Research Team

WHY DID YOU APPLY TO THE ITALIADESIGN FIELD SCHOOL PROGRAM?

I wanted a change from what I have gotten used to in Vancouver and I felt ready to try new things. I think after a point in the design education, you start to wonder what else is out there and you want to know how far you can go. And I was hoping this would give me answers as to what I really want to do after I graduate. Especially since the options for applying Interaction Design is so broad. Now that I am back I have realized that maybe it answered my question in another way by showing me that it doesn't matter what exactly it is, because it's a process and it is keeping learning and feeling motivated that matters.

WHAT I LEARNED

I found it is important to balance between being by myself and being with others and also understanding that everyone is different and really try to respect that difference. I learned that the best designers are always humble, curious, giving, caring, and that's what makes them so great in the first place. They are engines that continuously pump out innovative ideas that challenge the standard thinking of the time and the world needs that to push forward.

What I experienced is hard to put down in words but something clicked in my head and after the Italia Field School I feel much more connected to the world of designers because I know that all along we had the same ideals and same hopes of making lives easier, of creating meaning with design. I feel grounded about my role as an interaction designer (in the future) and in the way design operates, through all the examples and passions I saw on the designers' faces during the studio interviews, it has become REAL.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STUDYING ABROAD AND STUDYING AT HOME

Studying aboard is an entirely different story from studying and 'living' at SFU Surrey. It's not as intense as a semester with 4-5 courses, for one. There are wonders out there, moments where you can hardly believe your eyes, times of laughter, surprises, even tears. And if you never do it, you are missing out without even knowing it. The thing is, once you get started you won't be able to stop, but you have to take the step to start it.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

I loved the pool at Marino's place in Tuscany. I loved going there at night and taking a swim (after scooping the dead bugs out first!). There is barely any light leading from the house to the pool so to get there is a short adventure in itself, crossing a little bridge, going down the stairs in almost complete darkness. In the pool, lighted blue water dances with the waves and the crisp air clears my mind, and it just feels so peaceful being in there, among this amazing simplicity (and complexity) of Tuscany.

MY TRANSCENDENT MOMENT

Pienza was the hill town that I studied beforehand while I was back home in Vancouver. The images of last year’s Italia Design group told me this is a beautiful place and the Timeless Cities text told me that it is all about harmony. But as I entered the central piazza of Pienza I realized no picture and words can ever do it justice.

I silently stood under the loggia of the Palazzo Comunale, taking shelter from the blazing sun and looking out onto the busy piazza. In that instant I knew what it means for a town to be truly timeless. Each of those buildings so carefully designed with such elegance and understanding of human nature and Italian culture that they seem to communicate to each other and to the people in the piazza.

The way they are offset just a bit to allow the main road to pass through to facilitate flow, to allow the south western sunlight to spill into the piazza to give it abundant light, the beautiful and surprising views of the valley on either side of the cathedral, with the soft breezes and birds, and the seating all around the piazza for people to rest their feet and to watch other people and meet friends.

The buildings and spaces add to, and indeed create, life. And once these forms were placed, people just exist within them. Simplicity, nature, and all that the town stood for and created.

We stopped by the city walls of Pienza, the border between the urban and the country. When the cathedral bells rang, they seemed to make a statement of the foreverness of space and time and the solemn dignity of the church. I remembered the swinging of the bells as they rang, the birds playfully surrounding the bell tower, the breezes and the warm sun, the countryside on my left stretching to far beyond, and the local households on my right, all of which blend together to form a whole so much greater than its parts.

MOST MEMORABLE INTERVIEW MOMENT/QUOTE

"They showed us the different lights they have designed and the processes that led to those final forms. Wow. Amazing."

Download this and the rest of my Florence moments here

FAVORITE PLACE/SPACE

Walking along the Arno River in Florence at night is just beautiful. When it's dark, the lights on the architectures, the piazzas and the Ponte Vecchio seem to give them energy while creating a nice spectacle and places to gather. People are relaxed as they stroll down the streets at night, stopping for gelato, standing in groups, laughing, enjoying themselves. You can see all of that as you take a walk along the Arno River, watching the houses beside the river reflected in the water and breathing in cool air.

MY FAVORITE ITALIAN

My favorite Italian is a lady who sells fruits in the central market (Mercato Centrale) in Florence. She is located on the second floor and sold fresh fruits like blueberries, strawberries and more. They were really cheap and fresh. I like her because she is so LOUD (it sounds like she's mad when she talks), but yet nobody minded and loved her. She has lots of customers and I get the idea that she has worked there for a long time in Mercato Centrale. She is short and buff, with short hair and big, thick, round glasses. She constantly circled around her fruit stand making sure everything is in place and used a brown paper bag to carefully bag the fruits for customers, not forgetting to show that she had enclose a receipt in there before sealing the bag and handing it over with both hands.

MY CAPTURED MOMENTS

ADVICE FOR UPCOMING ITALIA DESIGN STUDENTS

A big question that I had before I applied to Italia Field School was if it's worth all the money. And the answer, from my personal experience, is yes. It may not give you what you thought you will get out of it but it will for sure show you things you never thought of before and bring out the best (or the worst) in you and in others. It will make you reconsider who you are and who you want to become. And it will definitely tell you what it means to be a designer in the global context. These things you just can't put a price tag on.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Simon Fraser University School of Interaction Design and Technology - 5th year Interaction Design major.

CAREER GOALS AND INTERESTS

My dream is to be in a design company, soon, surrounded by new ideas and creative people who work hard for a purpose, and never, ever, do meaningless work. Every project would be a new challenge and a chance to outdone my previously projects. This company can be anywhere in the world (as long as it's an interesting city!) and it can be any kind of a design company. Aside from design, I love theater plays and musicals and I remember each one that I've watched: Phantom of the Opera, The Crucible, Le Miserable, the list goes on.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

I am a Chinese immigrant who moved to Canada with my family when I was almost thirteen years old. It was not easy catching up. I spent the most of the secondary school years learning English. It took me a while to know what I should do for my post secondary education and I switched major from Computing Science to Interaction Design in the middle of my university study. Computing Science did not 'pump my blood' and make me feel like I really want to do well. I am glad I made the switch because after I did the first semester of second year Interaction Design, I was hooked.