On April 20th, two of WHSAD’s journalists, Kevin Garcia and Amelia Velez, had an interview with two RAMSA speakers Taylor Brophy and Nadeen Safa. Nadeen and Taylor both work as Architectural Designers at Robert A.M. Stern Architects, located in New York City. They both have been designers at RAMSA for about three years now. Ms. Brophy works in RAMSA’s institutional studio, where her focus is mainly on projects for universities ranging from residential dorms to student centers. Taylor’s most recent project was to design the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art for the University of Notre Dame. She attended the University of Miami and interned at Cure & Penabad Architects along with Chipman Design Architecture firm. Nadeen Safa is a Yale graduate and mostly works in a joint studio. This means that she works on projects around the world ranging from China to New York, while traveling she works on residential skyscrapers.
During the interview Ms. Brophy and Ms. Safa answered questions that were a mix of personal questions and wonderings along with questions and wonderings that WHSAD’s students were curious about. One key takeaway from the Q&A interview was for us young architects to start getting involved in anything project-based activities that are offered to us and networking out to people you meet who are located in career fields you are interested in. The speakers also recommended not to be nervous and scared to ask questions and even to even make mistakes. They explained that the mistakes you make can help you learn and grow for your future. Along with making mistakes they recommended to look at different projects students, teachers, and architects create to learn and become familiar with different architectural and design styles.
When we asked the question, “What type of designs do you use at RAMSA,” they told us they use AUTOCAD, Revit, Photoshop, and SketchUp. The advice they gave us to learn these programs in depth was to use the people around you to help yourself become familiar and learn more of the different programs you will be or are using, and whatever skills you don’t know or understand, just ask questions. While at RAMSA they also ask colleagues, who have worked with these programs, questions and also have used resources such as Google to answer questions that they had. They both have been involved in internships, which helped them to know what life as an architect was like. Due to the opportunities, Taylor and Nadeen were able to realize what they wanted to do and what type of work they wanted to focus on. In terms of the vast field of architecture, they recommended those who want to proceed with an architecture career to get involved in internships and take advantage of opportunities a school such as WHSAD has to offer.
