Author: Conley Lents | Major: Architecture

Ciao! Mi Chiamo Conley Lents. I am a student from the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. I just finished my fourth year of school here with a major in Architecture. I traveled to the University of Arkansas Rome Center in the Spring of 2022 where I lived for four months in Rome, Italy.

Traveling abroad is required for my degree in architecture so I knew that I would have to travel somewhere. I chose to travel to the University of Arkansas Rome Center for a few reasons. The first and main one is the rich history of Rome. It is one of the oldest cities in the world and the capital of one of the most beautiful countries. I am fascinated by all of the different layers of history that all build upon each other to make up the city that Rome is today. The other main reason was the unique architectural styles of Rome. There are so many different styles of architecture throughout the city, baroque and medieval for example.

This program expanded my understanding of the architectural profession. I have never before been to a place that had so many examples of how architecture has changed over time. You can see how architecture as a profession has changed over the centuries. Architects used to do more than just the design of buildings, they were engineers, interior designers, artists, and so many more things. This made me realize that I want to do more than just architecture with my career. I want to expand and build upon my architectural base by going to graduate school for something that is related to architecture, but unique. I am not exactly sure which direction I want to go yet, but I am very excited about this prospect. This excitement is partially due to my wonderful classes and instructors at the Rome center. All of my classes had something to do with the history or architecture of Rome so I was completely immersed in all things Rome. My two main architectural classes were absolutely amazing. In these classes, we actually went to various monuments and then had class there about the monuments. It made it so much easier to understand the architectural and historical elements that we were talking about because we were actually experiencing them. These classes also required a lot of on-site drawing which helped further this new deeper understanding even more. My drawing skills improved so much over this semester due to the intense amount of drawing that we were doing and the amazing guidance of the faculty there. They were very hands on and helpful with lots of tips on how to draw things on-site. I have been doing art my entire life, but drawing in a class room is completely different to drawing in person. Even the main architectural studio class was much more hand drawing focused than studios back at Fay Jones. The studios in Fay Jones focus a lot on the digital aspects of design, which are vital for this field so it is very important to learn. But it was a very nice change of pace getting back to my roots of hand drawing. It allowed me to get a new perspective on my architectural designs and develop them further than I can digitally. This semester taught me the value that hand drawing can really bring to architectural design when used alongside the digital tools that I have learned over my years at Fay Jones.

My day to day life in Rome involved a lot of walking, delicious food, and learning about architecture and history. I lived about 10 minutes walking away from the Rome center so I walked everyday. On this walk I saw the Basilica of St. Peter, Castle St. Angelo, Tiber river, and many other assorted historical elements. I was completely immersed in history everywhere I looked. It was absolutely amazing and really made me appreciate all of the small elements of everything. During my semester, I was also able to travel to several other cities in and out of Italy. A few of these places in Italy include Orvieto, Ostia Antica, Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre, Portofino, Tivoli, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast. In Cinque Terre, I hiked to each of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre with a group from the school. The views on this hike were completely unreal. During spring break I was able to travel to Barcelona, Spain and Nice, France. I was exposed to so many different cultures and histories that I would have never been able to experience without this semester. It completely changed my view of the world in the best way possible.

I would absolutely recommend this program to other students. Every aspect of this semester was an absolute dream: the city, architecture, food, school, faculty, traveling, people, etc. I wish I would have known more Italian beforehand, but in the city center most people spoke at least a little bit of English so it was not that hard. I also packed way too much coming to Rome, which I was told not to do so that was on me. I feel like the several meetings that the travel abroad office at the University of Arkansas held for us beforehand prepared me pretty well for this experience and the amazing faculty at the Rome Center were always there to help and make sure that we had everything we needed. They were so helpful anytime me or my roommates had any small problem at our apartment or any problems at all. I was very nervous to come here, but they made it the best experience of my life. I am sad to be going home, but I am excited to see my family and eat some American food. Don’t get me wrong, the Italian food was amazing, but after four months of eating it I am ready for something different.