Visitors Reflection
The field trip to the Freelon Group in Durham was a great experience. I’ve always been eager to see the inner workings of a real firm, especially since my graduation day is rapidly approaching. I’d be lying if I said going into architecture is exactly what I have planned for myself but I’m not shutting that door just yet. What intrigued me the most were how similar their offices and work areas were to ours here in Gatewood, on the fabulous third floor. The open cubicles and pin up boards felt just like home. I was extremely impressed with the fact that they construct all their scale models by hand. I would definitely say one of my strengths is modeling so this fully sparked my interest. I’m excited about the hands on experiences in my design life. The design build experiences and projects. I was a bit disappointed to learn that they don’t necessarily partake in these types of activities.
This firm compared to TVS with Paula Carr was different. To me, TVS seemed a lot more laid back in atmosphere than the very sophisticated impression that the Freelon Group left with me. I enjoyed that TVS designs traveled more and was involved in more international designing experiences. With both firms the sense of family and connection was very strong and important. Not only were they colleagues and co-workers, but a close-knit group of friends.
The discussion and visit informed me as a designer that, maybe architecture is not my calling. I hate to admit it, but at times I found the discussion and information to be rather boring. Certain aspects grasped my attention and curiosity but none of those had much to do with the actual work they did. It was more so about the dynamics of the firm’s employees. Overall, both TVS designs and the Freelon Group firms performed well at what they do.
