We took some time to sit down with our Winter 24' intern, Arianna Speleotes, current RPI student, to reflect on her intern experience thus far.

Here's what she had to say:

Q: How has your understanding of architecture, specifically around preservation and reuse, changed over the course of your internship so far?

A: I was most surprised to learn all of the groundwork that needs to be done before physical work can be done on a building - from archival research to 3D planning models; there are so many pieces that need to come together to achieve the full picture.

Q: What is one part of the job that you had not been exposed to before, but are grateful to now know?

A: I was really intrigued by the use of the Matterport which creates a 3-D model of the building and makes the design process way more immersive from the start. I also got a lot of insight into the process of developing historic buildings while maintain the existing history.

Q: How did this experience shape the way you will approach your future designs?

A: This experience introduced me to the long-term perspective of a building's life cycle so I think it will influence my choice in materials used, designing spaces to be versatile to keep the function of it flexible, and overall, just designing with potential future use in mind.