On a cold winter鈥檚 day in Halifax, travelling to Texas must sound like a pretty good idea. At least, that鈥檚 why Josh Nieves and Sarah Dede think they encountered so many people from Dal while they were working in the Lone Star State.
Those introductions were what motivated the couple to come to Halifax for the Master of Architecture program.
鈥淎round the time we were looking to apply to a master鈥檚 program, we happened to be working in Texas with some grads from Dal,鈥� Josh recalls. 鈥淭hey kept trying to convince us to apply to Dal鈥檚 program.鈥� Sarah adds, 鈥淭here were also current Dal students on a work term in the office and they gave us a really good sense of what the program was like.鈥�
What they heard about the design-build focus of the program and the studio culture gave Sarah and Josh plenty of good reasons to apply. When they learned that the program鈥檚 international tuition fees are more affordable than domestic fees at comparable U.S. universities, they knew it was the right choice.
Finding a good fit
Josh, who鈥檚 from Hopewell Junction, New York and Sarah, who calls Wheaton, Illinois home, first met as undergrad students near Chicago.
Sarah liked math and making creative things with her hands, and saw architecture as a bridge between the pragmatic and the artistic. 鈥淚t really resonated with me because the practice is both technical and creative.鈥�
Josh was drawn to architecture for slightly different reasons. 鈥淚 loved building things,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I discovered there was a profession that allows you to do that all the time I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 in!鈥欌��
New opportunities
One of the most memorable experiences in the master鈥檚 program has been the studio field trip to Cuba. As Americans, it was a unique experience. 鈥淚t was really interesting because we got insight into a place we don鈥檛 really know that much about,鈥� Josh explains.
They traveled to Cuba as part of the Urban Systems Studio course, one of several options that incorporate a travel or off-site component. The course requires students to map at a distance, perform an on-site analysis and then bring it all together in a design project.
Sarah says this experience will pay off in the future.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of overlooked that a lot of architects will work in places they鈥檙e not familiar with,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e thrown into the culture and you have to absorb as much as you can in a short amount of time. It was good experience in something we鈥檒l likely have to do in practice.鈥�
Demonstrating expertise
Now that Josh and Sarah are in their final semester, they鈥檙e focused on testing and supporting their theses. Sarah is exploring how surroundings impact the human experience 鈥� specifically that of refugee communities.
鈥淚鈥檓 focusing on refugee housing in the U.S. but specifically in permanent resettled areas and how architecture can help refugees integrate into their host communities and become self-sustaining.鈥�
Inspired by their travels across the U.S., Josh鈥檚 thesis looks at breathe new life into disregarded landscapes.
鈥淲e came across this massive open-pit mine in Butte, Montana,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚t鈥檚 closed off because it鈥檚 this big open pit that鈥檚 filled with contaminated water but when you look at it, it鈥檚 beautiful and has a lot in common with other protected and promoted parks. I鈥檓 trying to build a new narrative for how we could clean up and experience some of our more neglected and human-manufactured landscapes.鈥�
Next steps
Dalhousie Architecture is an accredited program that is professionally equivalent with American schools. That means that when they graduate, Josh and Sarah can simply return to the U.S. to complete their professional registration requirements. Picking a destination will be the only difficulty.
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked in a few different places so we have all these bases across North America,鈥� Josh says. Sarah agrees, 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like there are too many options.鈥�
After that, they hope to pursue dreams of work in natural landscapes. Josh is eager to bring his thesis ideas to life with work in a National Park setting. 鈥淭o be able to work on something out in the wilderness would be great,鈥� he says.
Sarah hopes to get the opportunity to work on something very personal. 鈥淢any architects dream of designing something for themselves and that would be something I鈥檇 love to do 鈥� to build my own home surrounded by nature.鈥�