary. Good. And would you recommend doing this to others?
Absolutely!
Perfect, okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Look at these beautiful drawings. So what are you up to today?
I'm gonna start drawing the facade of this church that we're in.
How are you going to draw it from over here in the shade?
My picture?
Oh my goodness. Everybody is using their cameras, technology. This is all hybrid. I got it. Great. Do you think you've learned a lot from this?
Yes.
Would you recommend other people do it?
I absolutely do!
Good, good. How about you Andrew, you feel confident this is a good thing to do.
Yes, this is one of my greatest experiences in life.
Super! Glad to hear that. Glad to share it with you! [Inaudible], Brian Kelly here in multiple Ciano Italy with a group of 18 students who have come to Florence to study the architecture and urbanism and landscape and because of your support, they have a message for you. Grazie!! They are saying Grazie! That's the we say thank you in Italy. Thank you for your support!