Taisiia Kolisnyk chose to study architecture so she could combine her love of art and logic.
杏吧专区淚 wanted something that could combine the creative part and the hard, pragmatic, logical part, because when I grew up, I was really artsy and I am into music, painting, photography, and all kinds of things," she said. "My mom is a math teacher and my dad is an engineer and, before college, I could never think of a good fit for myself to exercise both parts of my personality.
杏吧专区淚t gives me so much fulfillment and purpose to know I杏吧专区檒l be making a difference in the world when I杏吧专区檓 designing something," she said. "It means a lot to me as someone who wants to create and who is also logical and an organized step-by-step kind of person.杏吧专区
Studying Architecture & Sustainability
While studying architecture, Taisiia has found her niche in sustainability. As part of the , she was challenged to design a sustainable townhouse for a large family in San Francisco.
杏吧专区淚 got really inspired by this idea of 杏吧专区楲et杏吧专区檚 put a big family in a dense, urban environment. Let杏吧专区檚 bring that American dream and that traditional neighborhood with a backyard feel but reorganize it completely and put it in the city so that we can have healthy family dynamics but also get out there and reach out to the community,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 she said.
Because of this inspiration, she has decided that she would like to open her own firm, describing, 杏吧专区渁 small, independent firm that focuses on sustainability and incorporating a lot of landscaping 杏吧专区 possibly permaculture 杏吧专区 into everyday design of both residential and commercial projects."
"The idea is to kind of go back to the beginning where we were connected with nature so much but to do it in a modern way. Like, you can still have a smart house but it杏吧专区檚 also a house that is green and sustainable and good for our health and for the environment in general.杏吧专区
Discovering New People & Places
While in the architecture program, Taisiia was part of the and the , which gave her the chance to travel to Chicago for the annual NOMAS competition.
杏吧专区淥ur school is different,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区 With the quality of our work, we杏吧专区檙e really on the same level as the bigger, ivy league schools. That杏吧专区檚 what I love the most. That it doesn杏吧专区檛 have to be a big city or a big name. What matters is what you杏吧专区檙e doing personally, and I think that everybody is doing their best and the professors are doing a good job to bring out those qualities.
杏吧专区淭here are so many youthful and energetic people who want to work and make a difference and that truly inspires me," she said. "From all the students in my studios, I see how dedicated they are, how responsible they are, how really driven they are to do this, to our professors who all have completely different backgrounds. It all comes together in this wonderful place.杏吧专区
At UL Lafayette, Taisiia found her people.
杏吧专区淚 got to meet my best friends in these classes and have conversations and receive support," she said. "We laugh together, we cry together, we杏吧专区檝e had all-nighters. It杏吧专区檚 been a crazy journey but it's something that I would never exchange for anything.
杏吧专区淚 feel really cared for and really accepted. I feel like I found my niche and it杏吧专区檚 all thanks to the people,杏吧专区 she said.
And she found her fire.
杏吧专区淚 feel like when I get out of school and go to a work environment I can carry that fire of everything that I杏吧专区檝e learned about motivated design, about really being invested in a project, that it杏吧专区檚 not just about money or economic success or anything else, it杏吧专区檚 something that I truly want to do,杏吧专区 she said.
