Italy changed my perspective on Design. Going through my years at UT I thought I always wanted to focus on purely graphic design, but learning about many Italian Designers they were successful in many different sectors of Design. Personally I am now very interested in light and furniture design and would like to not just focus one part of design but dabble in many various areas of design. Visiting Castiglioni’s studio, was one of my favorite days in Milan. I like how he would have a problem or something minuscule that bug him and he would create something to fix it. For instance the Mayo jar spoon that goes around in the very bottom part of the jar that usually you have to just keep it in the jar and throw it away. Another one of his inventions that I liked was the small sugar spinner that allows you to add sugar to your espresso without rudely dinging your cup to dissolve the sugar. This started to get me to pay attention to small things in life like this and how I could propose a way to add something new that would benefit a small change.
Also lack of phone data was a good push for learning your surroundings better than I could have possibly if I depended on a maps app. In Austin, I have been there my whole life so it is harder to get lost. In Milan, it was fun to get lost and find your way back. The first day I was a little overwhelmed, but by the third day I started to notice how close the different metro stops and different areas of Milan are, and how it is very walkable. One morning I recall running in a small park near my apartment, and the park was much smaller than I thought, so I kept just running and found another path that took me to CityLife. At the time I did not know anything about CityLife, but it was amazing to just run and see how different a city can change within a five minute walk/run down the street from my apartment.
The last thing that I really enjoyed was capturing and sketching the biodiversity and plants in an urban city like Milan. I would really like to play with different growing methods of vegetation in Austin. Overall I think it will be challenging and the seasons for different foods such as tomatoes are a bit shorter in Texas. I would like to push for more plant life within urban developments and architecture as Austin is loosing more and more rural and less developed rural areas. I would also like to reach out to UT’s microfarm and to Farmhouse on how they think the best way plant life in urban areas can flourish.
This trip has really inspired me to shake up my typical design thought process and work in areas that I typically thought were out of my reach.