Kay Bea Jones, professor of architecture, is the recipient of a prestigious 2018-2019 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant.

Jones is researching The Architecture of Olivetti at Ivrea, Italy: Modern Symbols and Methods for Revitalization and Remediation of Industrial Architecture and Landscapes at the University of Trento from February – July 2019.

“I will be teaching, lecturing and pursuing my research in a new environment for me in Italy,” Jones said. “I look forward to developing new professional relationships and perhaps developing opportunities for student and colleague exchanges, visiting lectures and joint project teams. I anticipate that this will provide content and opportunities to complete my book oaths topic.”

Jones said the aim of this project is to investigate, analyze, assess, explore models and advocate for revitalization of historic modern industrial sites toward recognizing their cultural value and facilitating revitalization. She said the Olivetti Company headquarters in Ivrea, along with those in Pozzuoli and Matera, offer unique opportunities to show the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Organicism, the aesthetic and organizational principle that architecture should be related to life and living processes, on several architects who worked for Olivetti in the immediate post-war period.

“When I practiced in Italy, first in a small studio in Florence, later in a large office in Rome, I observed the relationship between great architecture, well-scaled walkable cities and everyday life for a diverse population,” Jones said. “Italians love their architecture and cities and use them well. My years of teaching American students in Italy taught me the importance of experiential engagement and scholarship. Through researching and writing about modern design in the era of new democracies and authoritarian control, I developed a deeper knowledge of one of Italy’s key contributions to international modernity: tradition is not the opposite of the radical contemporary, but a part of it. Consider Michelangelo. Indeed, the great mid-century modern architects continue to provide lessons about the integration of the past with the present at all scales of revitalizing design.”

For more information about the Fulbright Scholar Program, contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser.