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Cyprus/Greece Field Study
University of Minnesota in collaboration with the Cyprus Institute
Dates: May 21 - June 11, 2010
During this M-Term Study trip to Cyprus and Greece, students will have an opportunity to study urban environments that are undergoing immense political, urban, and cultural change.
Cyprus
Due to the direct support of the Cyprus Institute, students enrolled in this field study have the opportunity to study the rapidly changing urban, suburban, and rural fabric of Nicosia and Paphos under the guidance of historians, architects, urban planners, and researchers with special expertise in Cypriot history and heritage conservation. In Paphos, a UNESCO World Heritage site, students will study the struggles of preserving historic landscapes and monuments in the midst of tourist infrastructure development. Site visits will include the Roman mansions and the Crusader castle of Forty
Columns at Kato Paphos, the site of the Virgin Chrysopolitissa which preserves the tradition of Apostle Paul’s passage from Cyprus, the ancient city of Kourion, and the ancient temple of Aphrodite at Kouklia. In Nicosia, students will visit numerous significant cultural and
architectural monuments including the Gothic monuments of St. Sophia and St. Catherine, the Hadjigeorghakis Kornesios Ottoman mansion, and several of the Painted Churches of the Troodos Mountains (UNESCO World Heritage site).
Along with site visits and walking tours, student will also participate in a workshop organized and sponsored by the Cyprus Institute; local scholars, students and practitioners will present and discuss topics related to the division of the island, its history, and contemporary developments, such as Zaha Hadid’s much-debated “Freedom Square” project and the award-winning Nicosia Master Plan. The workshop will conclude with a one-day charrette designed to facilitate collaboration between students from the University of Minnesota and the Architecture School of the University of Cyprus.
Greece
In Athens and its environs, students will focus on its development from ancient city to modern metropolis. Participants will examine the grand sweep of the history of architecture from the ancient period to the most contemporary by visiting such important monuments as the Parthenon, the citadel of Mycenae, the ancient theater of Epidaurus, the ancient Agora, the Temple of Zeus and the Tower of the Winds. Focus will also be given to the evidence of nation-building in the form of neoclassical architecture and city
planning such as Syntagma Square, the National Academy, and the Parliament. Finally, students will also view and analyze modern and contemporary architecture both by local Greek architects and “starchitects,” such as Bernard Tschumi and Santiago Calatrava.
While in Greece, students will specifically focus on public space as it differs from the United States, especially the Midwest. After reading On the Plaza, by Setha Low, students will work in groups to examine and analyze a public square in Athens, honing their observational skills and developing research questions for future work, as well as, for a close comparison with public spaces in Cyprus; Nicosia in particular. In addition, there will be many opportunities to study vernacular architecture both in Athens and on excursions. For example, the island of Hydra will offer an opportunity to study smaller, more local public squares of the Mediterranean as well as the complex problem of managing a popular tourist destination that is also a historically and architecturally significant.
Further information
The Greece/Cyprus Field Study is led by Dr. Rachel Iannacone (UMN) and Dr. Nikolas Bakirtzis (STARC/CyI). For more information consult the course’s website click here.
