Residency

At 5 am on February 27 I drove to a UPS distribution center to pick up my Swiss Visa.  My flight left at 8 am.

Though feverishly operating under the pressure of last-minute urgency following a long period of foggy uncertainty is typically the way I do things, applying for a job at Herzog and de Meuron was exceptionally nerve-wracking.  For months it was unclear if I would in fact be going to Switzerland, and the risks I had to take to make it happen (booking flights, leasing housing, not registering for classes) began to look rather dicey at the end of February when my visa still had yet to be issued.  (continue reading) →

Jobless, I boarded the Dallas-Madrid flight on June 1, 2011. I had contacted 12 firms by this point,  and was traveling with ten hand-cut and bound portfolios wrapped in t-shirts, safely in cargo. (If I didn’t find a job, I’d just hang out on the beach with my family, who was flying with me.) Once in Spain, after Carme Pinós studio graciously declined, I asked if I could come by their office anyway since I was in the area (7 hour bus ride = in the area). In Barcelona, I was able to make arrangements to interview with EMBT. After carefully looking through my portfolio, Director of Studio Dani Rossello told me in the same breath that he thought it would be nice if I stayed with them for six months, that they did not pay, that people were begging to work for them, and that I was highly replaceable. So, I moved to Barcelona. (continue reading) →

I just got back from residency at Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects.  They are a medium-size firm, with about thirty people.  Their work ranges from the now closed Folk Art Museum in New York to an on-going corporate campus for Tata Consultancy Group, one of the largest companies in India.

The studio is made up of nearly all architects, with typically three interns, and an office manager who is also in charge of marketing.  Without an administrative assistant everyone is responsible for answering the phones and general office chores.  It’s not just the interns who have to do the dishes!  The atmosphere is like a big family.  Tod and Billie are very present and available to talk to.

I loved the location of the office.  Being right at Columbus Circle meant we were across from Central Park, which made for a great place to eat lunch during the nice weather.  There are showers in the office, so people often go running in the park as well.  The downside was all of the tourists.  When it was sunny you have to weave between bike rental, pedi-cab, and horse-drawn carriage salesmen.  (continue reading) →

For the last five months I’ve been interning at Olson Kundig Architects.  Based in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle, the office comprises the top two floors of a renovated shoe factory and is organized around an enormous skylight and light well connecting the two floors.  About 90 people work in the office, which seems to be the right amount to foster a really fun, creative, hard working, productive and social atmosphere.

At any given time there are 5-7 interns, mostly recently graduated, from across the states and the world.  Each intern stays for 6 months, so there is always someone new arriving and an old friend departing.  Instead of being enveloped (continue reading) →

Since the first week of June, I have been a design draftsman and renderer for a commercial architectural firm called Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) in downtown Chicago. The office, located on Michigan Avenue, is surrounded by fantastic architecture that the windy city provides.  The firm has about 150 people, including many project architects, interiors, and landscape architects.  One of their main clients is Loyola University of Chicago and Notre Dame, but they also do a lot of residential high rises.

The past four months I have primarily been working on the new Loyola Dormitories that will be completed for the Fall 2012 semester.  I got to work during both the Design Deadline and the Construction Deadlines, so I primarily worked on Revit modeling and detailing these past weeks.  However, they taught me 3DS Max and other rendering techniques every so often.  One of the dormitories we are working on is currently in the margins of LEED platinum, which would be a really cool accomplishment for the design team. Many of the interns in the area come from Illinois schools or Cincinnati and are doing a similar program to UT’s residency.

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For 3 months now I have been a design assistant at BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group in Copenhagen. There are around 100 people that work at the office in a wide range of design and administrative positions. We are architects and constructing architects, project managers, interns, business development, reception, and 8 partners. The architects receive schooling comparable to our training at UT. Constructing architects focus more on construction details and the mechanics of buildings. Also housed in the office is Bjarke’s product design firm, KiBiSi. Everyone is very motivated and creative. In addition to our main Copenhagen office, a 20 person office in NYC has recently opened its doors.

The pace is fast and upbeat and most employees are in their 20s or 30s. We are served lunch and dinner daily and all the coffee you can drink. There are about 30 interns from all around the world. The diversity creates an extremely unique atmosphere. It enriches the design work due to the interaction of so many different cultures. Each person comes with a different perspective. We are also very close-knit since we have all travelled to Denmark knowing no one. The interns are very closely involved in the design work. Our assignments utilize all of the skills we’re taught as students – drafting, physical modeling, digital modeling, diagramming, rendering, and photoshopping. There are two laser cutters, a 3d printer, 2 large plotters, foam cutters, a ventilated spray paint room, and LOTS of white foam.  The office is bisected by a large model workshop. The interns’ computers are really slow. However, you won’t find a Mayline in the office because this is the 21^st century.

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