How can I describe my Italian exchange in one blog?

Wow, this is my second to last blog and I figure I should maybe try and sum up my academic year and my international exchange to Italy. But how? I don’t even remember what I did two days ago and this all feels like such an incredible blur of motion from my first step into the architectural studio at BCIT to hopping on a train to Rome to see some of the most amazing architecture ever built…

I guess this year started with a huge change in my mindset when I went from my technical diploma to the Architectural Science degree at BCIT. It switched from building codes and plumbing lines to concept diagrams and watercolours. Once I found out about the opportunity to come on this exchange to Italy, I couldn’t think about anything else. I was so ready to go before I had even applied! I started looking into learning Italian, meeting with the Italian exchange students who were currently at BCIT and researching the city where the exchange would take place. I couldn’t believe it when I got accepted. It was the most amazing moment of my life!

When I moved here I fell in love immediately. Ferrara is such an incredible city. It is hardly touched by outside culture and the majority of the people you see walking the streets are Italian. The city itself has a medieval central core surrounded by ancient brick fortress walls originally started in to 1100′s for battles. There are restaurants that have been here for hundreds of years, museums with incredible pieces of history and a huge student population as the University is famous around Italy and Europe, especially architecture.

The house I found to live in was a very lucky find! I found it online and wrote a message just hoping to get a response. I am 30 seconds away from the main square, the church, castle and all the shops and restaurants. My roommates are so friendly (one from the north and one from the south), they teach me to speak Italian, cook their traditional dishes and they even got me a free bicycle! The house doesn’t have a living room which is quite common for the city centre but it functions well as they use space in a very efficient way. My house is actually a heritage registered building and is at least 200 years older than Canada… Amazing!

The layout of the city’s University is quite different. There are campuses for each faculty spread out around the city, each with their own study rooms, libraries and exterior courtyards. The faculty of architecture is located in the southern quarter of the city centre, and right beside the oldest neighbourhood in the city. It is directly adjacent to the old walls, a huge park and running and biking paths, and only a ten minute walk from the main square. There is a large library, a huge courtyard shared with the faculty of Industrial Design and a series of study spaces around a central staircase.

The classes I took this year are Urbanistica (Urban Planning Theory and History), Laboritorio di Urbanistica (Urban Planning Design), and Laboritorio di Progettazione (Architectural Studio). They were a struggle at first with the language but since I studied a bit before I arrived, I was able to pick up a few interesting things and once I got familiar with the language, it was no problem at all! The classes are structured very differently from BCIT. Each class has one project that you will complete over the course of the semester and there are no exams, just standing up to present and defend your project to the professors and just there they will give you a grade.

The beginning of the classes seem to be slow compared to BCIT and that you have SO much time to complete it but it is nice that you are given a long time to think about exactly what you want to do. The teachers also give you a series of deadlines to meet with intermittent presentations and reviews to keep you on track. My exams are June 12th, 18th and July 2nd… Each class has two dates where you can do your presentation and you can choose yourself. It was completely confusing at first because we were told our exam period was from June 1st to July 31st. I thought we had that much to study but we are just trying to finish our projects in time!

Working with Italian students is very different to working with students at home. They are taught in a different way and are taught how to design in a different way. At first I struggled to understand they way things were done but eventually I started to catch on and I am still learning so much even about the way that I design myself. It has been more educational on that aspect, I had no idea my views on design would change this drastically (even though I don’t think I could ever forget the building code).

One of the best parts about going on an exchange has to be the opportunity to travel and meet new people. Since I have been here I have been to Paris, Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre and so many other Italian cities. My brother has come to visit me for two weeks, my parents will be here in a month for a 12 day vacation and my boyfriend will be here this August for a one month tour of the entire country! Italy has to be the best place to visit while studying architecture. The way things are built here, and the way some things have lasted over 100′s or 1000′s of years just blows me away!

I could write for ages about this exchange experience but seeing as how I am already 500 words over the recommended amount for my blog I should call it a day! I will end with a few of my favourite pictures of the trip so far. :) My next blog will outline my wonderful, upcoming adventures this summer in Italy once my exams are done!