For
nearly the last 20 years, Palazzo Tempi (also known as Palazzo Baragli
Petrucci) served as the Stanford Breyer Center for Overseas Studies in
Florence. For two decades, it garnered the affection of generations of students
as the Stanford ‘home away from home.’ However, at the start of the fall
2012 semester, the Stanford Breyer Center relocated to a new building, one that
has generated much excitement and enthusiasm among alumni on both sides of the
Atlantic.
This
prestigious new home is none other than Palazzo Capponi alle Rovinate (via de’
Bardi 36), a magnificent, privately owned palace that has overlooked the Arno
river since the fifteenth century. The historically rich Palazzo Capponi,
owned for generations by the Capponi family, only adds to elevating the quality
of the education by providing such a unique setting for learning. After all,
the palazzo itself is a work of Renaissance architecture, with high ceilings
and beautiful interior spaces.
Occupying
one floor of the palazzo, the Stanford centre comprises offices, classrooms, a
break room, a student lounge, a reading room, a kitchen and an art studio.
Students taking creative art classes can do their landscape painting homework
simply by taking in the fantastic view from the extensive terrace, or draw
inspiration from the beautiful murals created by Andrea del Sarto and Jacopo
Pontormo.
In
opening Palazzo Capponi to the public for the first time in history, Stanford
has started hosting a series of exceptional events in the centre’s new home,
for students, alumni, special guests and the general public. This program of
events, called Incontri a Palazzo, features art exhibits, classical music
concerts and lectures by notable speakers, some local and some from overseas.
The
first event in 2013 is a lecture (in Italian), on January 9, 2013 (5pm),
focusing on the Arab Spring, with Florence Imam Elzir Izzedin and other
experts. Another lecture (in English), on January 30, 2013 (5pm), explores the
issue of food security, with guest speaker Jack Winkler from the London Metropolitan
University.
