Personal Statement: My First Professional Experience in Design (Admission Essay Sample)

Personal Statement
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Course Title
DatePersonal Statement
Weckerele, Greig & Sondermann (2007) define the architecture market as one of the few creative markets that cannot be described with clear business categories. Since childhood, I have had a deep passion for art and an impeccable appreciation of architecture. I was always fascinated by how architects were able to come up with incredible abstract projects and develop them into masterpiece projects. Also, I found it interesting how architects were able to overcome challenges with creative, out of the box solutions. This interest inevitably motivated me to study architecture with a yearning to be recognized among the notable architects worldwide.
My first professional experience in design stemmed from studying at Poznan University in Poland, where I was a student at the Architecture Department. Studying at the University was a delight, and I was able to amass a great deal of skills and architectural knowledge that has been instrumental in my career pursuit. I learned critical, creative and problem-solving skills that heightened my desire and interests for creation. Being a dedicated student, I was always keen in class, took notes and read quite extensively, beyond everyone's expectations and mastered the basic architectural skills and techniques. My skill in the fine arts played a vital role in my education, and I became well equipped with skills in drawing, with my understanding of 3D art becoming quite impressive. My hard work paid off and was selected to participate in a student exchange program. I left for India, where I enrolled in the Indo Global College of Architecture at Punjab Technical University for three semesters.
Traveling to India gave me a different perspective of art and architecture. I became exposed to a diverse form of architecture, quite different from what I was used to back in Poland, and I was able to immerse myself in this new culture and reflect upon its ancient and modern architectural designs. Many a time, I would take walks along the streets, looking at buildings and thinking to myself what I liked or disliked about them. I would then take pictures and later sketch ideas in my drawing book trying to figure out what changes would best fit these buildings. I found this activity quite refreshing and educative and within no time I realized that I was coming up with new, innovative and intriguing ideas, as expected of a good architect.
I always read books, articles, and journals about Indian architecture during my free time and was able to understand many architectural techniques applied by Indian designers. I learned that the city was entirely designed by the French architect Le Corbusier and was able to compare and contrast his architectural designs to the modern ones. I was able to identify the vernacular architecture of the Himalayas and compare it to the modern architecture of Mumbai and New Delhi.
During my study, I went to practice at Spall Associates in India, which was notably the most exciting period of my architectural study. Among the activities I engaged in while practicing at the firm included working in the design process of a residence in Faridabad, Inderlok Hotel in Faridabad and an Indian school in Dehradun. Working on these projects was an eye opener. It was interestingly refreshing to see, for example, how a viable solution for the housing project utilized minimal materials and resulted in the creation of spectacular homes. I was also exposed to the more professional and hands on side of architecture and saw the different sides of the profession. I came to understand that being a good architect meant that one had to be creative, listen and understand what the client needs and cooperate with other professionals working on the project.
During the summer of 2015, I enrolled at Parsons New School of Design where I did a course in Constructed Environments. I was particularly interested in perusing a Masters degree at SCI - Arc because I was a student there during my summer program. I was quite impressed with the new technology the school offers as it directly aligns to the changing technological environment of today. I had classes with faculties such as Russel Thomsen, Alexis Rochan, Emmet Zeifmann and Matthew Au. I managed to get to know the atmosphere of the school, and I must admit that I was quite impressed. I got very familiar with the MArch program for which I'm applying as it directly fits my career plan. The school teaches experimental design, quite different from traditional schools. With this in mind, I began to question whether enough has been done in optimizing architectural designs and came to the conclusion that experimental design is arguably the way forward.
After summer school, I stayed in Los Angeles where I was doing an internship at Elena Manferdinis atelier. Elena Manferdini holds the position of the Graduate Programs Chair at South California Institute of Architecture. I helped on the design and realization of a gallery show. Having a mentor with her skill set was very instrumental. Through her knowledge and exp...