The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius changed the face of Italy’s Bay of Naples in 79 A.D.; now NYIT students plan to transform it again.

The city of Castellammare di Stabia was lost to a rain of ashes and mud at the same time as neighboring Pompeii. While the restored city of Pompeii attracts thousands of tourists fascinated with the rich Roman culture uncovered there, Castellammare’s treasures remain largely untouched.  

Eight NYIT students, working with peers from other American schools, as well as Italian universities, have created a plan to make Castellammare into an archeological park. Two ancient elite seaside villas have already been excavated to provide focal points in the park.
 
The students – Robert Hendrickson, Wiktor Kratowski, Jacqueline Passandao, Stefan Abel, Mia Weinman, Nick Vega, Andrew Anic and Daniel Hawes – traveled to Italy three times to study the area, share ideas with peers and present their findings.

Students from each college were assigned aspects of the park design, with NYIT’s group taking on the task of connecting the area to the local train stations. They also had to consider everything from the park’s entrance and egress points to what types of exhibits to include. Some of the ideas included an outdoor theatre, cultural library and several gardens.

“The students gave up part of their summer vacations to make an initial site visit, allowing them the opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the architecture and antiquity surrounding the Bay of Naples,” says Judith DiMaio, dean of the School of Architecture and Design, who coordinated with Professor Beyhan Karahan on this project.

For Weinman, a fourth-year architecture student, the experience is the highlight of her NYIT education. “Architecture is an art,” she says, “and you definitely cannot study art by looking in books; you must experience the people, the food, the smells, the sounds, the colors and everything else about the people.”