little black journal

It’s been a busy week at work. No, I haven’t been sitting at a table engaging in intense design discussions and sketching ideas for the next Dezeen-bound project. I’ve been meeting with scientists to help them determine how their research equipment would best be arranged in the lab spaces we’ve designed for them. I never thought that the words “Biosafety Cabinet” and “Fume Hood” would become part of my regular vocabulary. My last two years of college were a time of such incredible creative growth and exploration. Little did I know the amount of unglamorous practicalities that must go into putting a real-life building together – fire codes, handicap accessibility, budgets, time constraints, door hardware schedules, etc. I spent my thesis year at Cal Poly pouring my heart into a project that was very conceptual and sculptural (see the image of part of my thesis model below), and so it’s been an adjustment to make the shift from architectural student to architectural professional. Don’t get me wrong – I have been blessed with some amazing opportunities at my current job and it is extremely rewarding to actually walk down the halls of a project that I’ve worked on. I’m just still getting into the groove of things. And I suppose there’s something to be said for becoming well-rounded…