A Day in the Life of Architecture Students at NYIT

​By Elise Park & Anthony Baio

 

Hi! Our names are Elise Park and Anthony Baio and we are fifth-year architecture students in New York Tech’s B.Arch program. This issue, we want to take you through a day in our life to show you how our program exists on our busiest school day- studio day!

 

7:00 AM - Elise wakes up and gets ready for the day; she takes her dog on a walk, has breakfast, and packs a quick lunch for the day. Anthony sleeps.

 

8:00 AM- Anthony wakes up frantically to get ready to head to Education Hall on the Old Westbury campus and work on his thesis research. Elise drives over to Ed Hall as well to prepare for her ARCH 401 TA studio class.

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9:00 AM- Elise gets to class and assists her professor with morning announcements. She gets to participate in desk crits, which are personal conversations and critiques on a student’s work. On any given day, these crits may be from five to thirty minutes per student, and consists of marking up drawings, suggesting precedents for design development and helping students push for their big crit days. This semester, Elise is TA-ing for a class of fourth years, and their project is to design a library in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, paying special attention to environmental considerations and structural concepts. Anthony arrives at school with his daily coffee and bagel in tow. He heads up to the thesis studio, which is arguably the coolest space at Education Hall, and sets up at his communal desk for the day. He wanders around the thesis studio to check out what his classmates have been up to.

 

10:00 AM- Anthony hones in on developing his thesis research, which focuses on renewable energy practices with specific interest on recycled materials in the built environment. He browses the internet and books from the Ed Hall Architecture Library to cite sources to help him create a narrative to explain his ideas. Elise continues with desk crits and speaks with the professor about what can be done to further assist and guide the students in their design. She heads over to the library to check out a book on form and space to help students with their massing studies.

 

12:00 PM- Elise wraps up class and drives over to the LIRR station to catch a train for her own architecture thesis studio class on the Manhattan campus. She usually commutes with two friends from the Long Island campus that are in her thesis class. She eats her lunch in the car on her way over and prepares herself on the train for her own desk crit. Anthony takes a quick break to get lunch; his favorite place is the pizza place near campus. His usual order is a BBQ and buffalo slice. 

 

1:00 PM- Anthony comes back to campus to tie up any loose ends on his research to get a helpful desk crit, while Elise finally arrives at Penn Station and begins her commute to Columbus Circle. She gets to class around 30 minutes before it begins to print out any drawings or finish up any last details on her assignments.

 

2:00 PM- Elise and Anthony both begin their studio classes on different campuses. The Old Westbury campus has large studio spaces and a quiet atmosphere, and has a quaint view of expansive green fields and peaceful nature surrounding it. The New York City campus is bustling and hectic, with students from different years filtering in and out of the studios. The convenience of the campus’ location, and the beautiful views of Central Park and the NYC skyline are unmatched. As class begins, they both settle in to their places and catch up with their classmates.

 

3:00 PM- Class continues for both Anthony and Elise; desk crits continue to happen while they work on their own research. This semester Elise and her partner are focusing their thesis on manufactured home communities as affordable housing and collective care, so she spends time compiling first hand accounts from residents to share with her thesis professor. Anthony gets a crit from his professor, which has him motivated to continue his research and tweak it based off of the constructive criticism.

 

4:00 PM- Around this time, both students need a break! Anthony heads over to the vending machines in the Ed Hall cafeteria, and Elise walks over to the Whole Foods next to campus. Anthony’s go to snack is blue Doritos and a Coke, while Elise grabs a matcha and a croissant. 

 

5:00 PM- Studio is over, and Anthony and Elise are ready to get home. Anthony gets into his car and starts the rush hour traffic commute home on the LIE. Elise begins her lengthy commute; 10 min to Penn Station, 30 minutes to the LIRR station and 15 minutes drive home. 

 

6:00 PM- Elise gets home and has dinner with her family. She gets ready for an evening of a bit of work and a lot of relaxation after the long studio day. Anthony arrives at his home and lays down for a bit and then goes out for dinner. 

 

Thank you for coming along with us on our typical studio day! We enjoyed taking you through what it may be like to be an architecture student at NYIT!