News - July 31, 2009

Florence architecture students close out SUF summer session

Florence architecture students

This week saw the SU Florence architecture students from the Three Cities course finishing up projects and participating in their final review. Although SUF's summer session ended for most students on July 10, the summer session in architecture has always extended beyond the regular session for other SUF students.

Lawrence Davis, Coordinator of the SU Florence School of Architecture, explains this is "due to the studio component of the course, which can only take place after their travels through other European cities." The architecture students arrived in Florence at the same time as the other students, checked in briefly with the SUF program, and left the next day to begin the travel portion of the course.

Davis notes, "The SU Abroad/Syracuse Architecture Summer 09 Three Cities program was an exhilarating survey and comparison of three very different European architecture and urban cultures; in Iberia, the Netherlands and Italy. Students traveled and sketched historic and contemporary spaces and buildings in cities in all three places. They also participated in symposia and lectures and met with architects across the three regions.”

The architecture group returned to the SUF campus on June 21 and began work on a design project for a small public building in Florence that allowed them to apply the lessons, concepts and techniques they learned from their summer travels. They also traveled and sketched their way through Rome, Venice, and several other Italian cities.

Says Davis, "Perhaps the most promising legacy of such an experience is when these students return to their own cultures and observe it with fresh eyes, able to see the unique cultural circumstances and opportunities in those built environments as well."

Summer Vacation Closing

The SUF campus will be closed from August 2 through August 23, reopening on August 24 in preparation for the fall 2009 semester. The news broadcast will resume on August 28.