Studying how green mountains and blue scalloped bays form the city of Rio de Janeiro, experiencing the estate grounds and works of landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, walking around and through the museums of renowned modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer - these are just a few of the rich experiences architecture and landscape students enjoyed during a 16-day course in Brazil and Argentina in May.
Eight students signed up for the inaugural offering of the class, "Cities of Brazil: Urbanism in South America," co-taught by architecture and landscape architecture assistant professor David Crutchfield and associate professor Ron Ramsay. The students' mission - to learn about the unique architecture, landscape architecture, geography, culture, transportation and climate that define the urban fabric of Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Curitiba and Buenos Aires.
Crutchfield said the trip emphasized the comparative similarities and differences between the cities of North and South America. "It was also important that the students come away with an enhanced cosmopolitan sensibility, a feeling that there is a bigger world out there, beyond the United States, and that they (and their designs) have a role to play in it," he said.
Crutchfield hopes the course expanded the students' understanding of human need and experience. "As designers, we are increasingly asked to develop or manage projects that may be on the other side of the planet," he said. "We are also often competing for these projects with other designers from around the world. In order to succeed in such a globalized and competitive marketplace, it is all the more important for our students to be exposed to the larger perspective that only travel can provide."
Fifth-year landscape architecture student Mohan Pai agrees. "It was remarkable to see the differences in cultures and explore the wonderful foods," he said. "I would recommend that any student who wants to broaden their world view to study abroad sometime during their college career. The exposure to the culture and people is an unbelievable experience."
Throughout the trip, students carefully and creatively documented their experiences in the form of interpretive photographs, sketches and writings to convey and summarize the distinctive urban characteristics of each city. Select examples will be on display in the Renaissance Hall corridor gallery from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15.
Crutchfield says guided travel experience is the epitome of a personalized, student-centered education, especially in the design fields. "If a design student's entire education is limited to vicarious classroom instruction and/or sitting in front of a computer screen, their ability to comprehend and master their field (and their lives) surely suffers," he said. "Even the best of classroom instruction can only convey so much about the realities of 'place,' the smells, the sounds, the air, the climate and especially the people. Guided educational international travel offers design students the opportunity to not just 'see' but 'experience' the spaces and places introduced in the classroom, better preparing them for the global marketplace."