My exchange experience at Università della Svizzera italiana
Valentin Chretien
Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris -Belleville
Master 1
The Ticino, the place of the architects
Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli di l’architetto Mario Botta
I chose Switzerland as the comfort of life, the beauty of the landscapes but especially for the working
level which we find to the school. And more exactly Ticino because it is next to Italy, in 1 hour to Milano.
Visit also the realizations of the architects (Luigi Snozzi, Aurélio Galfetti, Livio Vacchini, Mario Botta…). My
main motivation to come to study in Switzerland is also by the image of the architecture which it spreads.
Architecture very well thought and realized in greatest detail which I wanted to study.
My choice about the Università della Svizzera italiana is above all for the quality of ateliers and courses. Also
for the image of the school (serious with a good level in the teaching of the architecture).
La Congiunta 1992 Giornico (Ticino) di Peter Märkli
Casa Kalman 1972 Brione (Ticino) di Luigi Snozzi
The campus of the Academy is very well organized. It is pleasant to work in the palazzo Turconi. To Mendrisio
we can concentrate only on his work.
The organization of the ateliers is very precise and very well organized by the professor and the assistants. At
the end of every half of the year, a portfolio is published to group together with all the projects of the students.
The Academy offers intensive italian language course to become integrated in best within the school. These
classes are very well built: in the morning it is vocabulary, grammar, conjugation and in the afternoon it is discussion. courses do not end too late to take the time in the region.
Gandria (Ticino) sentiero degli olivi
Palazzo Turconi, Accademia di Architettura, Mendrisio
To facilitate the integration of the students ERASMUS, the Academy organizes barbecues of welcome which
allow to meet and also to get acquainted with the activities proposed in the USI.
During the ateliers I was able to make two study trips: one to Firenze with Francesco Venezia and an other in
Zurich and Basel with Quintus Miller. The study trips are in connection with the atelier, they are organized in
the beginning of half-year what allows to get acquainted with the students of the workshop(studio).
I did not participate in sports organized by the USI because I did not have time with the atelier and courses.
final critic, atelier Miller, may 2014
Study trip in Firenze, november 2013
With the italian class, the integration to the Academy is easier with the other students. Whereas in the casa
dell’accademia it is easier to speak English with the students ERASMUS. During my year to Mendrisio, I lived
in casa dell’academia, it is a very good first contact to have a flat to Mendrisio. We are between ERASMUS,
apartments are very well but leave not enough intimacy with a bad acoustics.
Casa dell’Academia, Mendrisio
apartment casa dell’Academia
Mendrisio is a very good destination to make of the architecture and only the architecture. For an exotic
destination and have fun, Mendrisio is not made for you. The school is opened every day, night and day what
offers a working comfort and what undertakes us to get involved even more in our work.