Welcome Summer 2020 Interns

The soul of our practice resides in its people, and we are always looking for ways to cultivate emerging talent and professionals. We enjoy an active internship program year round with students joining our team for a semester during the academic year and along with a group of interns who join during the summer. Today, we introduce the interns who we will be working alongside us virtually this summer. 

Kofi Akakpo

I am in my final year of the Master of Architecture program and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. I am currently pursuing a thesis study on what African architecture means in the 21st century, looking beyond the usual tropes of ornament and “traditional” materials. In my free time I like to write, usually about architecture but also sometimes about sports, theory and politics. Fun fact, I used to write for Bleacher Report years ago. My blog can be found here.

Calvin Boyd

I’m a third-year Master of Architecture student at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. I chose to study architecture because its potential excites me. The built environment is more than just a backdrop for life, it shelters us, educates us, and at times, even inspires us to act. That being said, I have many interests and hobbies adjacent and wildly unrelated to architecture. I simply love to learn, and my latest preoccupation has been learning Italian. È una lingua bella!

Kordrick Gibbons

I am studying architecture at Hampton University’s five year Master of  Architecture program and am from Chesapeake, Virginia. As a child and even now, I’ve always had a huge imagination, as well a love for creating and building things. I realized architecture was a wonderful career choice for me to do what I enjoy, while making a living.  While being in school for architecture, I have discovered the great possibilities of how I can have a positive impact on the environment and community. When I’m not playing around with form in SketchUp or thinking up concepts for a project, I enjoy playing video games or traveling to places I’ve never been with close friends.

Seoyoung Lee

I am halfway through my Master of Architecture degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. My background prior to graduate school was in urban studies and planning. I chose to expand it further to architecture because I have always been interested in contributing to a better built environment, from policy and infrastructure to individual buildings and space. The recent crisis made me question what was traditionally regarded as environment-making that, if virtual human interaction is successful, it might transform our notion of shared space. In my non-architecture life, I enjoy visiting new places. I also love walking new trails or hiking in the mountains, and skiing and boarding in the winter.

Alejandra Meza

I grew up in a Hispanic community outside of Toronto but came to the US to study architecture. I am going into my fifth year of the Carnegie Mellon Barch program. I was an Intern at Payette last summer and had a great summer so I decided to come back so that I could continue to learn about architecture in practice. This coming year I will be diving into my passions in Architecture by writing my thesis on the applications of biophilic materials into healthcare environments. Outside of architecture, I love being in nature, traveling and spending quality time with people. 

Gil Rosenthal

I’m a second year at the University of Chicago, pursuing a BS/MS in Computer Science, originally from Canton, MA. I chose Computer Science because I’ve always like taking things apart to see how they work, and it’s a whole lot easier to do that when it’s just a file on your computer than if its a physical object! Outside of working, I’m an active member of UChicago’s Model UN Team and various MUN-related clubs, love hiking the forests of backwoods Sharon with my dog, and am pursuing a pipe dream of one day entering the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog Eating contest.

Allison Trittschuh

I am a rising thesis student at Virginia Tech’s undergraduate architecture program. I enjoy studying the history of urban development and the way architecture can enhance or disrupt a community. I have conducted research on the influence of a building’s materiality to contextual reference and the political implications of a government on the architectural language of a city’s public buildings. In my free time I enjoy visiting museums, writing, and ballet.