Celebrating 15 Years of Hospitality Excellence

2012 marks the 15th anniversary of Apicius, the very first academic entity of Palazzi. President Gabriella Ganugi opened Apicius' culinary courses to the public with an initial group of 60 students. This culinary core grew into the departments of baking and pastry, wine studies, hospitality, food culture and food communication. Apicius has paved the way for subsequent academics grouped under FUA Florence University of the Arts by creating a cultural context of exploration through integration within the local territory, a mission that has been applied to all departments from design-based departments such as fashion and architecture to the humanities.

The first academic entity of the Palazzi consortium to implement an experiential learning structure offering services to the public, such as Ganzo and subsequently Fedora, Apicius exemplifies how a hands-on approach to learning and sharing gained knowledge through interaction with the community is practiced. The gradual growth and investment in facilities and academic development have resulted in the only international, hospitality institution of its kind in Italy.

Today, Apicius faculty boasts members from diverse professional and academic backgrounds including Michelin-starred chefs. The institution also participates in international culinary competitions and students and faculty are involved yearly in high profile events such as at the James Beard Foundation. Apicius graduates are spreading their knowledge and expanded culture throughout the world by opening their own restaurants, joining the wine industry, appearing on television shows and becoming active in sustainable initiatives in hospitality. Thanks to our student body, institution staff and faculty, Apicius has reached its 15th year of educating the hospitality professionals of today will continue to further impact the industry of the future.

Timeline: 15 Years of Apicius

1996 - The first edition of The Four Seasons of the Tuscan Table is published, to be reprinted in 2003.
1997 - Apicius offers its first culinary courses to the public and international students.
1999 - First professional programs (culinary, hospitality and wine) are offered on a yearly basis.
2002 - The via Guelfa 85 campus and professional facilities opens its doors and the first professional wine program is offered.
2003 - The first professional pastry program is initiated.
2002-2004 - The first institutional affiliations are established with Robert Morris University, Washington State University and Eastern Illinois University.
2003 - The first first Apicius cookbook Teaching Traditions is published with the first edition of the food communication program, which turns into a food concentration within the 1-year FUA program in publishing.
2005 - Apicius opens the San Gallo 45r campus where the first hospitality studies are held and professional hospitality programs are expanded. The hospitality department is currently housed in Corso Tintori 21 and the San Gallo campus houses the Fine Arts department and artist in residency program F_AIR.
2005 - Apicius hosts its first Florence-themed dinner at the James Beard Foundation in NYC.
2008 - Ganzo, the cultural association and student/faculty operated restaurant of Apicius is inaugurated.
2012 - Fedora, the cultural association and student/faculty operated pastry shop of Apicius is inaugurated.

Nokolaki in Florence

In Summer 2012, Palazzi and FUA welcomed celebrity designers Nick Verreos and David Paul for a fashion exhibition and presentation of their line Nikolaki in FUA's prestigious Sala Rosa in Palazzi Bombicci Guicciardini. This event, curated by photographer Jerry Lee Ingram with the scope to directly immerse the audience in fashion through the presentations by Verreos and Paul, is another example of FUA and PALAZZI’s dedication to the creation of unique happenings, for not only its students but to the entire city of Florence.

Nick Verreos gained recognition for his participation at the US-based reality show Project Runway and has become a symbol of success in the world of fashion as a critic and expert reporting from the prestigious red carpets. Verreos also serves as a representative for Macy’s and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). He currently appears in the national ad campaign for Virgin Mobile.  

The fashion line NIKOLAKI, created in collaboration with David Paul, has dressed celebrities such as Beyonce, Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, Heidi Klum, and Eva Longoria. It is sold in over 100 stores in the US, Japan, and Latin America. The Nikolaki woman is elegant, sexy, and is fully aware of her potential and appeal.

The stylists were joined by two noted Italian companies: The feather productions of artisanal producer Mazzanti Piume, who operates internationally in the world of fashion and theater costume restoration; the avant-garde creations of emerging designer Emilia Siano. Emilia, through her brand Progetto Libra, works with alien forms and mutating accessories inspired by a profound study of anatomic and entomologic morphology principally based on the skeleton structures of insects and human anatomy.
Nick's presentation of the event made for a fantastic event, and the show was a fabulous success. Despite the Florence summertime heat, the huge turnout made the event a night destined to "fashion enlighten" our students and all in attendance.
Read about it also at Nick’s blog.

 iPhoneography at DIVA

DIVA professor and recent instructor of iPhoneography Joseph Costa shares his impressions on the use of iPhoneography as a powerful communications tool.

There seems to be a huge interest in iPhoneography lately - what exactly is iPhoneography?

How does it differ from digital photography?
On one level, iPhoneography is simply taking photos with an iPhone or other mobile device. The iPhone is just another photography tool albeit a unique one compared to a standard camera. Aside from having an almost infinite number of apps that enable the user to modify and filter their images, the most important and powerful thing and iPhone can do that no other camera can do is instantaneously distribute the photographs all over the internet. For me, this makes the iPhone an amazingly powerful tool for expression. The idea that one can share instantaneously and immediately their experiences. In my class, each student creates a blog that they continually post to throughout the semester and hopefully beyond.

Are there any current trends for iPhoneography?

There are many photo sharing sites where iPhone users can upload their photos. Instagram, Tumblr and many others. I actually having been keeping a daily photo blog since 2009 where i take and upload all the photos with an iPhone. I think they are wonderful places to share photos and browse and look at others' photos. Again, I think it is this ability that makes the iPhone the most exciting camera in years. Sure, the apps that allow you to process and treat images are great, but the immediacy it gives to the image is the most exciting aspect for me. I constantly compare iPhoneography with the polaroid camera, because in the 1950's, when the polaroid was invented, it must have been treated with the same simultaneous disdain and fascination as the iPhone. Polaroids were originally considered snapshot cameras for the masses, then later became accepted as art making tools. I think the iPhone is following somewhat of a similar path, although it gives the idea of instant photography an even deeper meaning than the polaroid instant photo.

Do you think the iPhone could eventually replace the digital camera?
No I don't think so, though I do think digital cameras will begin to have network connection abilities thus giving the photographer the ability to transmit his photos instantaneously in the same way as the iPhone. Some crude transmission devices are already available for DSLRs, they just do not work very well yet.

Any suggestions for students interested in documenting the experience in Florence through iPhoneography?
I encourage my students to take many many photos. Shoot, shoot and shoot more… I think practice and repetition are the only ways to find out what is interesting to you. I also ask my students to continually think about what differentiates a 'snapshot' from a photo with something more and what qualities make a photograph unique and special.

About Joseph Costa
Joseph Costa, is a Brooklyn, NY based visual artist and photographer/filmmaker, as well as a sound and music composer for films and installations. Before moving to NYC and then Florence, Joseph lived and studied in Chicago where he received a MFA then taught at the Art Institute of Chicago and UIC. He became interested in photography and film during his last year as an undergraduate at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he studied creative writing and literature. After taking an intro photo class, he realized I was much more interested in telling stories with images rather than words. Prof. Costa is currently teaching classes in Photography, Video Making and Multimedia Studio at DIVA.

 
Continued Collaboration with Florence Design Week

After the huge success of Palazzi's participation with Florence Design Week 2012: "Young Big Ideas" with design-based events and exhibitions at FLY / FAST, Corso Tintori, F_AIR and Ganzo, we have confirmed our participation with IMMAGINAE_Creative Communication for upcoming editions as an honorary member. The theme for Florence Design Week May 20-26, 2013 is “Crossing People”, a forum in which people are able in interact and exchange ideas as well as experiences, a concept that perfectly meshes with the mission of Palazzi to integrate our students with the local and international community in Florence.

Florence Design Week features Contemporary Design and designers within a frame of some of the most prestigious locations in Florence, and is open to both design lovers and professionals through a vast spectrum of design activities, products and projects from diverse organizations, institutions, design studios and universities. The intent is to communicate the identity of individuals, businesses, cultures and societies of the world, and Palazzi is proud to continue the collaboration in future editions and sustain this international multi-disciplinary creative project. For further, detailed information on the Florence Design Week, please visit the website.

 
The Service Learning Course Reader Project

FUA, including sQuola faculty members, have been involved in an ongoing course reader project used in the academics of courses also designated by a Service Learning component. Service Learning offers students an incredible opportunity to work in close contact with some of the wonderful associations committed to volunteer work, and the Service Learning course reader was developed to assist beginning-level students in addressing the challenges of this innovative approach to language teaching. Through the course reader, Service Learning students are introduced to the numerous collaborations Squola has established within the Florentine territory, including: Caritas, to provide food and home shelters; LIDA, for the protection of animal rights; Ancescao, to assist the elderly; and teaching English at various levels in Florentine public schools. The book is structured around the Palazzi Consortium and showcases the many buildings and location that comprise our institution, which helps the students to understand the great resources at their disposal during their study abroad experience, in order to best take advantage of them.

Each chapter of the course reader highlights on one of the project associations, in order for students to make an accurate choice for their placement and learn some of the specific vocabulary needed to communicate in each situation. The book is incredible display of team work and collaboration; the faculty posed for photographs and the entire Language department contributed ideas and opinions in the didactic and content choices of the book, while most of the editing was done by internship students. Overall, it is a fantastic achievement which provided an incredible opportunity for our faculty to work together on one project.

 
Happiness Science Department at FUA

In Fall 2012, FUA offered a course on developing mind potential from the department of Happiness Sciences at the School of Global Studies. The objective of the department is to take education beyond instruction to embrace the development skills and competencies in order to fulfill students' highest potential as human beings. Interviewed here is Valentina Dolara, the FUA faculty member who has contributed to the development of the Fall 2012 course.

Why is research in the area of this discipline important in academia and practical living?

Work life requires a high degree of mental clarity and focus. Without effective tools to deal with that pressure, the result is often emotional, mental and physiological imbalanced, at work as well as at home. There is a growing scientific consensus about the strong influence of emotions in individual's thoughts, words and actions and therefore on the quality of personal and professional life. What is now proved is that it is possible to live up to our daily challenges with clarity, kindness and happiness as these skills can be trained.

What did the Fall 2012 course hold in store for FUA students?

The course on Developing Mind Potential aims at offering students the possibility to achieve previously inconceivable levels of concentration to unlock the power of a focused mind combined with the cultivation of basic human ethical principles: it offers an introduction to mindfulness techniques based on Focus and Insight Training.

What can you tell us about the faculty of this department?

The faculty is composed of motivated, long-term practitioners who have combined their academic background in the field with a multi-faceted professional experience with some of the leading teachers and experts in Mindfulness and Eastern Philosophies.
They have been teaching and applying these methods in the personal, professional and medical field, contributing to the development of training modules and participating in current scientific researches.

In the mid-90s Valentina Dolara worked for the Tibet Bureau in Geneva, the official agency of the Tibetan Government in Exile. She has since been involved in the organization's coordination and acts as the media liaison for various public events featuring the Dalai Lama in Europe and Australia. She is a senior trainer and member of the Training Advisory Group of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, a charitable education organization for Secular Ethics based in London, whose patron is the Dalai Lama and Senior Trainer in the Potential Project. Recently, Valentina served as a team leader of the organizing committee for the Dalai Lama's visit to Austria, where she coordinated the translations and supported the press office for all events during the visit - lectures on Buddhism, public and press conferences, interfaith meetings, the European rally in support of Tibet and the scientists' symposium in Vienna.

“Education constitutes one of our most powerful weapons in our quest to bring about a better, more peaceful world.”
- the Dalai Lama

For more information on future editions of this course, please consult the upcoming FUA course schedules