MATT DOLNIK
Background and expectations:
PERSONAL BACKGROUND:
I was born in Prince George, but lived mostly in the rain of Greater Vancouver. I have always loved the outdoors, especially here in British Columbia so I like to explore both extreme ends of the spectrum between technology and nature.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
I started out taking every course that interested me in the SIAT program and found I was starting to lose faith in the quality of these courses. Then I ran into one of Russell’s classes which fellow students seemed to rave about. After a couple of gruelling courses which dramatically and positively changed my perception on University education, I ended up with a pretty cool pinnacle of finishing my degree with the ItaliaDesign program.
WHY DID YOU APPLY FOR ITALIADESIGN?
One of the main reasons I applied was the extremely positive reviews I heard through fellow classmates. Not only was it an incredible learning opportunity, it was also a life changing experience and I felt the opportunity was too great to pass up.
Experiences In-field:
WHAT DID YOU LEARN:
Generally?
First of all, no two toilets in Europe are alike, but with that in mind it was very fascinating to see and understand that due to the age and history in Italy, the many conveniences our country grew with, Italy had to adapt to. This had me really pay attention to the subtle, less looked at features of an ancient city, such as how a traffic system could possibly work on streets designed for pedestrians, or how you can wire a house with electricity when the house was built hundreds of years before electricity was domesticated.
About design, design process, and innovation?
I learned that the design inspiration can come from a variety of sources, many of which came from the designers personal interests which I found to be pretty surprising and amazing. The designers would rely a lot on gut instinct and depending on who we investigated would either be open to suggestions, change, and failure, or some would stick with their initial feelings straight to the finished product. All in all, what surprised me the most was the immense passion involved in their work.
About cities?
What surprised me the most about the cities was the adaptation; how a city which has grown and changed so slowly by comparison can adapt to today’s fast paced world. What is fascinating is, it is adapting in a way which is less “keeping up” but more in an efficient way, which seems to be on the cutting edge of today’s trend of sustainability.
About living away from home?
Living away from home helped bring me out of any of my usual routines, and allowed me to really become immersed and involved in what we were studying. Having no distractions of the home life was a very interesting experience to have a new place easily become home.
About group dynamics?
With taking many SIAT courses already, teamwork is already second nature to me, but this situation proved to be much different. Not only did we have to work together, we had to live together which for the most part turned out to be very successful with little to no conflicts. The feeling to have a group of students feel like a small family was a very unique experience and if one would need space, it’s not a bad thing to get some fresh air in Rome right?
FAVOURITE MOMENTS OR INTERACTIONS:
In daily life?
First cup of espresso in the morning would have to be the best moments of daily life there, from being all shaky and barely awake to being ready to take on the marathon walks with the magic words of “un cafe doppio per favore!”
In an interview?
While taking a tour of Massimiliano Fuksas’s office, we all encountered Fuksas in the middle of ideation of a project he was working on. We learned later of his passion of artwork and how it is inspiration for his work, and we found him completely focused on drawing a scribbled shape and sharing with a co-worker his main idea behind the project.
With the group?
Although we saw many magnificent sights throughout the trip, I think the first view of the first major Italian attraction, the Pantheon, would have to be the most memorable. Just the sheer greatness of the building will always be etched in my memory, and also due to how close we lived to it, it was a pretty ideal hangout for many days afterwards.
FAVOURITE PLACE OR SPACE:
My favorite place would have to be the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Many times I would go there to sketch (which was pretty new to me) and also any time I was in the area I had to go back to re-admire the incredible marble statues on display to the public anytime.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STUDYING ABROAD AND STUDYING AT HOME:
The main obvious difference is the complete immersion into what you are studying, rather than just thinking about it a couple hours a week. Luckily the Seattle project that happens in Russell’s lower division course is a very good hint of how much of the teamwork and pacing happens in Italy, and experiencing something in person is a completely different world than looking at a Wikipedia page.
AN UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE THAT YOU OVERCAME DURING THE FIELD SCHOOL:
Nothing… Everything went pretty cool.
CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE VALUE OF THE FULL SEMESTER OF CONTEXTUAL, CULTURAL, AND HISTORICAL STUDIES PRIOR TO IN-FIELD WORK?
About language?
Although I am not one to easily retain learning new languages, (6 years of French and don’t remember a thing) going through an Italian language course previous to in the field was a great heads up on what to expect. It allows just one more level of confidence over top of the average visitor, even still if you can only retain a little of it.
About Italian history?
Having the course previous to the in-field, studying everything we were going to encounter helped so much. Even though we may have pulled out our hair and crammed into our head every possible trace of information we could about a certain person, city, monument, artwork, statue or building, once it was seen and lived in person, it was like seeing it for the first time ever, and seeing an old friend at the same time.
CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE LEGACY PROJECT OF THE ITALIADESIGN FIELD SCHOOL?
What really strengthens this field study is that you are not just learning and repeating what is taught, you are a contributor to a greater whole – you start off where the last group left off and you leave your part for the next group. This gives this feeling of more importance, and a greater connection to the students that you may not even know.
WHAT IMPACT HAS THE FIELD SCHOOL HAD ON YOU?
It left me with shorter hair. It left me with the confidence and the wisdom of being able to live out of a single bag and know what I really need at base level. It gave me the freedom and confidence of traveling through various countries in Europe alone, and without guidance. Most of all it showed me that unconventional education can be a thousand times more valuable and powerful than conventional.