Masonry Design | 39
Angeles. I worked with a few individuals on urban
planning and development. My second internship
was with Koning Eizenburg Architects in Santa
Monica, Ca. That was a much smaller firm, they
focused more on multi-use buildings, as well as
multi-income housing. Between those two I was
able to see a dramatic difference in a more
medium-sized firm. Torti Gallas had about 30
people in the office, although that was a
subsidiary office. Their main office on the East
Coast had around 100-150 people, I believe. At
Koning Eizenburg, there were about 13-15
people in the office when I was working, and
that’s what really got me into sustainable design.
They showed me there was room for it in the
design community.
I learned that I really prefer smaller, more intimate
environments where you get to learn, put your
hands on everything, and get to know everyone.
You get to see a project through from beginning
to end. I think a project should feel uniform with
regards to stock and execution.
My third architectural internship was at
Renaissance 3 Architects (R3A) in Pittsburgh,
PA. I actually worked this internship throughout
my fifth year. I started working the summer
before the start of the school year, and enjoyed
it so much that I stayed on throughout the term,
and had a lot of difficulties because I was doing
an accelerated master’s program at the same
time. So, I was kind of leading three lives, where
on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays I was an
undergrad student as well as a part-time
employee. While on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I
was a graduate student. It was very interesting.
M.D.M.: Wow! laughs How did you keep
everything straight?
A.R.: laughs To be honest, I don’t even know if I
can tell you how. I found that I’m more
productive when I’m stressed. When there’s a
lot on my plate it motivates me to get it done. If I
have one thing on my agenda, I like to put it off.
I’m one of those individuals that like the burden of
many different tasks because I feel like I’m using
my knowledge, skill set, and voice to help those
around me.
M.D.M.: Do you have any advice for anyone
interested in going into this industry?
A.R.: Don’t listen to what others say. But also,
definitely listen to what others say because there
are a lot of stigmas out there about architectural
education in particular. I know a lot of high school
students are deterred from going into
architecture because they’ve either heard it
automatically implies, you’re never going to get
sleep. Or that you need to be able to draw to go
into architecture, or you won’t make any money.
It’s not a very sought-after profession. I challenge
students and I want to tell them not to let any of
that hinder them. If architecture is your passion, if
space is your passion, or if you have any sort of
eye for design, just try. It doesn’t hurt to try it.
Architectural education is so unique and is so
valuable. In my opinion, it’s the best kind of
education you can get because you learn
everything. You learn psychology, engineering,
how to be a salesperson. Architecture teaches
you how to market your project and public
speaking. You learn how to curate a document
and compile a set of drawings that are consistent.
It’s truly a remarkable path to go on and I
encourage anyone who is remotely thinking about
it to simply go for it and if you don’t like it at least
you tried.
M.D.M.: Is there anything else you wanted to
add?
A.R.: When some people are thinking of going
into architecture, they forget it goes beyond walls.
To really realize the world around us is the
network and architecture stems from the ground.
It can be landscape, transit systems, to
everything from your home, and the theater down
the street. Basically, just realizing without
architects, we would have nothing around us.