Architect In Training

i like to think that I’m creative and I have something to offer to this world that no one else could possibly offer. Call me egotistical or whatever you’d like, I still remember the first time I saw my thesis posted on the blog of my friend, Cliff. After all the hard work, long nights, and tireless effort someone else appreciated all the work I put into the thoughts and ideas I was trying to convey to the world.


I went to Architecture Thesis presentations this year and the same feelings of nervousness, excitement, and anticipation were still inside me. The only thing that wasn’t there was my presentation which made me think about it again and how accomplished I felt about it but also how much I wanted to continue the work I had started. Like many things in life, it fell to the waist side in order to make room for all the other things that clutter up life. I recently started to revisit NostalgicFresh to improve and continue the ideas that I set the foundation for with the thesis I presented a year ago. I finally opened up the Rhino file and the plans to make a more concrete and thought out building with a semi-simplistic program: A city within a building. The program that I will now be focusing on will be as follows:

1. Grocer
The corner store is not good enough for the people of my building. Depending on the height the building and density of residents, there will be either one or two grocery stores inside the building taking up entire floors.

2. Commercial Venues
Certain areas, not floors, will be designated as commercial space where vendors ranging from clothing to fine dining will be permissible to occupy.

3. “Recreation”
My whole thesis began with the idea of trying to recreate a space[s] that would encourage/enable one to become a purveyor of hip hop culture. When I put recreation in quotations, I am attempting to signify that the spaces are not just places like music studios where residents and others come to rap. I am attempting to signify that based on many factors [materiality of space, physical size of said space, proximity to others/other spaces] play a role in what “recreation” will take place.

4. Residential
Everyone needs somewhere to live, Right? Right. Glad we can agree.

A couple weeks ago while driving and talking to my mom about how I planned on continuing work on my thesis, she said, “Why?” After thinking about it for a while, I have a couple answers. One because I think that everything that is started needs to be finished whether it takes ten minutes or ten years. I started something over a year ago and while it felt complete back then, I have a new found need to continue. Two, because someone is trying to use my Thesis’ premise and ideas to make an adaptation in my home town. While I’m a little leery about them trying to use my ideas on something that may/may not come out as anticipated, I have to see what happens.

I have no idea how long this is going to take with all the other things that go on in my mind just dealing with architecture and design but I am excited to tackle it. Some of the industrial and furniture design that has been done lately in the notebooks will definitely make its way into the project. Looking forward to some late nights [on the weekends of course]. Who has the coffee brewer?

--AB