Hallo

The first week of my internship is done!  I think it is crazy how fast the week flew by and how much I learned in a short period of time.  Reflecting on the week, I did so much, and I am excited to see what else I can accomplish.  It was an interesting contrast between last week when we were doing all the tourist things and then going into the everyday workflow of the Germans.

I was a little nervous on my first day like I am sure everyone was.  My coworkers are very nice, and my boss has been a great mentor so far.  The tasks in the beginning were simple enough that I could complete them in a timely manner.  I was put with one of my coworkers to help him complete a presentation for a client for Thursday.  I was given diagrams to complete of site analysis and conceptual design because it is the beginning of a large project that will take about 6 years to complete.  This client worked with my firm before, in which they built an extension for them a couple years ago.  They are now looking to expand their land and bought the next two buildings next to the main building to create a campus.  This company is a large manufacturing company that develops machines to manufacture small items like pharmaceuticals, batteries, and small parts.  Their goal is to show Berlin what they are capable of and become a leader at what they do.  They gave us ideas on what they wanted in their new buildings and how they want it to relate these concepts to the main building that is on the campus.  While I worked on smaller tasks, I did them timely and efficiently because I wanted to contribute as much as possible.  So, I asked when I was finished with one task if I could help with anything more for this project.  I was able to complete sketches and share my input of what could be interesting to design on the site.

On Thursday afternoon I was put on another project with another intern.  She is my age, which is nice because I can talk to her and connect with her.  She is also a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, so it is interesting to see how German universities teach architecture compared to the United States.  The project that we were put on is already in the process of being built.  Our job is to clean up the floor plan, section cuts, and elevations to give to renters.  There are two buildings.  The first one is an existing single-family home, and the new building is a residential complex with six units.  The project was based on a concept to integrate the single-family home geographical characteristics and the residential complex.  The geographical characteristics are the main features that integrate the two communities together.  There is a big tree that is the center of the integration and to play along with that, there are gardens surrounding the property as well as green characteristics that are being added to the existing building and the new building.  The work that we were given required me to learn a new software program.  I was able to pick it up relatively quickly because I like working with modeling programs and this one is straight forward.  Even though it is all in German, there are icons to help understand what I am using.  Also with this project, I was given a task to create a visual for social media and the website about the project so that there is something interesting for viewers.

In addition, I was given another project and it is a little shed that is situated on a property that my firm built a little while ago.  My boss gave me this to make me become familiar with the software program and learn more about construction documents.  There are many things that go into a construction document, but I am starting off with the site documentation and using certain line weights and line types to differentiate limits, fencing, existing buildings, what needs to be demolished, and what is going to be built.  I was given this on Friday afternoon so I will have more instruction next week after I attend a few meetings.

I think I am managing my time well at my internship.  My firm is a hard-working firm and they do not really socialize that much with each other during the day unless most of their work is completed.  I enjoy that aspect because that is how I like to work because it calms work anxiety and releases some pressure to make certain all of the planned work is completed in a timely manner, and then you can have fun.

I think Berlin is such an interesting city to study architecture because it has so many layers and nuances. Every time I go out for a walk, I immerse myself in the built environment.  The best way to explore a new city is to walk it! 😊 I am excited to see what else happens in the upcoming weeks.