Weitzman externships in retrospect: Aidan Williams
The Weitzman Master of Architecture student spent his externship with in situ studio, a small design-based architecture practice.
2 min. read
“Coming into graduate school, I wasn’t quite decided on what ‘specialization’ the architecture path would take me down.” For Master of Architecture student Aidan Williams, the externship program offered at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design provided him with the opportunity to take his learning outside of the classroom and gain first-hand knowledge of practice.
Weitzman Master of Architecture student Aidan Williams.
For his externship, Williams spent one week at in situ studio, a small design-based architecture practice in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Prior to Weitzman, my internship experience was primarily at larger engineering-heavy firms,” Williams says. “The externship program felt like the perfect opportunity to gain design knowledge elsewhere, which exceeded my expectations. By working for a design firm that has remained intentionally small, my eyes were quickly opened to the freedom, and beauty, of custom client-focused design.”
“This externship completely changed the trajectory of my career and my future intentions,” he adds. “After my week at in situ studio, my goals to become a licensed architect and one day open my own sustainable/adaptive reuse residential design practice have never been clearer.”
Williams reflects on his experience: “All of the site visits were unlike anything I have been exposed to previously. Listening in on client and consultant discussions, hearing the inevitable problem/solution conversations on site, and seeing each of the unique phases of a project’s present condition had me ready and excited to return the next day.”
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