Como and the Alps

Ok, so this was very nice.
A few friends and I jumped on a train last Sunday morning to head to Como for the day. Here are some photos from our adventure.


The city is right on an alpine lake.




There were a lot of beautiful palaces.


It's all of course very picturesque.


It was nice to see the fall colors...




...and we had a delicious lunch at a place we all decided was a tourist trap. Rick Steve's rule about the bilingual menu is impossible to avoid.


Then we walked some more...we had to take the funiclar from the city to a small town located in the mountains above called Brunate.


The views were great. I can't quite tell if that's humidity or pollution though... it's probably better not to ask.


But of course, we eventually had to head back down...


...where we checked out some more of the city.


After all that walking we were all very tired and passed out on the train home.

The end.

Weird

This week was decidedly weird.

For starters, courses have just been going OK. At times the professors can be quite wonderful and accommodating. In my Urban Policy lab we went for a tour of a few sites on the outskirts of the city that we are going to later study in group projects. One of these sites was the recently shut down Alfa Romeo factory in a city called Arese. The mayor of the city, who got on our tour bus, talked about the values of the site, and later went on to make projections for how he envisioned the sites development citing mainly the construction of a highway and a shopping mall. This clearly through a wrench into my idealistic plans of learning sustainable design and planning from the Europeans.

So much for being idealistic. Since now I'm apparently learning urban planning in a city that hasn't updated its master plan since 1961, clearly I'm going to have to revise my goals.

Also, in Italy, I've learned the hard way that there are no secrets. In my residence on the second day I was already getting "oh, YOU'RE the American that speaks Italian". This is all well and good, and at times it can even be somewhat fun to stand out. The other day however, I went to speak to an advisor about the possibility of taking courses in Italian. Going through the list, he cited the professor that in a past post described English as a barbaric language. Now, the advisor continues by saying that "oh of course you wouldn't want to take HIS course"... meaning that he understands the plight of the poor international students who have a hard time understanding how discussing the theoretical role and definition of citizenship has anything to do with planning, so I naturally continued to voice my concerns. Sure enough, when this professor arrived in class in the afternoon, his first question to the class was,

"Mr. Arancio, I hear that you have some criticisms of my program... would you care to voice your concerns right now?"

He clearly had it out to see me squirm. Did I mention that he is also the head of the Faculty here... ouch.

This weekend there was also a party in my residence. For all you McGill people in the audience, I am living in the Politecnico's equivalent of New Rez (this, I figured out when I was incredibly hungover to the point of being debilitated; let's just say I had a lot of time to think...) In any case, the residence is very nice, and the students tend to be of the conservative, wealthy breed from smaller cities in the north of Italy one to two hours away from Milan. Most actually take the train home for the weekend and live in the residence only during the week for courses. Anyway, they had a party of the first year students in the cafeteria. When I arrived at dinner, some students asked me if I would be going. When I replied "Of course", they promptly retorted with a cuddly "You're not going dressed like that...right?" I thought my Amero-casual Gap outfit was fine for a residence party, but, man, was I wrong. People were decked out in heels and Armani, sporting Polo shirts and shiny jeans of the tight European cut. In any case, my favorite part of this whole endeavor was when they had a fashion show to choose Mr. and Mrs. Residence. People were trying to get me to hop in line, but I promptly refused to speak or admit to understanding Italian. Playing the stupid international student card is always an excellent defense mechanism. In any case, no one was dancing. The whole time I was wondering if I had somehow fallen through a time warp and was suddenly returned to high school. It only gets better because afterward, I went out with a few friends from my program to a Centro Sociale. A centro sociale is basically a house that has been taken over by squatters; you make a donation when you enter and are by no means allowed to take photos. The space on the inside however, has been opened up into a series of rooms with bars, dance floors and practice rooms for jam sessions. It was very cool and probably the polar opposite of the Mean Girls Mr and Mrs Residence competition that I attended earlier in the night.

This week I was also witnessed to by a student from Opus Dei, a very conservative Catholic movement. He spoke mainly of a recent experience staying up for 48 hours to work on an architecture project with the aid of a friend.
I said, something to the tune of,
"Oh, that's nice that she offered a helping hand. It's good karma because I always see you around saying hi and making nice conversation with everyone... those points build up after awhile."
He promptly and vehemently disagreed that it had anything to do with karma so I knew I had touched a nerve.
"No, no, not literally karma" I said fumbling desperately to save myself, "just more like, good gets done unto you when you give good out...right?"
I mentioned having similar experiences, but he was really pushing hard to the basket about mirroring the image of Christ through his trials and tribulations.
I said I though that was amazing and could appreciate where he was coming from, then mentioned that I had gone to not one, but two World Youth Days.
Clearly he was impressed and invited me to dinner with his reading group. I think my only way out now is to say that my family is actually Jewish on some level. I mean, I'm faithful, but what this karmic episode clearly proves is that I'm a little unorthodox. Whatever. The whole conversation was lost somewhat in translation and I really didn't know what I was getting myself into and agreeing to do until it was all said and done.

All and all, between hangovers, fighettoni (preppy kids) in my residence doing parading around in Gucci, centri sociali, encounters with professors where my McGill bullshitting skills where thoroughly put to the test and getting to the meat of planning (or lack there of in Italy), it's been a week full of introspection.

Today, after the hangover hellstorm that was yesterday, however, stuff took a turn for the better. I had an excellent birthday. I had lunch with the Favarò's who made a delicious home made tiramisù (what I judged to be the envy of Martha Stewart fans across North America). After, I went to the theatre to see A Midsummer Night's Dream presented by an Italian theatre company; it was part of a festival that has been running all week and was staged at the main theatre in Milan (The Piccolo). The best part is.... that it only cost 3 Euro.

Photos!

Here's just a little photo tour of my life in Milan so far....


This is me.


This is the view from my window... lots of people play calcio on the courts in the evening.


My room isn't too fancy and I live in a double, but my roomate is great. He's been away for a few days on vacation... but more photos will come. I've been pirating his Chinese herbal tea... I've been feeling sick and it seems to help, though I don't know exactly what's in it.


This cafe is right outside my residence... I think I've already spent a majority of my time and money there. Whenever we have a break from classes (located in the building immediately behind) we all kind of head downstairs. Lucky for me that everything is located by the residence!


This is the beautiful tram line that runs from my residence to the center of the city.


Fashion is everywhere.


So is graffiti.


These kind of little green spaces are everywhere, you just need to look up.


This is the best gelato I've ever eaten (located around the corner from a place called American Doughnuts). Anyway, come visit and I'll take you. The flavors here are Chocolate Ginger and Pistachio. Notice the exquisite texture.


This is a view from the top of the Duomo. In the background you can make out the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele and in the distance you can faintly make out the Alps.


Façades in the Centro Storico.



This is an excellent piazza in Milan's trendy area called La Brera. Nice pedestrian space, outdoor cafés (overpriced, obviously), nice seating, sun... what more could you want?


We like to relax. These are some friends on Sunday at a picnic, not unlike Tam Tams. From the right to left someone I don't know, Irem (Turkey), Selene (Italy, Karin (USA), Marcio (Brazil) and Hernán (Argentina). In the background you can see the Castello Sforzesco.


These locks I saw on a bridge in Parco Sempione (same park as the picnic). I think, people who propose and are getting married add a lock to the chain and write on the bridge.


This is me trying to be artistic.

The end.

Old Fashioned Modernity

The title of this blog is Old Fashioned Minority because today I went to an academic conference on the "Image of the City" from a city manager's point of view; concerned mainly with how then to market a cities identity in a European context. It was very academic and of course filled with a substantial amount of hot air, BUT I did hear a few things I liked (through the Italanglish ramblings and criticisms of a professor, who, earlier today in on of our courses called English a barbaric language and refused to recognize the influential role of Ebeneezer Howard in urban planning). The professor that was invited to speak presented a more pragmatist approach to city identity determination by asserting that we could learn from the past to have some indications what is a city's identity.

Nothing new.

She did, however, describe Old Fashioned Modernity. This point I found interesting. Basically in some languages (not in English, a supposed barbaric language of course) there is no differentiation between "fashionable" and "modern". Though they at times can be synonymous, they can also be mutually exclusive, modern tending to be "out there avant garde" and fashionable being just "trendy". This all, in any case, led me to think about Italy. A light bulb finally clicked, especially since I was having difficulties describing Milan. Milan is vintage, old fashioned and classic, but also modern and at the fore front of fashion trends, being economic presence for sure in Europe and the world. While in English "modern" and "fashionable" can be mutually exclusive, I guess here, in the Old World, linguistically and culturally it seems to work as one.

Enough about haughty stuff from the shores of academe.

Today we had an Urban Policy Design lab that took us on a short field trip to a newly developed site on the periphery of Milan but consequently only a 15 minute walk from the end of the tram line. We studied a huge development site that had been haphazardly constructed on an old industrial site. It was a mess of two big box stores, uncomfortable pedestrian spaces, sad underused playgrounds, a poorly placed park immediately adjacent to the highway and practically no "eyes on the street". It was one of those none places you see in "Don't Do This" planning guides; the kind of space that would make Jane Jacobs slap her head and curse the heavens. Eeek.

After, we went to a development called L'Avventura; it was a smaller scale, aesthetically pleasing incumbent renovation project of the existing factory space. There were lofts, galleries, architect studios, all the nice, private stuff that costs A LOT of money. Everything was gated. It was, however, truer to the existing street pattern and culture of the area, making it of course, a lot more pleasant to walk around.

I'll have to go back and take photos, I of course, left my camera at home.

Anyway, if this is a preview what's to come, this course seems amazing. The professors (three running the course) were speaking with us the whole time and making observations about the development of the region. One started speaking very loudly about how horrible the balconies and outdoor spaces in the apartments were. Could you imagine hearing a professor of planning criticize where you live?

It was also interesting to see who responded how and where. Karin and I, the Americans, voiced our opinions a lot (evident, of course, of university education in North America and let's just say certain American tendencies). Then came Daniel, the Canadian, who presented a more balanced critique of the "Don't Do This" development. Then came everyone else who offered politely their observations ranging from safety of the pedestrian space to no place to play calcio.

Oh, yeah and later back in the classroom, students interested were offered passes to attend a European Planning Conference: a 300 Euro value for free. Suh-weeeeet. It's great to no longer be an undergraduate peon.

I do have my doubts sometimes, mostly about my personal abilities and experiences thus far. Many of my friends are older than me and have worked before. Karin from the States did environmental impact studies for a Defense Contractor, Sanaaz from Iran worked on the MASTER PLAN for TEHRAN, Na Zi Yue from Shanghai worked on the Universal Expo Post Event site development plan, Hernán from Argentina worked in an architecture studio and was an adjunct professor at a university in Buenos Aires... I have... my boulevard de l'Acadie project... and a big mouth. In the end, everyone came here to learn something new and have a new life challenge; though, after asking around, a lot of people said they were just bored as architects in their home countries and looking for something better to do. In any case, whatever the reason for coming, I feel lucky to be a part of such a great mix of people; this is shaping up to be an excitingly interesting two years.

More Milano

The past couple of days have been fun; other than aimlessly wandering I have been able to get at least something meaningful done.
I finally got more than a welcome emails worth of information about the program here in Milan. Thursday was a hectic day that began with me first going to an interview for a kind of project marketing program here call the Alta Scuola Politecnica. After being corralled in a room and waiting a half and hour for a meeting that should've started at 2:30 I finally had my 5 minutes to shine... or not. The program itself is conducted in English, so naturally the professors chose to conduct the interviews in English as well...much to the lament of the Italian students corralled with me who were all competing in how horrible their English really is. So, after being asked where I'm from, New York, one of the professors responds... "Well of course, you do have such a New York accent when you speak, that makes perfect sense"... he had that weird backhanded compliment kind of tone but, whatever. I've already been told by a professor in Bologna who spoke to me in English and French for some bizarre reason that my French was better than my Italian. Anyway, so anyway, the interview went fine but there were three parts to the program, ethics of careers, something else and project management, and the professors all seemed to be a little miffed that Sarah Palin harped on the points the I cared to talk about. So, needless to say, I won't be too disappointed if I don't get a spot, but it of course remains an interesting opportunity.
From there I had to run across the campus to the Welcome Meeting for the international students in the Urban Planning program... safer turf by far. We seem to be a great mix of people... there's another American, a Canadian, students from Vietnam, Argentina, Iran... all with substantial amounts of work experience. I bet we all have a lot to learn from each other in any case. That being said, I do feel like the overly enthusiastic naive guy of the bunch, 21, fresh out of university, no work experience and willing to talk to just about anyone... come on you guys reading out there, you know by now how much of a dork I am and how much I groove on situations like this. Anyway, the program itself puts emphasis on policy design, social justice and urban design, which means that this is essentially like the program at NYU Wagner except free and in Milan. From what I gathered from the professors, on top of that, everyone, Italian students and international students, are well-integrated into group work... so there will be none of that staring at the awkward internationals as they move clumsily about a university and city that they really don't know or understand (we did, have one of those moments the other day when a group of us went out for cocktails and apperitivo and were the first people at the bar.... whatever we enjoyed ourselves AND got first dibs on an awesome buffet spread).
Between doing nothing and having on information session at the university (where I was reassured that I had in fact made the right decision to come here) however, I've been able to see a lot of the city. Milan is pleasant to walk around, even though the sidewalks a lot of the time tend to be crowded with cars that some how managed to break all the laws of physics and manage to squeeze into a spot. Talk about creativity, it seems that parking is for sure a fine a art here... I look forward to never driving in the city, mainly because I enjoy the thrill of being a pedestrian in real life game of Frogger. Kidding aside, the area of the city I am in, Città Studi, is very nice with many tree lined boulevard, very much in a Parisian kind of style.
Milan itself takes a trained eye to appreciate, as there are a lot of small little places, spaces and circumstances that, all together, really give you a sense of the city's character...unfortunately, almost all of those spaces beautiful courtyards and rooftop terraces, which, of course, are private. It really does make for a pleasant walk to see balconies literally overflowing with vines and plants; it seems like everyone in this city has a green thumb at one square meter. The aesthetic of many of the older buildings really speaks to Milan's elegance; these buildings tend to be very ornate with intricate designs that are, more often than not, covered in graffiti. I have to say I do like the juxtaposition of European elegance and street culture here.
I went to a bar with Paola, a friend of mine from Milan, the other night. It was called Boh! and located right by a kind of neighborhood park. The bar itself was very small but everyone, literally hundreds of people, just kind of sat out drinking in the street. It was really cool actually... maybe one day in North America we could have something like that? Please?

I leave you with some more little tidbits and random thoughts:
1) My friend noted in Paris and I have to do the same in Milan; what is the deal with Europeans and forks? For the life of me, aside from actually stealing forks from the cafeteria it is IMPOSSIBLE to find plastic forks or regular forks to buy in any store that I've been to. Only TODAY did I find them in a super market. Has there been an embargo here? Was one of the major firms that went under recently singlehandedly responsible for the stability of the fork market? Please, send me a fork.
2) Last night I played Pictionary in Italian with the Favarò's... what a, pardon my French, mind fuck and at the same time efficacious way to improve my Italian vocabulary.
3) I have since my scolding bought a pair of flip flops. Though, the only place that was open before 10 am was a small Chinese market. I bought a pair for 3 Euros.
4) How do women ride bikes in high heels?
5) I am convinced my living situation is a microcosm for the current state of affairs in the world. My roomate, Igbo, from Shanghai, is wonderful. It's so funny though to see what happens when you put China and America in the same room though. Needless to say, he has been going out to galleries, downloading information of about local architects and planning trips around Europe. I, the lazy American on the other hand, have been having trouble getting up before nine, hollering at the computer when I see more news about the elections or Project Runway, and spent most of the day today specifically sitting at a cafe reading and drinking coffee/ beer. Hmmmm. Joking aside though, we are learning a lot from eachother and having a really fun time.

Milano? Grad School? What?

Just to explain the change in title, Zooropa was a U2 album released in the early 90's. After going for a more American sound and content with the Joshua Tree, they radically changed gears, producing an album that had many Eurotrash techno influences. Their music in the album Zooropa was meant specifically to capture the realities of Europe immediately after the Berlin wall; the kind of chaos that ensued with so many different countries coming together to make something new. I'm admittedly stealing their title because I like the play on words and the theme of a chaotic new beginning.

These past couple of days have been chaotic; Monday I specifically had to do a substantial amount of bureaucratic crusading. It involved first a trip to the Student Services Office. There, I was given a kind of Wish List of documents I needed to collect in order to properly enroll in courses. This was fun, to say the least. Luckily, in Italy at least, they seem to have a one stop shop for all your bureaucratic needs...the post office? It was one of those ordeals where you need to get document A to go with document Q, filling in every other page except for the even ones, THEN making a photocopy of the odd pages and buying a stamp from a local tobacco stand (because of course, the stamp you need isn't at the post office). I think I was yelled at to come back the next day four separate times by the same lady. In the end though, when I finally got everything one, I even saw her crack a smile.

So, that's all done and now I'm officially registered... but for what?

The information I've received from the university so far has been somewhat vague. I finally figured out courses start next week on, the 6th, yesterday. We have an information session tomorrow which, OF COURSE, was rescheduled to start 15 minutes after I have an interview for an advanced marketing program (The Alta Scuola Politecnica).

I'm now in my new residence as well. For you McGill people, it's a nice cross between New Rez and Doug with a SIGNIFICANT improvement in the quality of the food :) The director, is kind of a young, mafioso version of Sue Davies (though very nice and dedicated to his job). There is a good age mix here; students from first year live alongside masters students. I like it... though, I am starting to feel like the stereotypical international student that becomes kind of a sideshow spectacle. So far though, people have been very nice and friendly, quick to present themselves who seem to never avoid saying "hi".

Milan itself is a very interesting city. It is by far not the prettiest city in Italy, but I tend to prefer places that "work" where you can actually live. The streetcar line to the center of the city passes right in front of the residence. Everywhere around here there is graffiti. I found an incredibly beautiful public pool a quick 20 minutes by streetcar from the residence as well. The facilities were gorgeous with HEATED floors in the locker room. When I compare that to Casamento I shudder at the thought of what we've done to a lot of our public facilities. The pool cost only 4 Euro for entrance to free swim and I had the lane all to myself... well, not really. I met this nice Italian girl who let me share with her, so we struck up conversation and I charmed her with my cheesy American grin and Yankee accent.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm sure I'll have some more exciting stories in the coming days; though, here is a recap of little things I've learned this week.

1) Anyone in Italy has the right to scold you. I wasn't wearing flip flops in the locker room at the pool and got a lecture on foot hygiene.

2) Do not trust the Italian mail. Apparently, according to the Favarò's, people at the post office have a knack for stealing stuff. Elena, their daughter, recently got married and they sent out little candies with their thank you notes.... only half of them arrived.

3) There is nothing more enjoyable than a good ride in a streetcar; I think I will be going out of my way to take mass transit.

4) There is a guy who robs and sells bikes around here. I just have to find the buzzer to his house and hopefully I'll get a decent deal.

I'll be saving my tirade for the current events in the New World for a different blog. Now, I leave you with some lyrics from a U2 song of the album, Zooropa...ponder, please.

And I have no compass,
And I have no map,
And I have no reasons,
No reasons to get back,
And I have no religion,
And I don't know what's what,
And I don't know the limit,
The limit of what we've got

Don't worry baby, it'll be alright,
You got the right shoes,
To get you through the night,
It's cold outside, but brightly lit,
Skip the subway,
Let's go to the overground,
Get your head out of the mud baby,
Put flowers in the mud baby, overground.