Student Perspectives: School of Architecture

When I decided to major in Architecture, I really had no clue what I was getting myself into for the next five years, but I can safely say from the finish line that it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The absolute best decision I ever made was to study architecture at Tulane, where I’ve had the opportunity to broaden my architecture career through unique academic opportunities, professor relationships, extracurricular involvement, and summer job opportunities. The past four years as an architecture student at Tulane have been the most diverse, transformative, and fun years of my life, and I’m grateful to have one more year here!

Final review during 3rd year, comprehensive studio

The most important thing to remember when choosing to be an architecture major is to keep your mind open, whether during the school year or during the summer. During my freshman year, even though I was completing some of my studio courses, I also selected a course in the business school, took a political science class, and intensely studied Pride and Prejudice in my intro English class. That summer I went off and worked as a raft guide in North Carolina, of all things, and when I returned for my sophomore year I had had all of these experiences outside of the architecture school that strengthened my architecture coursework. This patterned continued for the next two years; in the summer, I would jet off to the mountains to immerse myself in nature, and in the fall and spring I would balance my architecture coursework with courses that interested me outside of design. This past summer, I finally landed an internship with Gensler, an amazing design firm with 50 offices all over the world. Had I not had such a range of experiences during the past three years at Tulane, I don’t think I would have even been considered!

Stopping by the Pantheon on my way to studio

This past year, I studied abroad in Rome with Tulane School of Architecture, so I went with Tulane students and was taught by Tulane professors. This was my first time abroad and I loved every minute of it; not only did I get to travel extensively, but every single day I enjoyed gelato, a walk by the Pantheon on my way to studio, and time sketching some architectural works that have been around for a really long time.

During my time abroad I also received a travel fellowship from the School of Architecture, which is a grant that allows you to travel for about a month and study a topic of your choosing. Visiting Yosemite National Park has been a dream of mine for a while now, so I will be using the fellowship to travel to Yosemite and other areas in the Pacific Northwest to study nature’s natural design elements and the effects that nature has on human behavior, and then I will determine techniques for us to apply these lessons to design more tangibly.

Hiking in the Italian Dolomites

This semester I am participating in the URBANbuild program, which is a full year design + build studio, so students design a house in the fall and then build it in the spring. Since I was abroad in the fall, I joined in for the build this spring with 11 other students. We started with piles of dirt on the ground and now we are adding the finishing touches! Though this experience has been physically demanding and exhausting at times, it has been incredibly rewarding and invaluable to my time as an architecture student.

During my final year at Tulane, I will work on my architecture thesis while also serving as the Vice President for Academic Affairs on the Undergraduate Student Government and working as an Admissions Intern. Because I’ve worn so many different hats during my time at Tulane, I’m not 100% which one I will wear more permanently when I graduate next spring with a Masters in Architecture. Some days I think about continuing work with a larger firm, and other days I think about pursuing historic preservation or real estate. Even after four years of design school, I’m still a glutton for some HGTV, so who is to say I won’t try to have my own show on there! All I know for certain is that I’m grateful to have had so many experiences here, ones that have really shaped my development as a student, a friend, a leader, and a designer, and because of that I don’t know if I will ever be able to call anywhere that is not New Orleans home.

The URBANbuild 11 house as of January 15

The URBANbuild 11 house as of April

Chesley McCarty is a Senior graduating in May 2017 with a Masters in Architecture.