This is a multi-day post to cover multiple facets of the internship I have been apart of this semester.

Over the past few couple of weeks, I have been involved in numerous stages of a broad arrangement of projects. I have reviewed and approved/rejected submittals from contractors and subcontractors, prepared two presentations, one for a client to show the existing conditions of their site and one for a BAR presentation, I have also drawn up existing conditions plans for a new renovation project with what some would consider impossible circumstances to do what needed to be done.

I think so far these past few weeks, my favorite part has been working on these existing conditions and renovation plans. They’re simple, but for the renovation, the client would like a bathroom to be ADA compliant. Being in an older building, this has proven nearly impossible. I have found it incredibly interesting that potentially, in this project, we may have to say that there is no possible way for an ADA compliant bathroom. Considering the scope of the project, there’s not much left to do outside of this bathroom, so it changes a lot of what my job will be over the extent of the project. But there was a breakthrough in a sense. I may have come up with a solution that was considered appropriate by my supervisor and will hopefully be accepted by the owner. A very interesting process to experience.

I have also been tasked these past few weeks with building an existing building in Revit and given permission to design a little in it. To start thinking about what the space could potentially look like. The facility houses a broad range of programs for this particular organization and each one is not at all similar. I have enjoyed the process of thinking through what these spaces could potentially become in the future and the freedom of thought into it.

My perception of architecture and the architect’s role in a project, the office, and the world is changing drastically, but for the good. The job of an intern is especially diverse, from doing generic office tasks like typing up memos, making edits to documents, and other seemingly menial tasks to being included in somewhat large decisions and input. I am excited to see where the industry will take me in the near future.

As I have now been finished with my internship for nearly two weeks, I have found the experience I have gotten from the work in a firm has been beneficial to my studio final work and has allowed me to better communicate to my client (reviewers) the intention of the project in a way that is clear. I have also had a chance to explore that role while working on studio stuff.