TOPIC: Autobiographical essay - An outline, in narrative form that documents significant experiences in your life. Include environmental and design interests and opportunities, travel and work. These written pieces should be kept to no more than two single-spaced typed pages each.
The Stitches of an Aspiring Architect
In 9th grade my bedroom was a war zone. Deconstructed jeans and purses, maimed jackets and dresses littered the floor and spilled from my closet. With little instruction, I confiscated my mother's sewing machine and fumbled my way through the crude stitching of dozens of garments. I sewed my first pair of pants from shabby 50's style curtains. Lime green and 3 inches too short, they were my proudest achievement. I felt an insatiable desire to understand how the pieces of fabric fit together and an overwhelming satisfaction to wear my unique creations. This seminal work laid the grounding for my appreciation of functional art forms and ultimately, my desire to become an architect.
Years later my "space" in art school bared an uncanny resemblance to the art making battlegrounds of my teen bedroom. While many of my peers concentrated in a single medium, I jumped between drawing, painting, photography, and ceramics. The mystery of a new art form lured me in and captivated me until I could harness the process. I worked countless hours in the studio. Dedication and hard work rewarded me with fine craftsmanship, my capacity for creative inquiry, and attention to fine details.
After school I was hurled into the sobering world of full time jobs, utility bills and student loan payments. But my curiosity for all things creative would not yield. I enrolled in an architectural design and drafting class. Objective: Design and draft a home for the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. A limited budget placed rigid restrictions on square footage and building materials. A steep slope and road frontage on two sides furthered the limitations. Designing within these strict parameters was a new experience that I found deeply rewarding. My creative process became a dialog between my intentions for the home and the demands made by the site and budget. It was a dance between imagination and practicality and in the end I designed a home worthy of second place in the local design competition.
I was hooked! The marriage of creativity and functionality that spurred my artistic study as a 9th grader was likewise rooted in the nature of architectural design. As an architect I could draw on my artistic background and express my whimsical ideas through the language of local architectural styles and functional design, giving the work a quality and context I could not achieve designing for my own ends. Moreover, having been raised in low income housing by a disabled single parent I longed to use my creativity to improve living conditions for those in need. As an architect my capacity to make a positive social impact would be limitless.
In the following 3 years I gained work experience in related design offices that furthered my enthusiasm for architecture. I remember the first time I selected furniture and upholstery for a dental clinic remodel while working for Intuitive Design Company. When it came time for the furniture to be installed I was beaming with excitement. My artistic vision became a tangible environment that will impact the lives of doctors and patients for years to come. Much like my first experiments in fashion design, I felt proud and deeply satisfied to see my design come into fruition. I can only imagine the excitement an architect must feel to watch their designs constructed into reality! I know when I am an architect, my inner child will be dancing with joy in my handmade lime green pants.
It was a dance between of imagination and practicality and in the end I designed a home worthy of second place in the local design competition.---that is my only suggestion. I don't want to mess with perfection!
Here is my challenge for you. Look at each paragraph and see which one is the least important. Replace it with a paragraph that expresses an idea that comes from what you already know about how it is to work as an architect, and show that you already read a lot of articles in professional journals for architects.
The purpose of this challenge is to increase your strategic cleverness without detracting from the inspiration. If you mess with inspired writing and try to make a lot of changes, you might ruin it. But if you strategically add a paragraph tat will definitely impress the reader, that can enable you to build on what you already have.
:-)
