Global Education Ventures | Urbino study abroad
About
Urbino study abroad is a trans-formative experience. Immersing themselves in the Italian culture for a three month period of time allows students to become more profoundly effected by the experience. Students establish lifelong friendships with students from all over Europe as they interact with the population at University of Urbino. They learn about cultural and societal differences and similarities, as well as the Italian mindset of living a good life.
This rich learning experience helps prepare participants for entering their professions, as well as expanding their horizons in a broader sense. To travel is to life... and learn.
Urbino Campus
The campus is located outside the city walls, one-kilometer distance, a 15 min. walk on flat land from the center of town. The campus is a modern facility that currently functions as a campus for Italian students, surrounded by a magnificent panorama to the green hills that sit just below the buildings.
The campus was designed by famous architect Giancarlo De Carlo, who along with a committee of Italian and international students worked together for several years in the planning and design of the campus.
Together they studied a concept in order to create a campus that reflected student life in a historical context, but with modern facilities that met all the needs for student life away from home. Even if the campus is full of students, it was designed to give a sense of unlimited open-space so that students, faculty and visitors may never feel crowded or disturbed.
Giancarlo De Carlo, has worked on the restoration of many historical buildings in Urbino. The campus is composed of a restaurant, conference rooms, library and theater. Within the campus lies the residence hall, these are comprised dorms for italian students.
The residence hall has 24 hr. reception. A video rental facility, TV room, wireless lounging areas, laundry rooms, storage rooms for luggage, public telephones, a café, billiards and reading room.
Lecture rooms, studios, and faculty offices will be available for exclusive use of US students, they are equipped with video conferencing capabilities, WiFi access, and all other amenities required. Other areas and/or facilities are to be used in conjunction with Italian students.
Facilities
GEV is an Italian company located in the City of Urbino, offering American universities academic facilities, housing, meals and travel for faculty, students and other university staff.
GEV is responsible for managing and overseeing the proper function and maintenance of all the study abroad facilities. Facilities include: reception areas, library, student doormitories, large studios, classroom space, indoor and outdoor gathering areas, faculty rooms and offices.
Our organization is responsible for the daily running of the facilities, including local management and staff that run the business in all matters concerning, administrative, maintenance, and cleaning crew. Upon request we also provide academic instruction. International students, faculty and staff will be assisted by the GEV on-site manager(s) and their staff in all matters that concern administrative paper work, city tour, maps of the area, list of important areas to visit, restaurants, local cafes, marina, train station, university building hours, local medical facilities and all other matters.
GEV also arranges integrated out-of-class working experiences for students and faculty trhough a large network of local business.
GEV has strong network connections with local government, industrial and agricultural associations, a well-known and very active private architecture firm (www.marcogaudenzi.it), City of Pesaro’s landscape and urbanism departments, in addition to cultural, artistic and historic restoration/preservation foundations. These connections will present opportunities, giving US students the possibility to interact holistically in all aspects of the Italian culture. Consequently providing students the possibility to work on projects related to their career interests, and allowing them to see and experience the working environment in Italy.
Other arrangements can be made for the involvement of students in other fields, depending on the number of students involved and the academic departments.
Housing is offered in dormitories located at walking distance from the university building. Students and faculty is housed in the historic center in rooms, which are fully furnished.
Italian travel itineraries, for university purposes, are coordinated with the American universities and arranged by GEV. Travel itineraries may be arranged by train and/or private bus, whichever is more convenient and depending on the desired locations.
On-Site Managers
Eugenia Esposito and Mirko Marinelli are both business partners in GEV as well as on site managers.
Both partners lived, worked and studied abroad. Ms. Esposito is an Italian-American citizen, she was born in Rosario, Argentina into an old, established Argentine-Italian family with a long history of artists and entrepreneurs, most of whom have followed their chosen paths to distant parts of the world. In 1995, she moved to California to immerse herself in another culture where she eventually completed her bachelor’s degree in business at Pepperdine University and worked for several years in the fields of advertising, marketing, private and public education. Ms. Esposito worked at Pepperdine’s student recruitment office as the supervisor of the advertising and marketing department. Driven by her interest in nature and art she later completed a Master in Landscape Architecture degree at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, during this time she completed a semester abroad in Italy.
Ms. Esposito worked in several important environmental and urban restoration projects, collaborating with important governmental agencies, foundations, environmental groups and local community. She is fluent in three languages and has traveled extensively throughout United States, Latin America and Europe.
Living, studying and working abroad, Eugenia experienced landscapes as intrinsic to her life as family, culture and history, thus enhancing her appreciation and understanding of diverse people and cultures. Eugenia lives in Fano, Italy where in addition to managing GEV, she continues to work as an artist and part-time art design teacher Ms. Esposito is closely involved with cultural, artistic and social events within the Pesaro-Urbino area. Additionally she works closely with several environmental agencies for the protection and preservation of public land.
Mirko Marinelli, an Italian citizen, studied and worked on the East coast of the U.S. and then transferred to California, where he completed his degree in Business Administration at AIU in 1995.
Mr. Marinelli travels extensively throughout the United States, Central America, Eastern and Western Europe establishing important contacts for the continued growth and international presence of family affairs. Within Italy, Mr. Marinelli works with an extensive business network of professionals and organizations, including one of the most active and well-known architecture firms of the Marche Region.
Mr. Marinelli interacts daily with local and regional government officials, since he is the partner of a large, well-known family business, ISA Infissi (www.isaspa.eu) that designs, builds and installs commercial building glass-facades throughout Italy.
Among Mr. Marinelli’s network are important well-established industries that design and manufacture high design furniture, other industries include the large boating industry where world-class yachts such as Wally and Persing are designed assembled and distributed globally from Fano.
Mr. Marinelli is also an active member of Regione Marches Industrial and commercial association.
Mr. Marinelli and Ms. Esposito are actively involved with local agricultural businesses, in particular a new local winery managed by young professionals funded by the region.
Affiliates & Collaborators
Professional Affiliations & Collaborations
Global Education Ventures is committed to providing the best and most rewarding educational experience to our students and faculty. We thrive to provide exchange opportunities through specific collaborations with a wide-range of professionals, institutions, cultural organizations and private companies.
Our goal is to expose students to a large range of indoor and outdoor academic experiences, including collaboration with architecture and construction firms, guided visits to professional research institutions, seminars, demonstration projects, guest speakers and professionals, including specialized faculty, that expose our students to a varied didactic experience.
AFFILIATES:
Global Educationsl Ventures provides and hosts study abroad programs for American Universities, we begin our activities collaborating with the University of Texas, San Antonio (UTSA). Working closely with College of Architecture, Construction and Planning and College of Liberal and Fine Arts. UTSA programs are faculty-led by American faculty, in addition to local, Italian faculty-led programs. GEV works with a large network of local Italian University faculty that teach at out programs.
CACP
The College of Architecture, Construction and Planning (CACP) at The University of Texas at San Antonio, brings students to study in Urbino from the realms of design, historic preservation and construction management. Whether it is a design or construction program, a project based pedagogical experience is had by student groups. An infusion of Italian architectural and construction professionals is employed to assist obtaining a truly Italian experience. “The way to benefit greatly from an Italian study abroad experience is to totally immerse oneself in the local culture, expose oneself to Italian history and society and experience problem solving in a local setting. This is the process through which we lead our students in a project based learning experience".
John D. Murphy Jr., Ph.D., CPC, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Dean and Professor
College of Architecture, Construction and Planning
University of Texas at San Antonio
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO:
College of Architecture
Construction and Planning
501 W. Durango Blvd.
San Antonio, Texas 78207
COLFA
College Of Liberal And Fine Arts
The COLFA Semester in Urbino offers students both those within the College of Liberal and Fine Arts and those simply wishing to take COLFA classes a full semester abroad, focusing on the art, history, literature, music, and culture of Italy while also offering an immersion in the Italian language. Our students come from all 11 COLFA departments from Psychology to Modern Languages and Literatures, from Art and Art History to English, from Music and History to Communication. Every semester, students study Renaissance Art History, taught by a faculty member from the University of Urbino, the History and Culture of Italy, team-taught by UTSA and UNIURB faculty, and Italian language, taught by native Italian instructors. In addition, each semester, a focus is chosen from the array of COLFA specializations, with History often being the focus in the Fall, and Language and Literature in the Spring. The curriculum of Spring, 2016, however, has been specially designed so that Music majors could participate alongside other COLFA majors, with a focus on Music, Art History, and Literature. Music majors will receive special instruction each day at the Cappella Musicale, working with faculty from the University of Urbino as well as UTSA faculty.
The COLFA Semester in Urbino offers students a top-tier experience, allowing them to continue working towards graduation while enriching their lives with travel and a more global perspective. They live among Italian and other European students, making friends and learning about student life from an insider’s perspective. Friendships also grow up among the UTSA students, as well, as they travel together on long trips to Rome, Florence, Siena, Verona, and Venice, and shorter day trips to Assisi, Perugia, Ravenna, and other sites. These trips are an integral part of the curriculum, and give the students the opportunity to experience the art and history they are studying, but also allow students to enjoy traveling together with their peers. Ample free time is always built into each trip, and into the program in general.
Students who return from the COLFA Semester in Urbino have invariably fallen in love with the charming town. We always hear, “I didn’t want to come home,” “Urbino is my second home,” and, above all, “It changed my life.” Their lives seem to bear this statement out, since many doors have been opened to our students as a direct or indirect result of the program. For example, many of our students have gone on to enter M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Italy, the U.K., Ireland, and in prestigious programs across the U.S. One is pursuing a doctorate in neurolinguistics at Rice University, another is enrolled in an MFA program in art at Parsons in New York City, a third chose to specialize in Italian studies at Georgetown University largely because of her rich experience in Urbino and her mastery of Italian while there. Many other success stories could be told in which students used their experiences in this program to refocus and shape their career goals in new directions.
What we want to say to students considering a semester in Urbino we don’t know exactly how it will affect you, but one thing we do know it will change your life.
Bridget Drinka, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of English
Director, COLFA Semester in Urbino
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO:
College of Liberal and Fine Arts
One UTSA Circe
San Antonio, Texas 78249
MTaA
Course Description by MTaA Studio
During the semester students will select a project that will be located in the historic city center of Urbino, Italy. The project will be the restoration of a historic monument, which, in turn, will be utilized as a contemporary building.
The way in which the project will be accomplished will be inspired by the work of famous architect Giancarlo De Carlo in Urbino. De Carlo’s restoration work on historic buildings in Urbino have always respected the traditional urban morphology and the surrounding landscape.
At the beginning of the semester architects Monica Mazzolani and Antonio Troisi will introduce students to the life and work of architect Giancarlo De Carlo. The architects will academically guide the students on the creation of their projects by visiting some of the most important buildings that De Carlo re-designed, this way the students will better understand the concept behind “re-using” historic space.
Every three weeks studio reviews will be conducted on the development of the student projects. Studio critiques will be conducted through a revision of lessons and work-in-progress concepts. The culmination of the work will be a complete design project, which will be presented publically at the City of Urbino at the end of the semester.
Students will learn to understand the morphology of the historic city, it’s language and the different historical layers, utilizing their own experience combined with what they learn to develop their own interpretation of the selected site. This opportunity will be a “direct” experience to develop a project in a very unique historic context considering the modern use of space over time and how it will function in the future.
MTaA Architecture studio- Partners
Architects Monica Mazzolani and Antonio Troisi started working with Giancarlo De Carlo after they graduated in 1987 until they became partners of the De Carlo Studio. In 2002 they formally created Studio Giancarlo De Carlo and Associates, in Milano, Italy.
Since 2005 both architects continue working with the objective to conclude the cycle of all work-in-progress, past and resent that was inherited from Giancarlo De Carlo.
By the end of 2005 both Mazzolani and Troisi expanded their studio to MtA and Associates, with the larger objective to work in both architecture research and urban design, utilizing a work method that takes into consideration the physical, technological and social context of a particular place and space. Their main objective is to experiment with technology and incorporate innovative, sustainable solutions to their designs.
MtA Studio works in diverse sectors and scales from re-designing large historic buildings of architectural importance to designing new urban and naturalistic spaces that our conscious of the surrounding territory and the character of the landscape.
MtA Studio has worked in numerous important projects, including the requalification and restoration of waterfront projects in several Italian cities. In addition to the working extensively at the Emirati Arabi and in the Oman re-designing abandoned projects of large scale for use of public space, social housing, schools, Etc.
Both architects work closely with several Italian and foreign Universities, they hold seminars and workshops and have published material containing research conducted in studios with international students.
Via Crocefisso 6, 20122 Milano
Tel +39 02 48011832. Fax +39 02 48194667.
E-mail segreteria@mtaa.it
Sito Web www.mtaa.it
Bontempi
Principles and Aims of the Course
The course is not a journey through the history of architecture and urbanism but a journey through the principles of the tradition that regulate them.
Considering Urbanism and Architecture to be inseparable, in these four weeks students will approach the variety and complexity of Italian historic cities and villages and their composition and mix of private (Res Privata) and public (Res Publica) spaces. They will learn how the Principles of Tradition have created harmony between different buildings typologies and functions as well as between vernacular and monumental architecture.
The class is divided in theory and practical lessons. Students learn to develop critical analysis following the Vitruviani principal of “Firmitas, Utilitas e Venustas” (Strength, Utility and Beauty) and also the principals of classic urbanistic architecture and “Genius loci” Italiano, in this matter students will be able to create their own array of architectural elements that follow the local “Italian” classical and traditional concepts. In addition, students will acquire a better understanding of the sequence of space and morphology of the Italian urban environment.
Fabio Paoletti, Project Manager of the architecture studio Pier Carlo Bontempi (winner of the Driehaus Prize 2014) will guide the students in their projects. Studio projects will include analysis and deep comprehension of the sites selected for the final project, which will include the design of a contemporary building with traditional architectural elements. The class lead by Dr, Paoletti includes international exchange projects through the collaboration with the University of Engineering of Ferrara and Bologna.
Company Profile
“Pier Carlo Bontempi – Architettura civile & Disegno Urbano” (www.piercarlobontempi.com) is an Italian architectural firm located in Gaiano fifteen miles south of the Renaissance city of Parma, in the heart of the northern Italian countryside. The architectural practice founded in 1992 by Pier Carlo Bontempi has become the leading office of traditional architecture in Italy an Europe as well.
The studio undertakes architecture projects with the goal of constructing new buildings and towns following a traditional design approach.
Pier Carlo Bontempi won the national prize for the restoration of sites in the historic center of Parma (1981-1987) and was awarded second prize in the competition for the urban redevelopment of Marsham Street, London (1996). In 1998, he received the European Award for the Reconstruction of the City organized by the Philippe Rotthier Foundation for Architecture. In December 2000, he delivered the John Burgee Annual Lecture at the University of Notre Dame in the United States – he won the Charter Awards of the New Urbanism, CNU IX, New York City, USA (2001) – and won the competition for the realisation of the Place de Toscane in Val d’Europe, the new town created just outside Paris under the initiative of Euro Disney (2002). Place de Toscane has won the 2008 Palladio Award, Boston (USA).
Pier Carlo Bontempi
is the recipient of the 2014 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame.
Strada Nazionale, 96
43044 Gaiano di Collecchio (Parma)
Italia
tel. (+39) 0521809900
fax (+39) 0521809901
info@piercarlobontempi.it
www.piercarlobontempi.com
University of Urbino
Global Education Venturs works in close collaboration with University of Urbino (UNIURB). Our main objective is to have our students exposed to all academic services offered by UNIURB. Our students have access to UNIURB facilities, faculty and other student services. We strongly believe that a well-rounded study abroad experience is to experience education as the local community does, embracing the Italian student life and having our international students live the “Italian-University”experience. Our study abroad program takes place at an Italian University campus offering our students a rich and rewarding opportunity not only academically, but also an opportunity to network with a large range of international and Italian students.
( www.uniurb.it )
ISA
Global Education Venturs collaborates with the largest façade design and construction company in Italy, ISA INFISSI. Our students are exposed to the working environment of the firm through tours of the facility, including design and construction phase. Students visit the actual facility and also some of the projects that ISA is currently constructing, such as La Nuvola di Fuksas in Rome.
( www.isaspa.eu )