Archinect - News

Gensler awards more than $70,000 in scholarships to 17 emerging designers

2022-07-12T17:55:00-04:00

Architecture firms around the globe continue to exercise their efforts in providing scholarship opportunities to students and emerging designers looking to pursue careers in architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and other adjacent professions.

This is the case for international architecture firm Gensler, which has announced recipients of this year's scholarship cycle. The 2022 Gensler Scholarships awarded include the Rising Black Designers Scholarship, the Brinkmann Scholarship, and a set of micro-scholarships presented to ten students.

Gensler Rising Black Designers Scholarship

Scholarship Details: In 2020, Gensler launched the Rising Black Designers Scholarship + Design Challenge to help talented design students overcome the costs associated with higher education. This annual program awards tuition scholarships, micro-scholarships for books and materials, and opportunities for summer internships to underrepresented Black students enrolled in U.S. not-for-profit ar...

University of Kansas students converted shipping containers into housing for community shelter guests in need of quarantined spaces

2021-11-10T19:46:00-05:00

As part of a program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design, a cohort of students retrofitted twelve shipping containers to serve as private housing for homeless people during the pandemic.

The project, located at Kansas’ Lawrence Community Shelter, is called Monarch Village. It was established in response to the need for adequate quarantine spaces for its population when the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020. The initiative is part of the non-profit Studio 804, a comprehensive design-build program offered through the school where graduate students design and build a LEED Platinum project. Monarch Village is the studio’s sixteenth.

According to Studio 804, the dwellings offer much-needed privacy for families while allowing guests access to services at the shelter. It is hoped that this project will be a precedent to move away from housing the homeless in gymnasium-like rooms full of bunk beds, an arrangement that makes isolating impossible.

Construction on th...

UCLA’s BruinHub will give respite to students facing long commutes and housing insecurity

2021-09-24T11:43:00-04:00

The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, in collaboration with cityLAB, has officially opened the BruinHub, a first-of-its-kind space serving UCLA students facing long commutes or housing insecurity. Located in the John Wooden Center, the BruinHub will be a 24/7 space with facilities for students to nap, rest, study, store belongings, and wait out traffic.

BruinHub launch, September 23rd, 2021. Image courtesy of UCLA

The design of the BruinHub centers on Study Pods; prefabricated units constructed from machine-cut OSB and finished with vibrant-colored fabrics. Each pod contains a flexible bench which can be used for sleeping or studying, as well as a worktop, reading lamp, storage space, and power outlet. The wider facility also includes WiFi, charging stations, a food prep station, personal storage, and a hub for distributing important campus information and services. The hub has been designed to meet COVID-based safety standards for sanitizing and social distancing.

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Architecture students — read these 3 articles before your final review

2020-11-23T15:41:00-05:00

Finals are coming up and many students are anticipating the final review and all that comes along with it: presenting in front of a jury; receiving criticism; and the pressure, stress, and anxiety leading up to it. Additionally, the virtual nature of the presentations bring a new layer of consideration for students. There are many factors that go into a successful final review. Here are three articles that investigate some of the intricacies of presentations in studio.

Students presenting their work at SCI-Arc's 2018 theses reviews

The Architecture Student's Presentation Roadmap

The Architecture Student's Presentation Roadmap outlines some best practices for those communicating their work in studio. There are practical examples on how to outline a presentation and some helpful tips to keep in mind for the big day.

Richard Feynman

Complexity over clarity? What happens when we try to sound too "smart"

In this piece we debunk the myth that one must use complicated language to communica...

Architecture students — these three essays address the stresses of studio

2020-10-15T11:58:00-04:00

Architecture school holds its own array of challenges. Studio is arguably the most rigorous part of design education, and comes with a list of unique stresses that often weigh on students. How do you balance studio with other classes? How does one best present a project? And how do you face the dreaded jury on review day? These three short essays address each of these questions.

Harvard GSD. Photo by Alonso Obregon

Balancing Studio With Other Classes

This piece explores the misplaced idea that studio should come before every other class. What are the hidden benefits of planning a well balanced approach to your architectural education? Click here to dive deeper.

Students presenting their work at SCI-Arc's 2018 theses reviews

The Architecture Student's Presentation Roadmap

Most architecture students tend to wait to the last minute to figure out how they will present their work. They spend 99 percent of their time on the work, but then leave little room to build a coherent strategy to ...

Architecture students — stop trying to please your studio professor — seek to learn from them

2020-09-16T12:41:00-04:00

There's this bizarre phenomenon in schools of architecture where students become disproportionately preoccupied with pleasing their studio instructors. Let me qualify that — some students seem more concerned with whether or not their professor will like their work instead of what they will learn from them.

These are two entirely different postures toward the classroom. An instructor is there to mentor the student, to help them grow and become a better designer. An instructor isn't a client, or someone's mommy or daddy, they are merely an individual with more experience and knowledge with a responsibility to impart some of that knowledge to a group of students.

Previously on Archinect: Balancing Studio With Other Classes

That's the key point here — this isn't any group of people one teaches, but rather a group of students. We all know the saying: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Students: if you don't see yourself as a student, school is going to be a drag. In stu...

Four rookie mistakes architecture graduates make when writing a cover letter (and how to avoid them)

2020-07-16T12:53:00-04:00

You've just graduated architecture school and it's time to start pursuing your first job. Like most, you've probably spent a lot of time on your portfolio, and perhaps even your resume, but what about the cover letter? Are you confident you're composing this crucial component of your application package in a way that captures the attention of your prospective employer? And more importantly, you'll want to be sure you aren't doing the opposite, that you aren't destroying your chances of moving forward in the hiring process by making avoidable errors.

Of the countless young professionals I've been able to help in their job search, many make these four rookie mistakes when it comes to writing their cover letters. Let's go through them so that you can be sure you stay clear of them as you embark on the next chapter in your career. And be sure to check out Archinect's Tips on writing an effective cover letter for critical insights on composing a professional level submission.

Previously...

Should you pursue architecture if you only want to design?

2020-05-08T14:11:00-04:00

Young 18-year-old evelync asked the Archinect community Wednesday if she should pursue a degree in architecture:

"...I've been thinking about doing an Architecture degree (specifically at UCL) because they seem to embrace creativity and artistic contemporary design which is my only interest with architecture, and I also thought this degree might suit me since it's also science related which I love...I wanted to know from people who are actual architects/architecture students if the reality of architecture is not artistic/creative."

It's a fair question for a young student intrigued by the profession and many had crucial insights. The short answer is no, architecture is definitely not all about the artistic and creative, there are so many more aspects to it. square. provided wise counsel:

"...I only caution you because you are asking from the perspective of someone who loves art, and if you are pursuing architecture because of the artistic side, there is no doubt you will encounter s...

2 questions to ask yourself before pulling an all-nighter

2019-10-11T12:30:00-04:00

The all-nighter is a common occurrence in architecture today, especially in school. We briefly explored the reasons for this growing phenomenon in The Architecture Student's Guide to Studio, but let's dive a little deeper into the issue. Here are 2 things you should ask yourself before you decide to pull an all-nighter:

Would I be better off getting rest and returning to the work?

Tiredness is one of the primary factors in decreased performance, both mentally and physically. We think we are "sticking it out" and "working hard" by staying awake for 48 plus hours with no sleep. We even brag about it to each other. During school, I'd always show up to studio early in the morning and one day, a colleague who had been up for around two and half days came up to me visibly exhausted and told me she kept hallucinating and having "visions." After she told me this she walked back to her desk and continued working.

I've done this before too (not to the extreme of my colleague). I stay late, tr...