Our last week in Milan was a short one, and we really weren’t in Milan for it. We took a bus to the city of Treviso, Italy. There we saw the wonderful Fabrica, a client work/research-based center of design. It’s kind of like a school, but not really a school, since they don’t teach you from the ground up, you have to have a good design foundation. They had a beautiful campus out in the middle of nowhere almost. They had just had their 22nd reunion and were very proud that over 400 past Fabrica students came back to celebrate.
Fabrica has three sections that a student can choose to focus on: editorial, design, and social campaigns. To come and research at Fabrica you must be under 25 years old, and apply online with a portfolio. If chosen, then you go and work for 2 weeks for a trial period and then if they want to keep you on, you stay for a year and everything is paid for, housing, tuition, and a stipend. Sounds like a good deal to me!
When we walked into Fabrica, we noticed how many students were buzzing about the halls, discussing their projects. There were a group of American students that were there working with Fabrica students in collaboration on a project. They had post-it notes all over the wall and were discussing ideas for a campaign. Fabrica has so many resources available to students. They have a beautiful spiral library, full of design books, my dream come true. She called it a “small” library but it was plenty big for me! I could have spent days in that library. Our guide also led us around the three different sections of Fabrica. We saw groups at work and past projects. They seemed pretty proud of their social campaign department. They work with the UN on several projects, including one against violence on women. I thought their work was well-designed and powerful.
Treviso was a great little town that we stayed in during our visit. It was fun for all of us to be in a hotel together for a night. A small group of us ventured out for some food and happened upon a little pizzeria. It was good and cheap! My wallet was thanking me, after all the spending I have been doing on this trip!