Visiting Capri, Italy during the weekend

Author: Maddox Townsend | Major: Architecture | Semester: Fall 2023

My semester at the University of Arkansas Rome Center has been unlike any other. As a required aspect of the bachelor’s degree in architecture, I chose to go to the Rome in my fifth-year fall semester due to a unique opportunity to take part in a design build studio that is not typically offered through the Rome Center. In choosing this program I was able to not only experience Rome with the Dean of the Rome Center as my professor, Francesco Bedeschi, but also work hands on in deconstructing and reconstructing a pavilion at a local high school. This type of project had never been offered in the Rome Center before and was something that I knew I could not pass up. In Rome, my courseload consisted of a studio course, Architecture of the City, Modern and Contemporary Rome, and Women in Art and Architecture. These courses stood out to me because they provided the largest opportunity for on-site learning. Each of these courses were based around traveling around the city of Rome and seeing as many of the sites and buildings that related to each course. Because of this, I was consistently getting to physically engage with and experience the city. These courses were taught by professors who are experts in their respective fields, including esteemed Professor and Author Dr. Consuelo Lollobrigida. These courses differed from the U of A courses in that they were rarely taught as lectures. The best way to learn and understand the city of Rome is through site visits including detailed notes, sketches, and drawings analyzing Rome’s complex and historied urban fabric and monuments. The city and its architecture have such a diverse and heterogeneous history that almost seemed overwhelming to study for even an entire semester, and while we may have not seen everything the city has to offer, the experience stimulated what is sure to be a lifelong passion of traveling and learning about different places and architecture throughout the world.

There were countless trips and activities that we had the opportunity and fortune to do outside of class. We were able to visit cities such as Paris, Vienna, Basel, Ronchamp, Barcelona, Venice, Florence, Matera, and many more. However, one trip that stood out the most to me was a trip that was sponsored by the University of Arkansas where we were able to mountain bike in the Dolomites. This mountain chain that stretches from the North of Italy to the South of Switzerland and Austria has views like no other. We mountain biked over 50 miles with electric bikes up and down a mountain led by none other than Professor Bedeschi. Not only did we get to experience the mountains and lakes of the Dolomites, but a famous architectural landmark in Zaha Hadid’s Messner Mountain Museum. This was truly an experience I will never forget.

I could not recommend this experience enough to not only architecture students, but students of any major. There is so much to learn, so many places to see, food to eat, cultures to engage, people to meet. The only thing that I wish I knew before hand is to never take a single day for granted. Never again in my life will I can see and experience as many things as I did alongside fellow classmates and friends, so it is important that I made every moment and day count. Everything about the experience was amazing, especially the food. Italian food is some of the best in the world and it is going to be missed dearly. That will not stop me, however, from getting Chick-fil-a the day I get back with my family! All jokes aside, the experience has truly been life changing and is something that I will recommend to anyone.