Dillon Dunn, a fifth-year student in the UT’s School of Architecture, will travel through Europe and Asia this summer to study the architecture of religious structures.
Dunn’s travels are made possible by the Aydelott Travel Award, an endowed scholarship by the late Alfred Lewis Aydelott and his wife, Hope, which allows students to study architecturally significant structures around the world.
Dunn’s winning proposal, “Architecture and Pilgrimage: Movement Through Time,” outlines plans to analyze the Loro Jonggrang and Prambanan Temple Compound in Central Java Province, Indonesia; the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem; the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy; and the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, Japan.
“Religious architecture is one of the greatest indicators of culture, and studying it will facilitate my understanding of the specific structures within their distinct cultural contexts while abroad,” said Dunn.
The Hermitage, Tennessee, native hopes his travels will allow him to better understand how architecture embodies movement.
“From a pedestrian traversing a block to an aircraft on an international voyage, I am interested in architecture’s intervention across multiple scales of travel. For these reasons, I have elected to study religious architecture through the theme of pilgrimage.”
Aydelott and his wife hoped the endowment would encourage students of architecture in the Southeast to hone their architectural analysis skills while also expanding their world views.
Now in its second year, the award is given to one student from each professional architecture degree program at Auburn University, Mississippi State University, the University of Arkansas, and UT.
Dunn’s journey begins June 20 in Israel and ends August 18 in Japan.
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CONTACT:
Amanda F. Johnson (865-974-6401, amandajohnson@utk.edu)
Tyra Haag (865-974-5460, tyra.haag@tennessee.edu)