Last week, all twenty-seven students of Cornell in Rome’s Semester Abroad Program (along with six art and architecture professors and the progeny of one) set foot beyond the city limits of Rome and made strides into the rolling hills and craggy mountains of Northern Italy. They specifically visited the iconic cities of Genova (Genoa), Torino (Turin), Milano (Milan), and Venezia (Venice). The six art students b-lined to Padova (Padua) on Saturday to take a peak at the brilliant paintings of the Late Middle Ages painter Giotto di Bondone at the Arena Chapel, while the architecture students rumbled down the canals on crowded Vaporetti visiting Palladian churches and modern housing units of Rossi and Siza. Seven days of traveling, three hotels, 2 bus drivers, countless bus rides, churches, museums visits, way too many cornettos… It was exhausting, but they all made it through the week with their bodies, minds and convictions toward art and architecture still strong. The culminating experience for the architecture students was a day long visit to the Architecture Biennale in Venice, which also happens to share the same title as this post.
According to its curator, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, Reporting from the Front, “given the complexity and variety of challenges that architecture has to respond to, [is] about listening to those who were able to gain some perspective and are consequently in the position to share some knowledge and experiences, inventiveness and pertinence with those of us standing on the ground.” It directly dealt with how architecture can and has been used in response to the ever-increasing number of refugees entering into Europe in search of asylum, sanctuary, a new home. Overall, the special exhibitions and the participating nations did a good job at addressing this issue with concrete solutions and ideas. Many of the students found the Biennale to be extremely helpful in giving them better insight into this topic, which also happens to be part of this semester’s studio prompt. Students met recently with coordinators of the Baobab Center, a group dedicated to helping migrants through this difficult period of transition by providing information, temporary shelter, food, and, ultimately, a warm welcome to Rome. Baobab is looking to create a new center after its previous location on Via Cupa was shut down last year. This is where the studio project begins to take shape: creating a new migrant center that can be incorporated into the urban landscape of Rome while catering to both the needs of the migrants and the surrounding community.
Through a more literal and fun interpretation of the phrase “reporting from the front,” I asked the students what their favorite part of Northern Italy trip was, and which breakfast buffet item kept their tummies fondly filled throughout the day.
Here are their answers:
ChaeEun ‘Kaylin’ Park – One of my favorite part of the Northern Italy Trip was this beautiful bar in Torino. We went for lunch and I really love the way they try to keep the old beauty that has lasted for centuries. And the best part of Venice was definitely the Venice Biennale. Both the projects and the modes of representation were inspirational! And my favorite pavilion was the Japanese pavilion.
Breakfast item? strawberry yogurt
Ainslie Cullen – I really enjoyed Castello di Rivoli, outside of the city center of Turin. I also really liked the old animation machines (? Not sure what they’re called) at the cinema museum at the Mole.
Breakfast item? hard-boiled egg and a croissant
Greg Keller – One experience I liked was meeting the strange Sully man when we went to get drinks in Venice and then running through the rain and thunder in passageways over canals
Breakfast item? every morning I got a chocolate croissant that I ate at the very end but sometimes I was too full to eat it so I stuffed it into my weak day bag and it would melt…
Fabiana Berenguer Gil – My favorite part of the trip was the cool view of Genova we had from our room! also enjoyed the Chiesa dell’autostrada by Giovanni Michelucci
Breakfast item? how am I supposed to choose only one breakfast buffet item?
Magdalena Zink – running through winding streets, over canals, through piazzi(?) of Venice in the pouring rain. Also getting free publications and posters on projects at the Biennale.
Breakfast item? definitely the hazelnuts in Venezia
Patricia Muumba – seeing a Ugandan project at the Venice Biennale. It blew my mind! It was a major, “maama we made it!” moment. Also the cinema museum in Turin was amazing! Also I ordered roasted chicken and potatoes in Genova, and they brought me a full chicken – crazy!
Breakfast item? Marmalade croissants
Jeannette Pang – visiting the Biennale, viewing the cities from lookout points, getting to live in an apartment with a balcony in Torino, and going to the original Eataly because food!
Breakfast item? yogurt with cereal
Hallie Black – My favorite moment was when I was bed buddies in Torino and he touched my elbow as we slept parallel and supine as one.
Breakfast item? the cappuccino supply at breakfast was prime
Briana Coleman – My favorite part was the Edward Kienholz: Five Car Stud and Sigmar Polke exhibits at Fondazione Prada in Milan, but I also liked being able to hang out with everyone for the week
Breakfast item? go to item was 100% croissants (every and all!)
Vanille Fricker – eating the basic cheese and pesto pizza typical of Genova and drinking a bottle of house white wine with Madgalena…Oh and dancing in the streets of Venezia to the accordion music player at night!
Breakfast item? the little honey pots in Venezia
Yimika Osunsanya – My favorite parts were visiting the cinema museum in the Mole Antonelliana in Turin and the Biennale in Venice.
Breakfast item? corn flakes and milk
Steven ‘Stimpy’ Ren – Night photography of Calatrava’s Ponte della Costituzione in Venice
Breakfast item? jam-filled croissant
Tommy Musca – The rhythm of travel between 4 stunning cities/ view from the Mole in Turin/ missing the first subway in Turin/ Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Bianco in Genova.
Breakfast item? bacon
Yuejia ‘Liekkas’ Yang – The best part was the Cinema museum in Turin, and the Biennale in Venice. We also went to the the best restaurant that we have been to in Venice, and slept on the couch in a balcony apartment with the girls in Torino.
Breakfast item? berry yogurt
Yuxin ‘Reuben’ Chen – Renzo Piano’s intervention at the port in Genoa, Cinema museum in Turin, ristorante called A Le Tole in Venice, and every commute during the trip
Breakfast item? the meat slices
Charly Kring – In Genova, I slept with my bed placed partially outside on the balcony which had a breathtaking view overlooking the city. I slept like a baby! I also enjoyed the Biennale very much. I spent some time watching a video by UK-based Assemble Studio called “The Spirit of Play: Questioning Authorship and Authority in the City.” I had heard of similar projects in Ithaca, but I especially appreciated the format of the video, and it made me happy.
Breakfast item? plain cornetto
Lucy Yu – Favourite part was watching the sunset on a rooftop bar over Venice + the seafood risotto at Eataly (anything food related, really)
Breakfast item? ……Never woke up in time for breakfast.
Mi Yao – Elevator in the Mole in Turin, balcony apartment in Turin with 5 girls (6 including Liekkas for one night), the really long pavilion at the Biennale, and going to Giudecca, the non-touristy part of Venice.
Breakfast item? boiled eggs and puff pastries filled with chocolate
Emma Zhu – our visit to Aldo Rossi and Alvaro Siza’s public housing units in Venice, not the mosquito part but the rest of it! Also Eataly in Torino!
Breakfast item? chocolate cake (Venice)
Vicky Chen – I got to celebrate Chinese middle autumn festival in the six giant people suite in Turin (mooncake was so good!)
Breakfast item? scrambled eggs
Roong Vorasucha – The amazing view of Turin from the cinema museum at the Mole. I can stare at the organized streets and buildings for hours! Also Eataly was great – never seen such wide variety of packaged goods anywhere else in Italy!
Breakfast item? any bread
Lauryn Smith – really amazing food in Venice! ravioli stuffed with shrimp and scallops in lobster sauce, and of course, tiramisu for dessert
Breakfast item? chocolate croissants were yummy!
Madeleine Popkin – the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice; also the taxidermy horse at Castello di Rivoli in Turin
Breakfast item? chocolate croissants!
Max Haughey – all the museums? definitely, the Prada Foundation was fantastic; Maurizio Cattelan at Castello di Rivoli was ballin’
Breakfast item? I had at least three croissants each time… sometimes I’d fill them with ham, cheese, and jam when available.
Ariella Lindenfield – Favorite part of the trip was the cinema museum and the coffee shops in Turin
Breakfast item? croissants
Kylie Corwin – as the other blogger, she will be giving her own input in a separate post
Rachael Biggane (me) – big fan of Scarpa’s Olivetti Showroom and his in intervention at Biblioteca Quirini Stampalia in Venezia, also Renzo Piano’s renewal of Genova’s waterfront; however, I’d say my favorite experience was walking through the streets of Turin at night with Greg looking for love in Toriiinooo and singing about it too
Breakfast item? I like to stick whole hard-boiled eggs into my mouth whenever possible. I’ll even settle for soft-boiled!
[I think we all found the mystery multi-energy fruit juice to be a little off-putting…even John Z questioned its quality.]