When Silvia Lucchetta is reminded that she earned 15 matrículas de honor for her studies in Architecture at IE University, her first reaction is a shy smile. Then, the young Italian downplays the importance, and modestly assures you that her good grades have more to do with her pragmatic and perfectionist nature than with her innate ability to understand technical subjects such as mathematics or graphic design.
Silvia Lucchetta, recent graduate of IE University, has been recognized as obtaining the best academic record for Architecture in her class. She recognizes that hard work and a good attitude towards your studies are key for this kind of reward. These 15 matrículas de honor are, of course, the fruit of many hours of study, but also a good dose of talent, something that, although she won’t admit it, many of her classmates and the people around her recognize. Talent is a natural gift. But without consistency, without working on it, that quality is just smoke disappearing into thin air. Silvia Lucchetta is in equal parts hardworking and talented.
Photo by: Roberto Arribas
This young Italian, who has an average grade of 9, believes that part of her academic success is due to the fact that she is a person who is consistent in everything she does, and she never gives up. “I don’t like saying that I’ve finished something if it’s not at the level I’m happy with,” she says.
Her excellent academic record has earned her the Arquia scholarship, one of the top Architecture scholarships at a national level, awarded by the Fundación Caja de Arquitectos for students and young architects, to be used in the undertaking of internships in European studios. And so Silvia will be packing her bags when the summer is over and moving to Pamplona, where she will work for 6 months in the studio of the prestigious Navarran architect Patxi Mangado.
Made in Italy
Silvia Lucchetta is from Treviso, an Italian province in the region of Veneto. Her family ran a furniture design business and ever since she was young, she witnessed the creation and process of design projects. This was no doubt highly useful for developing a special sensibility towards art, culture, and innovation. “My parents aren’t architects, but they’re great entrepreneurs. I grew up surrounded by art and design; the family business has always supported a number of artistic endeavors. When the holidays came around we would visit all kinds of fairs, galleries, and exhibitions.”
Before completing her high school studies, Silvia decided to leave Italy to get to know the world and, above all, to learn other languages and cultures. She chose Scotland, with its spectacular landscapes, as the perfect place to improve her English and practice golf, one of her passions. By then she already belonged to the Italian amateur golf team, and Scotland, considered the cradle of this discipline, was the best place to grow as a student and as an athlete. She recalls those days with nostalgia: classes with students from all over the world, those green fields in the North of Europe where the skies are constantly cloudy and threatening.
The University
After returning to Italy and completing her high school studies, Silvia considered the challenge of studying in a university that had an international profile and offered classes in English. Ruling out the UK because of the weather—always uncomfortable for a Southern European—she sought out universities on the European continent, in Holland and Germany, but didn’t find any: in those countries, the institutions of higher education were bilingual and the classes were not just in English, but also in the native language. The educational model of IE University, with its special emphasis on an entrepreneurial spirit, the humanities, and classes in English, convinced her and her family. In Segovia, she took her first step in studying Architecture. “Adapting to Spain and the city was quite easy, the climate is very similar to Italy’s.” she notes.
From the beginning of her degree, the Italian felt a special predilection for subjects of a scientific or technological nature, such as mathematics (“I’m pretty good at it,” she admits,) or those having to do with 3D design. One of the aspects she most valued from her time at IE University was the quality of the professors, as “many of them had their own professional studio, and they gave us a very clear idea of the world of architecture today,” she notes.
On the type of architecture that she likes the most, Silvia admits that she likes “the contextual adapted to the environment, in other words, the architecture that fits perfectly and naturally within the landscape, as if it really belonged there.”
She has plenty of future plans: when she completes her scholarship from the Fundación Caja de Arquitectos in Navarra, she would like to study a master’s in managing the application of luxury to architecture and design.
Looking back, she admits that she will always have fond memories of her time in Segovia and IE University: the time with her classmates both in and out of the classroom—some once-in-a-lifetime—or the enjoyable, practical classes taught by her professors. Silvia will never forget her strolls through the Alameda del Parral and the surroundings of the Alcazar, and Spanish food, which she loves.
These five years of hard work and studying have now culminated in the reward of completing her Architecture degree in the most brilliant way. With her 15 matrículas de honor and the award for the best academic record in the 2016 class of Architecture, the Italian Silvia Lucchetta is now a part of IE University history.
