Cheers from Sydney,
About 11 months ago I was fortunate to be the winner of the 2014 NSHSS Australian Internships scholarship offering the opportunity to complete a 6 -month professional internship in Architecture in Australia. After months of rigorous planning, I am finally occupying the role of Design Intern at DesignInc Sydney, an international and multi-disciplinary architecture firm located in North Sydney, and I am actively contributing significantly to the large infrastructure projects throughout New South Wales.
The road to Sydney started three years ago, as I developed great interest in international travel as a vehicular of cultural awareness, in its potential to develop my knowledge and perception of other cultures, while becoming acutely aware of my own.
Combined with my strong interest in architecture for its capacity to capture the phenomenological aspects of cultures, Sydney now joins the list of other cities including Paris, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Prague, Berlin and Stockholm, whose explorations brought forth the relevance of 'Intercultural Leadership' skills and its vitality in the age of global integration.
Thus, the value of this internship lies in its ability to develop those skills and shed light on the value of architecture as a mediator of cultures, thus a platform through which cultural understanding can occur. I deeply appreciate the role of NSHSS as one of curator of cross-cultural platforms, granting its members (including myself) the ability to take part of multi-cultural conversations through global experiences. So far, my experience has been mostly recorded through visual journaling (hand sketches), as I am discovering the Australian design sensibilities in construction detailing, and marked by great conversations with architectural professionals of diverse cultural backgrounds.
About me - My name is Muzalier Gaussaint, and I am Haitian native, and Fellow Member of NSHSS and 2014 Architecture Graduate of Philadelphia University. I am currently living and working in Sydney, Australia- an experience made possible only through the generosity of National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). The above mentioned are glimpses of my journey and thoughts on architecture and travel.
This article was featured on NSHSS.org. I am thankful for their support and generosity on making this architectural exploration possible.