Study abroad expands horizons in human-centered city design

Lex Capestany traveled abroad once during his childhood, to Vietnam. Doing so taught him about the rich and diverse cultures outside the United States, and he has always been interested in further exploring.

The current junior double majoring in civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy got that chance last summer when he studied abroad in a number of different Scandinavian countries. The program, organized through DIS abroad, consisted of three separate courses, two in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the other in Stockholm, Sweden. One course also included a short, one-week trip to Berlin, Germany.

“I chose the program initially because of how cool the coursework was, and hand-in-hand with that was Copenhagen,” Capestany explains. “I heard such amazing things about the city's design.” With the added bonus of being able to study in Stockholm, Sweden, his choice was easy.

The first course in Copenhagen was called Strategies for Urban Livability. Copenhagen’s city design is what initially drew Capestany to this program, which made the curriculum particularly interesting. The course taught the principles of designing a liveable city using the works of Danish architect Jan Gehl, who Capestany later got the chance to hear speak at a film festival during his time abroad.

The second course in Copenhagen, Visual Culture of Cities, used both anthropology and design to discuss whether cities influence people or if people influence cities. He found this course incredibly eye-opening and progressive, discussing the range of human experiences in a city, such as queer spaces. This was also the course that took Capestany to Berlin where he learned about the visual communication of memory and identity in cities via tours and sketching exercises.

“They gave us a sketchbook, and I'm still writing in it today, as a journal. It's been really impactful.”

For the final course, Public Health Policy in Practice, Capestany traveled to Stockholm, where he learned about the intricacies of healthcare policies in their country and throughout Europe. Capestany notes that the incredibly progressive and immersive teaching style he experienced in Sweden is distinctly different from the United States.

It's very inspiring to see how, with a very strong foundational education, people can branch off into a wide variety of professional fields

Lex Capestany, Junior, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy

Capestany found the interdisciplinary work offered him the perfect mix of both city planning and human-centered policies, a unique and complementary blend. This merging of fields was further emphasized by the fact that he got to see the different ways European engineers applied and thought about the same foundational principles he learned at CMU. “I think it's very inspiring to see how, with a very strong foundational education, people can branch off into a wide variety of professional fields.”

Capestany’s experience has also inspired him to pursue graduate work, perhaps even pursuing graduate degrees in Europe. If there is one thing studying abroad can teach students, it is that they will get a glimpse into how vast the field of engineering extends and that they don’t have to limit themselves to just one profession or one country.