Category: Courtney Melcher

I never thought I would ever have the chance to go to Italy, let alone get to study Design there. I had no idea what to expect when I first arrived, but over the five weeks we were there, I kept wanting to learn more and it really began to feel like home.

Before coming on this trip, I was not aware of the strong influence Italian designers had on the field and some of the things we interact with frequently. Until now, I had always associated good design with primarily Scandinavian designers. Taking the tour of Alessi and hearing about their history was a huge turning point for me in terms of recognizing Italian product design.

The designer that I think had the greatest influence on me was Achille Castiglioni and going to his studio to hear about his process was fascinating. The way that he approached design with humor and fun really resonated with me and I hope to convey a similar attitude in my designs. There was not one design of his that I did not think was brilliantly thought through which I find exceptionally impressive. I even purchased one of his spoons and I am so glad I did.

Another trip that really inspired me was going to the Alfa Romeo museum. The level of detail put into each of their cars is impeccable and I believe I share a similar desire for specificities in a total piece of design. I was also very interested in the evolution of their brand and how distinct a lot of their designs were from each other. There was a car that resembled a door wedge and then contrary to that was a very curvy silouhette. These two designs showed the differences between time periods as very few cars now have such a dramatically angular design.

Wedge shape, circa 1970’s 

Curvy shape, circa mid 2000’s

Another aspect of Italy I admired was how itso seamlessly juxtaposed the vintage with the modern. For example, the Sforza Castle was built in the 15th Century and is still complete and used daily for educationaluse. At the same time, the economics building at Bocconi University was built in 2008 and displays the modern style of the present. Even though the castle directly contrasts that style, both are kept and celebrated for what they each represent.

Sforza Castle,15th Century

Bocconi University, 2008

Oneof the things I enjoyed the most, however, was the time they took to enjoy the various aspects of their life. Whether it was a full meal or just a coffee, they took their time to completely interact with it. This was especially noticeable at the bars when people would stand with their coffee and chat with the person next to them and then proceed about their day. I found this to be really charming and I hope to try and replicate this on any level here in the US as I think it brings more of a sense of community together.

Rossopomodoro Pizza

Caffe from Bar Luce

After a busy weekend, it was nice to ease into the closing week here. Other than the unfortunate incident of me burning my finger trying to take my croissant out of the oven, the day was overall nice. I enjoyed seeing the showrooms and getting to actually interact with the furniture that we’ve been studying. The best part was meeting with the designer from Studio FM.

I’m not that interested in going into graphic design as a career, but I have enjoyed the projects that I have done with it and I really enjoy studying interesting applications of it. Listening to the designer speak about their process and all the very refined details was fascinating and gave me a lot of ideas for how I can make my designs more cohesive in the future.

I’m really sad that this trip is coming to an end. I have loved learning about so many aspects of Design I never knew before and I can’t wait to take everything we’ve seen and use it for inspiration.

The highlights of my third week here were most definitely going to see the ballet at La Scalla and seeing the production process behind it at the set and costume warehouse.

I worked on sets for shows in high school and have always loved the technical aspect of theatre, so having the opportunity to see how the professionals do it and see it done at one of the most historical opera houses in the world was an experience I will never forget. I really appreciated how they made almost everything by hand even in the high-tech age we live in now. I think it shows how highly they value tradition and take so much pride in their art forms here especially.

Walking into La Scalla felt almost like a dream. I’ve been in many theaters and seen many different performances, but nothing compared to this. Being escorted to a box and sitting down in such a beautiful and luxurious arena was hard to believe and honestly made me feel kind of important for that hour and a half. What made it even better was that a lot of the music selections the performers danced to were some of my favorite pieces of classical music.

As my sister is an opera singer, and has never been to La Scalla, it was really cool that I was able to go and see it for her. I hope I can come back some day and see an opera, maybe even one with her in it!

One of my favorite experiences this week was getting to go to Como and see not only the archives  and famous pieces of architecture but also the beautiful scenery that the city has to showcase.

I enjoyed our first stop at the archive because we were able to see original versions of chairs we studied. It was also interesting to hear some additional historical context about the designers and how they went about completing their process.

Another aspect of the trip I was intrigued by was the Monument to the Fallen. The design seemed extremely futuristic, especially when thinking about how it was only constructed in the 1930’s. I found the feature where visitors could climb to the top to be especially interesting as it allows you to find a spot overlooking the water and the hills and gives you an environment to reflect on those lost.

After learning about it in lecture, it was particularly cool to see the Casa del Fascio and experience it in person. As the architect mentioned, while it was smaller in comparison to surrounding buildings, its design did make it appear larger than it was through very strategic techniques, such as the reflective aspect of the marble.

Over the course of this first week, Milan has proven to be better than I ever imagined. From the fascinating works we’ve studied, to even the streets we walk every day, nothing seems to even have the capability of “getting old.”

My experience of getting into Milan began with a little bit of a bumpy start. Although Kate and I were able to figure out how to navigate the train from the airport, from that point forward, we were on our own. As we frantically searched the Metro for clues, we may as well have been trying to read signs made from a completely different alphabet. We found our way to the kiosk to buy tickets, but we only had one problem: we didn’t know where we were trying to go. Regardless, we hopped in line and tried our best. As the line piled up behind us, a kind woman who did not speak a word of English tried to help us out. She ended up buying the tickets for us and we paid her back.

We took our tickets and hopped on the train we thought we were told to get on, but when we got out, we had no idea which street to take to get to our hotel. After walking around in the pouring rain for hours, with the help of Google maps, we finally got to our hotel.

The next day I was overwhelmingly relieved when we got to IES and were finally with people who knew what they were doing.

I was nervous about being in a completely new place, but going to the top of the Duomo and being able to see such amazing past and contemporary design makes me excited to continue experiencing it all.