A CONTINUATION

            As I began my undergraduate career, I was largely naïve of all things architectural. The only real experience I had obtained was helping my dad design and build our back porch, and a study abroad trip to Germany where I had the opportunity to experience Lord Norman Foster’s Dome for the Reichstag Building. Two vastly different experiences, but both equal in fueling my desire for a greater understanding of design.

            Learning to build something, and discovering how things as simple as a few pieces of wood can come together, has been pivotal to my architectural career. As I began in first year of architecture school, I disregarded small details in favor of grand gestures. The level of accuracy and cleanliness with which I designed and built my models was low, creating sloppy products.

            However, the one moment of true pride I hold from my freshman year of architecture school is my Artist Sketch Study. This series of fountain pen drawings inspired by artist Jaques Villon mark the beginning of my transition from thoughtless design, to carefully crafted objects. I spent plenty of time each day arranging and rearranging my composition and then drawing each one in a slightly different way. In some I focused on the forms of the objects, in others I focused on the spaces in between. In all, I carefully called out the contrasts between light and dark tones, emphasizing the shadows and highlights through my line work.

            It took me longer than I would like to admit to completely turn away from my initial carelessness. It was not until my second year that I truly began to pay attention to, and even obsess over, small details. My desire to better myself expanded tenfold within the first semester of second year, I pushed myself to become more outspoken and careful with my work.

            The result was my first ‘A’ in studio received for the work I drove myself to complete during the spring semester of my sophomore year. The drive I found within myself has spawned a greater love and appreciation for the field of architecture, both academically and professionally. It is a need to understand not only what I like, but also why I like it. It has driven most of my architectural career to date, and I hope it continues to do so. This need for clarity of understanding avidly took hold as I began to learn about architectural theory and history. Using historical precedents, I have vastly improved my understanding of design and in so doing, my own practical approach to architecture.

            This return to the past marks the beginning of my inquiry into design strategies, and coexists with my initial thoughts and theories. Using these theories as the stepping-stones towards a successful design has been integral throughout my education thus far. As I have slowly traversed these steps towards a complete design, I have found that the lines begin to blur as I take my initial ideas or inquiries and place them into reality. This shift is subtle at first, but the outcome of practical architecture is undeniable.

            Discovering new and different methods for design has led me to better understand why I approach architecture the way I do. This has been my journey for the past four years as I have matured from a careless and craft-less first year, into the developing designer I am today.

            Now as I look forward to my graduate career and subsequent professional life, I find myself drawn to programs and work opportunities with a great appreciation of, and attention to, continued education. In the past, I have interned at various architectural firms, most notable Hanbury, Evans, Wright, Vlattas + Co. based out of Norfolk, Virginia. HEWV is truly brilliant in their studio culture and in the ways in which they embrace education and growth. Throughout the decades, they have remained a strong firm because of their willingness to change and grow.

            They do so by hosting guest lecturers, encouraging their employees to give talks about their favorite techniques and technologies, and most notably their Summer Design Scholars Program. This summer-long program is an international competition with applications open to all upper-year undergraduate and graduate architecture students. From a wide pool, they select four candidates to undergo training as architects for an entire summer. These students work together and with professionals on varying projects and receive numerous lessons and small classes from the more experienced members of the firm. While I have yet to work as a Summer Design Scholar, I have had the opportunity to work alongside them in the past and experience a fraction of their working-education.

            This model of adopting students fosters their passions and desire to learn all the while giving them the opportunity to work on real projects with a firm. I highly admire this working model, and hope to someday work in a firm with similar standards. In the meantime, I hope to find a graduate program with a similar mindset and focus on multi-faceted education. I also plan to continue to study the interactions between theory and practice and further analyze their influences on both academic and professional architecture.

            I strongly believe that I will never be ‘done’ learning, which is why I find myself seeking opportunities that encourage that continued growth. Once I achieve my Masters of Architecture, I hope to pursue my interests in theoretical and practical architecture by becoming both professor of undergraduate architecture and a licensed practitioner.