Hi. My name is Nicole. I'm a architecture major and an Italian minor, and today I'll be presenting Design to Construction, Combining the Two Worlds of Architecture. So my internship like two summers ago had two parts. I did an internship at an architecture firm, and then also a general contractor company. So the first part of my internship, it was an Italian company based in New York. They were founded in 1999, and their designs focus on simplicity and clarity in the design. And their projects range from hospitals, to residentials, to hotels, and even luxury retail. 

So the first project I worked on was called Lima Contemporary Art Museum Competition. And it was a world competition. And anyone could submit their proposals, and they only had a month to compete it. And basically it was in Lima, Peru. And this is the original site. So there is a historic arts museum art that was already there. And then this was the site where they would build the contemporary wing. They also had to submit a landscape proposal as well for the park. 

So I'm going to talk a little about their design process. So they were first inspired by Lucio Fontana-- which is an Italian painter-- by his slit paintings. So they took the original historic museum and they laid it underground. They elongated it, and then created this ramp-like space. So I helped work on these drawings. 

Here at Mount Holyoke, we only use Rhino and Illustrator. And this, I used AutoCAD. So it was a little difficult in the beginning to learn how to use that. But here is the original historic building, and then you can see the contemporary art building underground. And then this is just another section. View in here, you can see the people, the passageway, and then you enter here, and then it's three stories tall. And then here's a couple renders of what it would look like. Here's the outside view and then the interior view. 

Unfortunately, they didn't win, even though I thought their proposal was better than then one that did win. But it was really fun to work on that. The second-- oh yeah. Also, I built this entire site model, and I've never done a foam model before. Here at Mount Holyoke, we usually use the laser cutter or the chipboard models, so it was interesting using the machines to cut the foam. And I also never did it on this scale, and these are all actual buildings to scale. I never did it on this scale, and I never did a landscape one as well. This is large. 

The second project I worked on was the Dolce & Gabbana store in SoHo, New York. It's not built yet. This is the render of what it would look like outside. And it was a really old, unique building. 161 years old, really large, four floors. And on the top, they're actually going to have a martini bar and a cafe-type thing. So that's the first of its kind in the US. And also, it used to be a firehouse, so there's a lot of history in this building. 

So I carried-- I drew some drawings for that project and I carried it over to the general contracting company, which these two companies worked together to produce this store for Dolce & Gabbana. So this company is based in Italy as well, but they have a branch in New York, where I worked. And they specialize in luxury retail. And they have 330 projects in 35 different countries, so it's a huge company across the world. 

So this is a drawing-- sorry, my mom sent this photo. But this is a drawing-- 

[LAUGHTER] 

--that I helped do. And this is the fourth floor, and here is the martini bar, and they have this beautiful dragon mosaic on the floor. So when I came into the general contractings office, I got a set of plans, which was probably this thick of sectional drawings, all that, which I worked on previously at the other firm. 

So unfortunately, none of the drawings that I worked on actually became reality because it was a process. So this is the currently-- when I went home for fall break-- what it looks like. It's still not opened. And you can tell they combine the elegant of the lights with the SoHo look of the brick. And then they also have this graffiti artist come in and paint all the walls. I'm excited to see when it's finally opened. 

So at this general contracting office, I had to hire and call subcontractors to come in. It was a couple different locations where they're building stores across the US. And so I had to find group of subcontractors to work there. I also had to apply for permits and relations. New York has a ton of regulations, and it's different for each state. So every state that they had projects in-- I know they had another Dolce & Gabbana store in San Francisco and also in Florida. So each state was completely different. And I also had to help get the licenses for the state as well. 

So what I learned-- so I did, as I mentioned, learned new computer skills to render and to draw, which I then can carry into the studios here. I also learned how to do foam model building. And I learned all the tedious details that go into a building, which we don't really focus on in the studios here, like you need to know exit signs, electricity outlets, all that stuff that you don't really think about when you're just designing the building and the concept. I also learned how to work with the clients and meet their needs, while also not compromising your design to meet their needs, and vice versa, having that conversation. 

And so relating it to the bigger whole, these were both Italian companies, and they offered the Italian perspective. And like I mentioned, for that Lima project in Peru, they were inspired by that Italian painter. And Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian company who trusted both of these companies to design and construct their museum in New York-- I mean their store in New York. 

So moving forward, I realized that I don't want to work in commercial design. They're pretty much glued to their screen 10 hours a day doing drawings. And for me, that was depressing. So I want to work with people, probably like a nonprofit, maybe green design, green sustainability design. And yeah. And I maybe realized that I do want to take a gap year or two between graduation and graduate school to really figure out what I want to do. So yeah. Thank you. 

[APPLAUSE] 

Questions? Yes, Maria. 

How did you obtain both of those-- 

Internships? 

Yes. 

All right. Yeah. So, various connections. My dad is like a interior renovator of apartments in New York, and he's worked with that architecture firm before. I used to babysit his kids and stuff. So yeah, through that. And then that partner-- so the main boss of the architecture firm was partners with the general contractor. And then he split off into that group, the general contracting. So yeah. So through that, and then also through him to the other contracting company. Yeah. 

So it sounds like you're interested in the Italians and the Italian cultures. Are you interested in combining that with other cultural architecture moving forward as a profession? 

Yeah. Yeah. Currently we're doing-- in my classes now, we're focusing more on Asia. And so we're building in Sapporo, Japan and also Thailand. Nan, Thailand. So for me, I've always focused on Europe and America, but now I'm excited to move forward to see how that changes in that cultural context in Japan and Thailand. Yeah. 

How did your internships help you in the classroom when you came back to school the following year? 

Yeah. I mean, I did learn all those skills in rendering and all those computer skills that I will use for-- I'm taking Design 5 at UMass, which is a very intensive course. And the UMass students have had that progression in studios, so I will bring that to my future projects. Thank you. 

Thank you. 

[APPLAUSE]