ARCHITECTURE FOUND ME…
I first found architecture and design through divine guidance… and my uncle who was in architecture school at that time. He built and gifted me my very first Lego kit and it set me on a trajectory of curiosity. It was a small house with a garden, and it came with an impressive set of assembly instructions. To my five-year-old mind the instructional booklet was akin to a great set of blueprints. Blueprints only an architect could possibly understand and follow. Of course, DUH.
My uncle patiently sat with me to build this architectural marvel and the little house sat on my bookshelf with a protective energy field I would imagine around it. It sat there and sat there under my watchful eye until we immigrated from Eastern Europe to the Western World. It was one of the few toys that made the cut and was granted access to my suitcase. I reluctantly dismantled my prized possession and we hit the road.
Flash forward several countries, Lego kits and years later I was sitting in my best friend’s living room lamenting over my future. I was in the last few semesters of my Genetics degree in California and feeling more out of place than ever. I loved science, I loved studying science and I loved how it made me feel to have the title of my selected major roll off my tongue; “Cellular and Molecular Biology and Genetic”. Sounded so important, so smart, so….. boring for my future. I pictured lab coats and underground laboratories with no signs of natural daylight or other humans.
I tried to spice things up a few years earlier by taking a semester off to go study abroad in Paris. My curriculum would not be suitable for my degree in science but it would teach me about life and show me the world and teach me about food, art and people of the world. It did do all of those things but mostly it awakened in me a love of art, travel and curiosity. I explored and went on daring adventures trough Europe; I slept on trains and tried foods I had never heard of. It was then I realized that in my effort to sound impressive on paper, I had lost my childhood interests. My five-year-old self would not have recognized me, she would have been too busy surveying the neighborhood in order to get the latest city map illustration as correctly drawn as possible. She would have been drawing sections and elevations of her dream house and building little models out of paper. She would have been busy remodeling Barbie’s new dream mansion and she would have been so unimpressed by me, bored even.
I realized I wanted to incorporate art and my zest for life into my world of science. I wanted to get in touch with the artist within me and celebrate the scientific side as well. So, while not knowing it at the time, an opportunity came up to study in Australia. This time, my full curriculum would count towards my degree and I hoped that the traveling aspect of it would reignite inspiration. It did so much more than that; I arrived in Australia and after the teething period of being immersed in the new culture I was overwhelmed with the realization that I had to stay there, at least for a little while. On a whim, I went to visit the University of Sydney and absolutely fell in love with campus and its beautiful historical buildings. I was led to the architecture building and found myself having a chat with the admissions staff. One art portfolio and transcript later I received that magical phone call and my world turned upside down… literally.
Sydney and the Southeast coast of Australia was to be my home for at least the next six years. I started architecture school and not long after found a job which has led to opportunities I could have never imagined. I have traveled the world, met wonderful people and that leap of faith has rewarded me many times over.
It is gratitude and the connection to my divine guidance or intuition that has carried me and continues to drive my designs. The connection to my clients is the most important ingredient in my projects and it is my drive to connect my clients with their joy and passion which leads to spaces we are all proud of. Spaces my clients infuse with their own protective energy and watchful eye, spaces they then enjoy for years to come.
xo
