Sarah Wright ‘08

Sarah is an architecture student that constantly seeks out unique opportunities in her field. Sarah is a talented designer which is evident in her work at firms both locally and internationally. Sarah's strong interest in working overseas has led her to explore a real appreciation of the multidimensionality of the field of architecture. Sarah maintains a 3.7 GPA and has a minor in Spanish, of which contributes to her overall goal of learning new languages in order to gain insight into architecture’s influences on cultures, societies, and peoples.

CO-OP ASSIGNMENTS: Sarah's first co-op took place at Guillot Vivian Viehmann Architects, (GVVA) in Burlington VT. Sarah created the opportunity on her own because she wanted to do her co-op outside the Boston area. Sarah's major accomplishment at the firm was compiling a new portfolio for the firm, in which they still use today.

For her second co-op, Sarah decided she wanted an international co-op experience, especially in a Spanish speaking country because of her minor. Sarah sought out an opportunity in Barcelona Spain. Sarah took an unpaid job at Conxita Balcells Blesa Associats, a well known and respected firm in Barcelona in order to gain experience in another country and to view architecture from a different prospective. The firm focuses on smaller commercial projects. Most of the firm's commissions are obtained through competitions, so when the firm won a commission in April, Sarah was charged with building the model for the proposed design.

Sarah recalls, "I had to find my own place to live and figure out how to get to and from work, on top of learning how architecture is done in Spain, which is completely different than in the U.S."?

The other challenge in working at this firm is that the entire architectural community in Barcelona spoke Catalan, (a dialect that is a mix of Spanish and French) which meant Sarah had to learn a whole new language, besides Spanish. Sarah says "co-workers would speak Spanish to me in the office, but they'd address each other in Catalan, so I had no idea what was going on around me at first". She goes on to say, "I am happy my first abroad experience forced me to speak other languages all the time. It was hard, but anything worthwhile is going to be hard".

What makes Sarah an extraordinary student, is that she decided to seek out a second job at a firm in the afternoons in order to get paid. Sarah made connections and landed a small firm called CostaSerra Arquitectos. At this firm Sarah assisted with the design and execution of architectural competitions in the Barcelona area.

After returning from Spain, Sarah was interviewed for a piece on international co-op experiences. Her story was featured in the 2006-07 edition of the “The Best of Co-op—A Guide to the Best Co-op Colleges and Employers".

After studying abroad in Italy, Sarah decided to stay in the country and find her third co-op opportunity. Sarah found a job at Domenico Minchilli Architetto. Sarah succeeded in introducing 3D computer modeling to this firm and assisted with all 3D rendering projects for this firm. Sarah also learned Italian and became fluent in her daily interactions with architects and clients.

FUTURE PLANS AND GOALS: All of Sarah's experiences have instilled in her a broad international interest in architecture and its social elements, which she now hopes to focus and develop. Sarah plans to move to Rome after graduation and hopefully start teaching architecture abroad to other US students participating in Study Abroad programs.