Interview series - What after B.arch? #9
Interviewee: Soujanya Krishnappa Post-graduation: M.S. Architecture, Urban and Regional Design (MAURD) | New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), New York, USA
How did you hear about the University/program? Why did you decide to take it up?
I decided to pursue a Masters during my internship days. I was exposed to the practice and the roles that Architects/contractors/clients and engineers played in shaping a project during that time. This helped me get a better understanding of how I wanted to contribute and most importantly what nature of projects I wanted to contribute to. Once this was clear to me, I started researching on courses that would feed my interest. I carefully studied the curriculum to make sure I knew what I was getting into because the way I looked at it, this was an investment I was making for my career and a lot of my time and money was going to be at stake.
What about the University/program appealed to you?
During my undergrad, I enjoyed working on the Urban Design Housing project; the scale of the project, the ability to define your own scope and design along with other disciplines excited me, the following year I chose to explore more in this realm with my thesis. When I graduated, I knew I was all about UD and was considering studying further.
I chose the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) for a Master’s program in Architecture, Urban and Regional Design (MAURD) in 2015. I was impressed by what the curriculum had to offer but when I had a phone interview with the Dean of the program I was sure I was making the right choice. The premise of the program was to use New York as an urban laboratory to test the theories of Urban Design and develop new ones for today’s day and age. How exciting is that! And in a city like New York where opportunities are endless, it seemed like a good deal to me.
How was the experience at the University?
The program was intense from Day 1 of school, but it was the good kind of intense. The kind of intensity needed to push my boundaries and explore more. Along with regular studios, we were constantly attending meetings all over the city, networking with influential people, taking our proposals to the city authorities and endless panel discussions with eminent Architects was the drill. It was nothing like undergrad, no exams to study for, but reading was constant, no design submissions, but presenting design was the routine. To add to all this, I was also working part-time as a Store manager to cover for my living expenses. The hustle was hard but the rewards were worth it.
How was your program/University different from the others?
My program had faculty teaching in Columbia, NYU and Pratt and because of that, we had access to seminars and workshops in their universities too. This got me understanding their programs and in my opinion, the experience of a similar program in any university is not very different. What course you take, makes the difference along with certain benefits from the university, size of campus etc.
To give you an example, a person studying the same course as mine in Pratt, had same visiting faculty, attended same events as I did and worked on similar projects because the core of the program was same. But if it was somebody studying Architecture and green energy, they would have different faculty, attend different events and work on different projects. Although I think this happened because it was in a city like New York. I’m sure, this is not the case with every city.
Which semester did you attend? How did you plan the entrance exams?
I started school in the Fall of 2015. The first thing I did was to prepare for TOEFL and GRE, which took about 4-5 months. After that, I started preparing my portfolio and resume which took another month or so. I applied in December of 2014 and received my acceptance in April I think. From then on, it was all about visa, arranging documents, finance etc. I quit my job the following month and spent the next two months making sure I had everything I needed. A month later I left for New York and started school that same week.
How did you manage the finances? Did you acquire a scholarship/fee waiver?
I did receive an academic scholarship from NYIT which was a little less than half of my tuition fee per semester. I had an education loan that covered the rest and part of my living expenses until I found an on-campus job.
How is teaching at your university?
There was no teaching per se. A typical studio would begin with an agenda for the day/week, setting goals for the studio for that particular task/week. We would then have 2-3 hour roundtable/presentation/panel discussion about the topic which we would further split into teams and tackle parts of a topic. End of the day/week we gather again and put the parts together just like solving a puzzle. During this whole time, there is so much production, be it research, coming up with a design solution, modelling a mock-up, making a movie or whichever media you choose to communicate your idea with. The point is to develop a strong narrative for your case. Each studio was different though, electives were lighter and never on campus. One time, our elective was about art and it was in the MoMa and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Can it really get any better? Another compelling factor was the studio environment, both physically and intellectually. Physically because, my studio was on the 11th floor on Columbus circle looking straight down into Central Park thinning into Manhattan madness, so often we would walk the studio from class into the park and finish the day at the Beer Garden. Intellectually because my batch count was 14 and very diverse. My colleagues came from different educational and cultural backgrounds, making discussions all the more interesting. In my opinion, the understanding of culture and context is the key to great and successful projects.
Tell us about the mentors at NYIT.
Jeffery Raven is the Dean of the program and a graduate from Columbia University who also taught there for a good number of years before starting MAURD at NYIT. He is very passionate about Urban Design. He is also the Head of Planning committee and board of directors at AIA (American Institute of Architects) and has many awards and publications to his name. Because of him, I got involved in the AIA and I am now, an Associate. We attended the United Nations Settlement Programme -Cities for all: inclusive implementation & monitoring at the UN headquarters, where I first met Ar. Daniel Libeskind. This was all a huge deal for me, but then on, I was constantly meeting and dining with eminent architects who we learnt about in undergrad or in our own research. Jeffery has inspired me immensely and continues to do so. The other professors were equally strong and supportive. In total the environment at school was truly inventive.
Is there any particular incident/anecdote of your time abroad that you wish to share?
There was one time before my final jury, I was making a model in the lab at 3 in the morning living off on just coffee that whole night because I hadn’t slept in two days, I wasn’t sure if I really was awake at all because otherwise, I would have seen the fire that caught on the CNC machine next to my model. The details of what happened next are faintly registered in my head and the lab was burnt down in the next 20 mins even before the fire crew came on board! The next afternoon, my team and I pinned up the sheets and our interview with the local newspaper about last night with pictures of my school on fire! We didn’t have a model, but that might have been my best jury ever. Something about the line of events in those past 48 hours changed us as a team and we were nailing the jury’s questions and I was determined not to leave the stage until my project was thoroughly vetted. Not sure if this is what you wanted, but looking back, this incident stands out when it comes to school.
Did your program have any research opportunities?
NYIT has 4 campuses around the world and there were research opportunities in all except mine because our campus was in the heart of Manhattan focused on courses that could use studio space for classes. I think they focused on developing state of art infrastructure for those kinds of courses. Research needs extensive use of all kinds of laboratories, which the midtown campus did not have the space for. The main campus was in Long Island occupying half a city and I’m pretty sure they had the supporting infrastructure.
Did you work a part-time job while studying?
I worked as an on-campus research assistant at the Laser machine lab which did not pay but reimbursed in tuition fee, but I needed money to pay my bills and rent, so I took up an Off-Campus job as a Store Manager at a Boutique for handicrafts in downtown Manhattan. It was good money and on the weekends, it was raining bills because of tourists.
Did you have post-masters plans in mind when you went to do masters? Or did you go with the flow?
When I was doing my masters, I was starting to feel positive about continuing my stay in the US. I was not ready to come back to India for two reasons. One, I had invested a lot of money in my program and it was time I started getting the returns, plus the kind of work I was getting here was very lucrative. If at that time, I had to move back to India, I had to start all over again in a junior position and work my way to Urban Design and it was going to take forever to repay my student loans that way. I don’t know what the future holds, but if I have to go back to India, I will be happy to do so.
Did you travel while/after studying?
Because my program was very intense, I seldom had time to travel and most importantly resources. I was mostly homesick and visited India a lot. But with what I had, I did visit a few places where I had friends. I got familiar with the east coast for sure but never made it to the west coast. It’s very different now, my job requires me to travel all over the country and I have been able to see a lot many places since my school years.
What message would you like to give to future students of Post-graduate studies/B.arch students?
Everybody’s journey is different, but the opportunities available are similar. My advice is
1. Make sure you know what you want – keep your end goal clear and work backwards from where you are now.
2. Choose wisely – no school or university can make you an Einstein if you are not committed to it. Know what your best and worst skills are and find a school that can provide a platform to tune your best skills. Everybody is not a design genius, you know who you are, so pick what will help you in your field of interest and not just because somebody said it’s a good university.
3. Plan ahead of Masters – I know I didn’t. I had clarity only towards the end of the program. What I mean is that, if you know you want to stay back and build your career here or whatever it is that you want, think of ways you can work towards it while still in school. For example, getting an internship or working on a paper that might help you beyond master’s. If you know you want to go back to your hometown, then work on getting things in order for you to start there.
How is your master’s degree helping you in what you are doing right now?
I am currently working with AECOM as an Architectural and Urban Designer on Airports and transit hub facilities and I attribute this to an internship I did over the summer which I got because of the program that I was enrolled in. I am basically putting all the theories we were testing in studios to practice at work and I am extremely fortunate that I can do so. With the program, I have learnt to curate my research better, communicate across disciplines efficiently and approach design problems differently. Today I am able to think critically about design beyond sketches. I find myself asking decisive questions to stakeholders and constantly improving the narrative of the project.
How different was it(/will it be) coming back to India and working here in Indian scenario? What difficulties did you face(/do you foresee)?
I think coming back to India will open doors to interesting opportunities and the challenges of projects will shift drastically on so many levels which is something I have to learn to cope with but the good thing is the familiarity of practice. I follow the work of some people and firms that I admire and that helps me to be in touch with the scene in India.
Tell us more about your current work and future plans.
I am currently working on a very important project for the US National railroad passenger corporation, also known as Amtrak. We won the bid last year to revision their headquarters in Washington D.C, the project evolves in many phases, the first being redesigning their historic station that was built in 1907 and is a very significant architectural establishment in the U.S, next is developing the rail yards next to the station. The air rights were sold a few years ago for $10 Million to accommodate business, leisure and other facilities including Amtrak’s expansion towards high speed rail connecting some of the most important cities of the country in the northeast corridor from Boston to Washington D.C, via New York and Philadelphia among others, which now takes about close to 7 hours is estimated to reduce to 2.5 hours with the high speed rail. The project is very ambitious and is estimated close to $3 Billion. Because of the scale of the project, there is a constant partnership with other design firms and by this way, I have been able to network quite a lot with folks from Grimshaw, HOK, SOM among many others.
This aside, because my domain is transit hubs, most projects that come my way are airports, unfortunately, I cannot provide more details on that front because of my confidentiality contract with the client. Lastly, I also play the role of a contractor for Amtrak for their federal grant program to make all train stations in the country accessible for physically handicapped.
Outside Harvard, Massachusetts during the second winter break. The campus of Harvard and MIT felt like shrines of knowledge.
At Met Museum before our meeting with Kurt Behrendt, the curator of ancient art who was giving the studio a tour of Met for an elective research. Kurt is always updating the latest additions to his department on Instagram, you can find him with the name, Kurt.behrendt
Bjarke Ingles lecture presentation after the completion of his project West 57.
This is a meeting our studio had with Bruce Fowle, the founder of FX FOWLE inside the Crystal Palace designed by James Ingo Freed of I.M Pei. Our studio was working on the same project as Bruce’s firm and the media had gotten the attention of this over months, so we arranged for a press meet discussion.
This was a stakeholder meeting Jeffery had organised with a community board to talk about our project.
At the UN headquarters for the Global meet on ‘Cities for all’. I was amazed to have made it inside the UN despite all the security craze which is 3 fold more than an airport screening amidst all the protestors right outside. This was also where I first met my celebrity Architect – Daniel Libeskind.
My team at an outreach program on reimagining safe public spaces. We had interviewed at least 50 people that night.
Model prototypes
Studio picnic on the first day of spring
The day of the final jury, last day at school
My jury panel
Finally, Thank you for this opportunity to share my story with everyone, I wish I had access to a forum like this 5 years back. I appreciate all the work you guys are doing in putting together stories of people who choose to do masters. This apart, I see you guys are doing so well, going places and following your passion, my best to you and your team.
