Research Team

Lyndsey Thompson

WHAT I LEARNED

I have learned of a place where the world moves a little bit slower, where café is best consumed standing up and where the words “café latte” don’t go together.  A place where people are willing to start a conversation with a complete stranger, where Tuscan sunsets are more beautiful than those in books, where quality is rewarded and craftsmanship understood, where people treat us as family, where the food is so good that you will not stop at anything to finish your plate, where scale and form come together in the most amazing and breathtaking ways and a place where you feel home, even Italian, after just a few short weeks.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS PROGRAM?

YES! It was an incredible way to learn about Italian culture, design and history.  There were a few things that made this an unforgettable trip. First, the people I traveled and studied with made this an amazing experience. Whether it was shopping for leather with Ginger or stopping for lunch in a tiny café with Andrew, or laughing down the streets of a Pienza with Lian, it was the entire group of people on this field school that made this trip one-of-a-kind.  Not only was studying, traveling and living in Italy rewarding, it was inspirational and when I came back to Canada, I accomplished personal, academic and career goals that I attribute to a “high” that never really went away after I returned.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

  • Riding in a taxi (Rome)
  • Meeting people at the Victor Emmanuel Monument, Piazza Venezia (Rome)
  • la passeggiata in the hill towns
  • Eating gelato
  • Stopping for food at the Auto Grill
  • The energy and passion that Franco Dominici showed us during his factory tour of Segis and after realizing that I truly understood what it meant to be Tuscan
  • The views from Pienza
  • Brunello from Montalpucinio
  • Riding bikes in Florence
  • Every momment spent in Tuscany
  • Visiting the Ferrari factory

FAVOURITE QUOTE(S)

  • “From a manufacturing point of view it [Italy] has changed a lot…the main companies that are more interesting and more bright…I think they are going to survive. They're going to understand that they have to sell the knowledge and the design and not the product itself” (Rossi, 2006).

  • "The layers of the historical city are so strong, especially in Italy I think, that you are ... not the first or the last one to act on the city, So, this idea of layers where you always operate on a text that's already existing, you add something on, like in a collective artifact, and it changes your point-of-view because you see yourself as something that [has] to interpret something else. You are not responsible for the whole process, so, I think this is interesting; the idea that you belong to it” (Zucchi, 2006).

FAVOURITE BUILDING OR SPACE

There was definitely one building that let me escape reality for a split second. It was the highly conspicuous, glaringly white monument of Vittorio Emanuele II that stands out in my mind. Of course there are half a dozen other favorite buildings and places such as the Pantheon in Rome and San Minato Cemetery in Florence just to name a couple. However, it is the over the top nature of the huge ghastly monument that was erected to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of unified Italy . This monument can be seen from all over Rome and is a natural gathering or meeting place that I used often. I also owe Vittorio for helping me find my way on more then one occasion after becoming lost in one of Rome's many side streets.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

On my quest for a bachelor of science in interactive arts and technology, I live to be creative. In fact, the word creative can be applied to almost every aspect of my day-to-day life. I have a creative imagination, I do creative work, I go to school in a creative environment and I seek creative experiences. I am always looking for new places that allow creativity to not only exist but to thrive. Our trip to Italy was an amazing experience that allowed me to think globally and realize that there is so much we can learn from other cultures and countries. Up until that point, most of my "academic" learning had taken place inside my educational institution of choice – Simon Fraser University, and my campus – Surrey. It is the combination of creative activities that I engage in, the dialogue and discourse I have with my colleagues and the new experiences that I take part in everyday, that has allowed me the rich education that I am proud of.

CAREER GOALS AND INTERESTS

  • My occupation could be described as: student, student-recruiter, communications-recruiter, experience designer
  • Employers are: Simon Fraser University and self-employed
  • Future employers: hopefully none
  • Future career goals: to own my own company

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

I am Canadian. I have lived in three provinces and one territory and spent the better part of my childhood in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada before finally landing in Port Moody, BC.

I am an addict. Addicted to: work, lattes or anything with caffeine, anything wintergreen or citrus flavored, new hair colors, shopping, buying books and magazines, Keane, and hot pink

I am interested in: design, typography, advertising, marketing, publishing, branding and re-branding, watching movies, traveling, windsurfing and downhill skiing