Thank you to Karyn Silverman, Jane Belton, and Jessica Prohías Gardiner for giving me feedback on my Working Draft Blog Post and for helping me revise my proposal pitch!

 

I would like to dedicate my Senior Project to becoming more versed in the experience of a working designer, and to understand the many different paths they can take in their career. I want to learn about the culture of these architecture firms and explore various fields of design. This can be accomplished through multiple options:

 

• Interning for a New York City architecture or design firm.
• Taking a free/affordable online architecture or design class, preferably surrounding the topic of sustainability and cultural ecology.
• Interviewing working architects about their work, how the practice of architecture has evolved over the course of their career, and where architecture is headed in the future.
• Working on my own independent project, potentially under the supervision of a working architect or designer. I would design or redesign a structure in New York City, research the neighborhood and surrounding environment, and learn how to factor sustainability into my building. Though I may certainly design a building that does not yet exist, it might be even more interesting to redesign a structure that I am familiar with, such as LREI High School or Lower/Middle School.

 

Though my preferred option is getting an internship, I expect that this likely will not happen. I am extremely excited about the idea of working on my own independent project under the mentorship of a professional architect. Jess has kindly provided me with a few contacts that I am hoping to reach out to in the near future, including interior designer Alyssa Prohías, and architects Chika Yamada and Morris Adjmi.

 

My main question as I move forward with this project is: how are current architects in New York City factoring sustainability and social justice into their work? I would like to solve this question no matter what direction I go in.

 

UPDATE: I signed up for a wonderful online introductory architecture course called ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I, at UCLA. The course is affordable and will run exactly throughout Trimester 3! It meets every Thursday live from 5:30PM-8:30PM EST. Though the class itself might not take up too much of my time, I would be dedicated to working vigilantly at my projects, given the excessive amount of free time I would have. For my final presentation, I would showcase the projects I worked on throughout the trimester, and highlight what I learned about drafting, planning, constructing, lettering, etc. Additionally, I have already begun making plans to meet with architects to discuss their experiences as both students and members of the workforce.