Couch Revolution… And Communal Spaces in Bocconi

Around the Bocconi campus we often hear of our university’s high ranking, 10th worldwide on QS’s ranking for Social Sciences and Management, 16th for economics and econometrics… We hear that the university’s prestige is on an upwards trajectory; a direct result of the administration’s effort to branch out into new fields – the bachelor in International Politics and that in Management for Arts, Culture and Communication being two examples – and large investments into state-of-the-art facilities such as the new SDA campus.

What we seldom hear about is a category in which Bocconi ranks dead last: couches.

Take a walk around Europe’s other prestigious universities, particularly those in England, and you will quickly notice couches scattered around their campuses, inhabited by curious students reading or discussing among themselves. The presence of couches and more generally communal areas is far from trivial. It reflects a university’s teaching philosophy; their methods and aims. In our case, the lack thereof reflects Bocconi’s outdated doctrine. Our educational spaces fall short on two levels:

• they are not suitable for a modern education; as outlined in Bocconi’s mission; and

• they are not suitable for Bocconi’s new degree programs

1. Spaces not suitable for a modern education

Bocconi university’s mission aims at instilling in Bocconians strong analytical skills and a strong emphasis on ethics. The former can doubtlessly be acquired within the classroom, the latter, however, must be fostered outside the classroom. A professor cannot simply lay out a definition of ethics and instruct you to go live a principled and moral life; it takes more profound experiences, such as culturally diverse interactions, challenging discussion, and personal exploration of intellectual fields. Activities that our educational spaces largely fail to encourage.

While the general lack of space can be attributed to the physical constraints of having a city campus, there is the extra element of the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t spaces. Bunker and Velodromo being two examples. These identity-less buildings are neither geared for intense studying nor for socialization. Those studying are distracted by those talking, and those talking are out of place. If only they had somewhere else to go…

Furthermore, the lack of communal space (a) fails to prevent the formation of intra-program cliques; and (b) fails to encourage inter-program mixing. Both of which are key elements in the development of strong ethics and in interdisciplinary education.

Within the first weeks, and particularly when language barriers are present, most English-speaking courses are separated across the Italian-international divide. This is not an absolute rule, but it is an observable trend. Most social interaction happens during the 15 minute breaks and after cliques have formed their rigidity is hard to overcome.

Although the nationality-based divisions tend to break down over time, other cliques are more persistent. A similar trend happens with those programs consisting of only one class: the students meet, and knowing they’ll spend three years together they don’t see much reason to branch out.

Conversely, because the single-class programs focus on areas further away from Bocconi’s core fields of management and economics, they might be perceived as harder to approach or even marginalized. Either way, the loss resulting from below-average inter-program mixing is twice as bad when considering that the difference among the programs is the key to unlocking the truly interdisciplinary education we need to face the complex challenges of the future, and the education Bocconi seems to envision.

2. Spaces not suitable for the new degree programs

Bocconi University has a well-deserved reputation for providing world-class education in management, economics and all things related, but when anyone from the outside hears of our program in International Politics, they stare back dumbfounded. Not many people have heard of it, and not many people would associate the two. One can imagine similar reactions upon learning of our Artificial Intelligence or Management for Arts, Culture and Communication programs. This difficulty inassociating the two is not only theoretical, but also physical.

The Bocconi spaces were not designed with political science or arts-and-culture-oriented students in mind. This is evidenced by (a) the lack intellectually stimulating spaces; and (b) the lack of reading spaces.

The library, Bunker, and Velodromo are all practical buildings. Their simple design provides an ideal environment for structured and methodical work: solving complex problems by applying formulas or learning new material from a textbook. But other than that, these spaces are sterile.

A FRIEND OF MINE ONCE DESCRIBED THE BUNKER AS BEING LIKE A DENTIST’S OFFICE BUT WITHOUT THE MAGAZINES

A friend of mine succinctly captured the Bunker’s atmosphere as being “like a dentist’s office but without the magazines.” The newer programs involving abstract and creative work would ideally be accompanied by more stimulating spaces reserved for open discussion and debate, as well as a design that could serve to inspire writing.

The lack of creative spaces is compounded by a total lack of reading spaces. While management and economics students may not be assigned extensive readings, those who study politics are. The Political Philosophy course, for example, had weeks where students were asked to read entire philosophical texts ranging from Plato to Wollstonecraft.

Yet, there is not a single couch around campus where these students can lay back and get on with their reading. The result being that most of them either do it uneasily, on a chair bolted to the floor, do it at home, or worst of all, don’t do it at all. This ties back to the previous point regarding Bocconians’ sense of ethics.

Communal spaces geared towards reading and discussion would enable those studying politics to share the lessons learnt on morality, the role of the state, freedom of choice and so on, with students from more technical programs, who do not have the time to commit themselves to a philosophy course but are curious enough to want to hear about it.  

3. Counter arguments

The reason Bocconi does not have more communal spaces and couches is likely not due to a lack of resources, but due to a lack of willingness. The administration, however, is neither dumb nor ignorant, they’re experts at what they do, and likely utility-maximizers following a detailed program. There are many counterarguments to the points outlined above; mainly (a) the presence of cafés; and (b) the presence of parks.

Cafés aren’t hard to come by around Bocconi. Within the campus there is the infamous Gud, within 100 meters there is Dahlia, GT Bistrot, and Giodocet. The more you widen the radius the more you’ll find. While these locations provide a good alternative to university-provided social spaces they fail in various ways. They are not entirely free of restrictions regarding how long one can stay, until when one can stay, and with how many people one can gather. But these drawbacks, regarding the spaces’ ‘rivalrous’ aspect – to use an economics metaphor we’ll all understand – are only minor drawbacks. The main issue is excludability. Although the price is small, around 1-2€ for a coffee, it nonetheless infuses social interactions with a monetary aspect; and while the large majority of Bocconians are affluent and wouldn’t bat an eye at such expenses, it is the community’s responsibility to take into consideration those who are less fortunate and cannot afford to pay for a coffee and cornetto every time they wish to be in a communal space. For students to have unsullied interaction, they require spaces that are as close to a public good as possible.

Regarding parks, it must be said that we are lucky to be flanked by Ravizza on one side and Parco della Resistenza on the other.

However, parks cannot be relied on year-round. Most years, by the time October partials come around, the weather has deteriorated to the point where students cannot sit outside for extensive periods. As the nights grow longer the parks become increasingly dangerous and the Boccops cannot always be there to ensure the students’ safety. Lastly, overreliance on parks early in the academic year likely leads to deeper bouts of seasonal depression as the spaces we rely on progressively become unavailable.

Concluding remarks

While discussing this subject with classmates and friends we often conclude that the issue is not a lack of space or money, but of willingness; as attested by the absence of couches in Castiglioni, the newest residential building. The importance of communal spaces seems to be altogether absent in Bocconi’s educational doctrine. If the students asked for it, it is likely the administration could accommodate our request. This article is written with the hope of sparking such a dialogue, and perhaps helping move Bocconi a spot or two up the couch ranking.