KARLA VICH
Portrait courtesy of Karla Vich.
5th-Year Bachelor of Architecture, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Karla Vich is currently finishing her fifth year as an undergraduate student of architecture at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Throughout her travels around the world and her year abroad in Florence, Italy during her fourth year of studies, she became interested in the field of historic preservation and adaptive re-use, and will pursue a Master’s in historic preservation upon completion of her Bachelor of Architecture. She seeks to practice architectural design that integrates new narratives with old narratives into powerful architectural spaces, expressive of materiality and culture that create unique experiences for all who traverse the space.
The Journey to Becoming an Architect
What inspired you to pursue architecture?
I have always known I wanted to be an architect ever since I was four years old. As a child, I loved the idea of having the ability and the creativity to design grand buildings and breathtaking spaces. My decision at such a young age was partly influenced by my father, a general contractor, with whom I visited construction sites throughout my childhood. I also enjoyed, as many other architects do at a young age, designing complex Lego structures.
Another influence was the architecture and cultures of Latin America, particularly the architectural styles of Mexico, the home of my parents. My family and I traveled considerably throughout Mexico and other Latin American countries, and some of my favorite memories are of visiting the Mayan archaeological sites and the grand colonial buildings of Mexican cities. Even as a child, I was amazed by the grand and complex constructions of the Mayan cities and the colonial homes of the Yucatan peninsula. Thus, I knew from my experiences that I wanted to create amazing spaces and pursue a career in architecture.
Inspiration for pursuing architecture: the Municipal Palace of Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico in the Colonial style. Photo courtesy of Expedia and Karla Vich.
Inspiration for pursuing architecture: pyramid at the Mayan archaeological site of Uxmal in Yucatán, Mexico. Photo courtesy of Karla Vich.
What is the most important thing that you learned in the past year?
This past year has been a journey full of many learning experiences. I began 2020 halfway into my year abroad in Italy and I was sent back to the United States in the beginning of March due to the outbreak of COVID-19. During the various quarantines and lockdowns, the most important thing I learned more about was the effect of space on the individual.
At the beginning of this pandemic, I spent two weeks locked in my room in quarantine. Despite having the general needs for comfort, on the tenth day, I felt the effects of staying inside a smaller space than I am accustomed to. From then until now, I have seen how staying at home has greatly impacted myself and my family as we try to continue with our new routine and cope with staying at home. These past months have shown me the importance of having well designed spaces and access to exterior spaces because the space we occupy affects our motivation, our emotions, and our productivity throughout the day. I have learned the deeper impacts and importance of designing spaces with access to natural lighting and passive ventilation, and how important it is to have our own personal spaces in addition to the communal spaces within our homes. Regardless of whether it is a public building or residential, it is important that we as designers recognize the necessary elements to create a space that is both welcoming and public, with more private spaces within and an abundance of natural light and passive ventilation.
Italian Class through Zoom all around the world. Photo courtesy of Karla Vich.
Florence, Italy from the Arno River; Karla’s home during her year abroad. Photo courtesy of Karla Vich.
What are some architectural organizations (or specific person/role model) that helped you learn to overcome an obstacle? How did they?
For me personally, it is difficult to pinpoint one specific person or architectural organization that has helped me to overcome the obstacles of creating a design question and deciding which approach to take. While many organizations have become inspirations or influences for my design process, I believe the other women, specifically my friends, in my year of architecture have been the most helpful in helping resolve issues and creating a design approach.
Although architecture can be a competitive major, I have found that we architecture students work best when bouncing ideas off each other and talking out our concepts. As such, I find that talking with my classmates at Cal-Poly Pomona has helped me overcome many obstacles from deciding what design approach to take to receiving helpful, constructive criticism. Also seeing the work the other students produce further motivates me to design and develop my project and its representation so that I can design better projects with different graphic styles. Lastly, the other women architects at Cal-Poly Pomona are very strong and motivated designers, and their drive has helped me overcome moments of exhaustion and roadblocks throughout the past four and a half years.
If you were given the opportunity to repeat the year, what is one thing you’d do differently?
If given the opportunity to repeat the year, I would go back to the beginning of 2020 and relive the first two months of the year--January and February with more appreciation, more traveling, and no regrets.
In January and February, I was still living in Florence, Italy and traveling around countries in southern and eastern Europe without ever considering that my study abroad would be cut short so soon, or that I would be unable to travel anywhere the rest of 2020. If I could go back, I would do so with more appreciation for traveling and visiting great works of architecture. I would seize any opportunity to travel to other countries that were on my list of places to visit but were canceled due to COVID-19 and visit every single building to explore on my list. Essentially, I would like the opportunity to repeat the first two months and live everyday with no regrets of missing out on amazing travel opportunities and visits to important or unique works of architecture throughout Europe.
Karla and a group of the CSU Firenze students in Florence, Italy in their last days abroad. Photo courtesy of CSU Firenze.
Karla visiting the Library and Learning Center University of Economics in Vienna, Austria, designed by Zaha Hadid. Photo courtesy of Karla Vich.
As you reflect on the past year, what did you discover as your biggest strengths?
Looking back at this past year, I discovered that my greatest strength is my dedication. Dedication to a project, to a goal, or to a lifestyle is necessary to succeed in all aspects of life--even more so as a student of architecture. As a student with multiple deadlines within a week, I was always a little surprised when I finished a project to satisfy the requirements (even if I was still not finished with my design) with some time to sleep and relax prior to class. Part of my newfound dedication was a result of less distractions--because COVID-19 stopped all activities outside of a household, and the passion in me that drives me to constantly grow and improve. This newly rediscovered dedication reminded me of why I love architecture, the processes in between and how to stick to my design concepts. Thus, I rediscovered my dedication to the field of architecture and my original passion for architectural design.
Sketch of a section for an adaptive re-use proposal for the incinerator of San Donnino on the outskirts of Florence, Italy. Photo courtesy of Karla Vich.
In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wished would happen and it did not? This can be in an educational or work atmosphere.
I would like to see more diversity in backgrounds and design perspectives in faculties in the educational environments.
