January 19, 2017

THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE

Where To Undertake My Internship

By Viktoria Dekany, Interior Architect

In the past few days, I have been struggling to choose from the wide range of countries included in my university’s Travel Award list. I recently came across with the opportunity that provide a certain amount to cover the finances of an international visit or project, basically worldwide. I was dead excited about it, and jumped into straight away researching where I should go developing my skills and not least, getting a lifetime experience. I would like to take this opportunity and demonstrate how this will benefit myself and the University.

I have always been wanting to visit different countries to explore and analyze their culture but particularly their architecture as being an interior architect requires a lifelong learning which also includes gaining inspiration by discovering buildings and city structures from all over the world. During my studies at the University, I have encountered barriers to take an Erasmus but I recently found out there is a chance to undertake an international visit after graduation too.

Thus, it was obvious that I want to apply for this program as it offers an additional educational and cultural experience I wouldn't otherwise be able to gain. The other main force for my application is to enhance my CV as a lot of employers will choose graduates who have some kind of international experience. And not least, Erasmus is much more than just studying abroad and discovering new people; it's about rediscovering a better version of myself.

In my recent projects I concentrate on sustainable, environment-friendly design and nature related structure improvements. I am really passionate about helping the planet as it helps the people; therefore I would like to offer well-functional and also aesthetically pleasant solutions for both improving people general health and wellbeing and to make an effort in the reduction of pollution. Sustainability and nature integrated design is a growing trend worldwide and I would like to gain more knowledge about its necessity. My future goals include being an employee of one of the leading green-design companies, and by undertaking an overseas internship in one of the best sustainable city would help me to achieve it.

My previous project gave me a proper time to research in the field of green-design, and I had a chance to learn more about Singapore, the second most efficient economy on the planet - according to the World Economic Forum. It came to my attention that the city has emerged as a model of green building in Asia by encouraging the adoption of innovative architectural design and energy-saving technologies.

An interesting fact that I discovered in the CNN 2015 report is that Singapore is among the smallest countries in the world with its 750 square kilometers. Therefore, the city-state has always been challenged with two big limitations - space and population size.

According to Mike Ives article (2013), Singapore is an important development in a region that is urbanizing more rapidly than any other in the world. There is wide agreement among development specialists that promoting green building in Asia has the potential to produce large energy savings and make polluted cities more habitable while partially mitigating the impacts of global warming.

I really like the government’s overall strategy to transform Singapore into a ‘City in a garden’, in contrast to the dense urban environment of skyscrapers. We can see on the photo above (Figure 3) that the city has numerous structures to further enhance its status as a green city by generating solar power, acting as air-venting ducts and harvesting rainwater.

The Tree house (Figure 2) demonstrates Singapore’s sloped design that creates a "bio-shelter", aiding rainwater collection for landscape irrigation elsewhere in the development. The building also has been awarded as the Largest Vertical Garden in the 2014’s Guiness Book of Worlds Records.

Besides the hospitality and commercial areas, Singapore focuses on the residential projects too, as we can see the dramatic stack of building blocks which is considered one of the largest and most ambitious development in the city (Figure 1).

Apart from its excellent sustainable structure, the city has been also ranked #1 globally by the World Bank for ease of doing business. Reflecting to this backdrop, Singapore prosper to be one of the leading economies in the world, which is why I put this country to the first place of my list.

There are other two countries in the battle of winning the first place of my internship place: Brazil and Dubai.

The Wall Street Journal (2016) stated that Dubai is all about innovation and uniqueness. Even though it was once a flat desert, Dubai is now one of the most renowned cities world-wide with a huge number of world records on almost every field it worked on and developed. According to my researches, Dubai has said it wants to become the smartest and most sustainable city. Today Dubai is a modern metropolis with 2.5 million inhabitants from around the world. The skyline is dominated by the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, while an artificial palm-shaped island off its coast can be seen from space.

(To Be Continued...)

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WHY IS IT GOOD TO UNDERTAKE AN INTERNATIONAL VISIT/TRAINEESHIP?

The traineeship in Singapore would be an amazing opportunity not only to experience one of the most successful countries’ culture, or to see new terrains, natural wonders, museums and landmarks but gaining more knowledge by working and learning new skills from a leading architecture firm. Working abroad is an experience unlike any other, especially if it is in a great place with great people. It is a great way to really experience and understand the people, its traditions, and its culture.

When I finish the traineeship, I would like to return with a new perspective on culture, improved language skills, a great working experience, and not lastly a willingness to learn. All of these are very attractive to future employers as they look very highly on working abroad experiences. Working abroad also gives me the opportunity to meet new lifelong friends from different backgrounds and these friends can also be important networking tools later in my career.

I display diversity and I am not afraid to seek out new challenges or put myself in difficult situations. I am very single-minded and committed to perform the highest-standard of my education, therefore I would able to bring a unique aspect to The University of Salford.

#internship #singapore #sustainablecity #greendesign