• Giorgio Di Giorgio and Alessandra de Cesaris, both architects from Sapienza University of Rome, were invited by the School of Architecture to share their experience in historical sites intervention in Rome. Adolfo Hidalgo, the head of the program, said the visit was like “a breath of fresh air in our students’ knowledge.”

On a regular basis, Universidad de Santiago’s School of Architecture organizes conferences with national and international professionals and experts, in order to promote the exchange of ideas and opinions between the students and representatives of other institutions.

Two distinguished visitors were the Roman architects Alessandra de Cesaris and Giorgio Di Giorgio, both from Sapienza University of Rome. On August 6th and 7th (respectively) they met with academics and students of the School of Architecture to explain how heritage and modernity coexist in the historical European city of Rome.

On that occasion, students were able to ask questions and, at the same time, learn about heritage protection mechanisms in other places. Particularly, they learned about the dissertation on architectural intervention in Baths of Caracalla, led by Professor Di Giorgio, and the soil and subsoil modification project, led by Professor Cesaris.

The head of the School of Architecture, Adolfo Hidalgo, said that this type of activity, involving relationship with society and international experts, is organized in order to enhance the teaching process and provide “a breath of fresh air in our students’ knowledge.”

“The School is proud of keeping international links like the ones reflected in these conferences (…) we intend our students to be able to understand the essence of the Italian architectural thinking that involves love for architecture, for the city, for history and art,” the academic said.

“This conference strengthens the work that we have to do for heritage and for what we have in Chile,” the head of the School added.

“The work that we have been presented involves harmonizing old and new in the same project,” he noted.

After talking to the University’s students, professor and architect Giorgio di Giorgio said he was very pleased to visit “a campus full of history.”

“I had the luck of visiting two universities, Universidad Central and Universidad de Santiago, so I had two different experiences. It is important for a society to have different components because this shows that it is alive; regarding the place, though, this one is more interesting due to its historical tradition,” said Di Giorgio.

Finally, the Italian expert said that an architect “should always be at the service of society.”

“You can work as an architectural designer for a big real estate company, like many architects do, or you can choose to work for public service and the community. What matters is that the architect should always be at the service of society. We cannot change reality, but we can make our environment a little more beautiful. That is a big achievement,” the Italian architect concluded at his visit to Universidad de Santiago.

Translated by Marcela Contreras