Urban (and my) Transformation in Medellín

The Urban Transformation course was such a wonderful experience - I went there not knowing what to expect, and after two weeks didn't want to leave Colombia! Red Tree Study definitely fit a huge amount of academic material into two weeks, including internal and external lectures, site visits, as well as social activities basically every night. I really enjoyed how the classes were structured, linking topics in lectures in the morning to afternoon site visits, and also incorporating culture of the city throughout such as trying fruit at the traditional market and meeting a graffiti artist to hear about how he has helped transform his Barrio through art. The co-ordinators especially made us feel welcome, safe and part of a community - I felt that the group became really close, and evidence of that is in how we are all still meeting up around the world and planning future reunions! This course showed me that Medellín is a beautiful city, and the friendliness of the residents from the locals, to comuna leaders, to the lecturers, to the Red Tree Study staff, was what made it particularly special for me. I'd say that the course is great value for money, I would recommend it especially to architecture students but also those looking to learn about how social change is possible at all scales, and those with an interest in understanding positive rapid urban change achieved through a series of micro, meso and macro level interventions on a city-wide scale.