A year in the Big Apple

Skye Duncan is a 2006 Fulbright New Zealand Graduate Student who has spent the last year completing a Master of Science degree, specialising in architecture and urban design, at Columbia University in New York.

Skye Duncan and the Statue of Liberty

Job interviews, portfolios, final presentations, the thought of packing and moving, of sad goodbyes and exciting new adventures! It seems almost impossible to fathom that 11 months have flown by and my time here studying at Columbia University is coming to an end. Even amidst this current build up to final hand-ins and 18 hour work days, it is strikingly clear this has been a truly incredible year of my life. Living in New York is like a dream come true for any architect and this intricate and complex urban fabric has provided the perfect setting for a year completing my Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design.

Arriving in May 2006, it was of course a little daunting at the beginning but I was lucky to get student accommodation with another Irish Fulbright student also completing my course and a fantastic American graduate student who have helped make life here so great. Our three bedroom apartment next to Tom’s Restaurant (the famous Seinfeld restaurant) in the Upper West Side is only a few blocks south of our Columbia campus and amongst thousands of other students is like its own small community. Getting a taxi home the other night we even saw Elton John’s 60th birthday occurring on our street and had our NY star-spotting moment seeing Richard Gere, Olivia Newton-John and Liv Tyler… one of the best streets in town we quickly decided!

My master’s class has been another complete blessing in that it is comprised of 39 students from all over the world, none of whom knew anyone in New York (only 12 Americans in the class, none from NY) and all with a desire to get out and explore this urban playground. While the summer semester proved insanely intense, we seized any moment we could to hop on the subway and pop up to explore varying diverse neighborhoods - Chelsea, Greenwich Village, East Village, Brooklyn, Mid-town and on they go. As well as barely understanding a word I say and constantly hassling my accent, these wonderful people have, of course, become very good friends that aid in setting up the base for a future global network within our profession after our one short year together is over… Amazing! I can now look forward to visiting friends and checking out the architecture and urban environments in Turkey, Greece, Japan, China, Kuwait, Brazil, Spain, Ireland, Thailand and India, for example.

Skye Duncan with Mrs Harriet Fulbright in Miami

The other extraordinary opportunity for global networking has of course come from the Fulbright programme. The enrichment seminar I attended in Miami meant not only a chance to explore other parts of the country (with some sunshine to escape the snow storms in NY) but also to meet people from all over the world gaining similar experiences in different parts of the states. I met a lot of other Fulbrighers studying here in New York, even at Columbia, that I had not previously met but now stay in regular contact with. I also got the chance to go to the opening of a brilliant film about William Fulbright and met Mrs Harriet Fulbright herself! She said she is spending this Christmas in New Zealand and her daughter is marrying a kiwi. Who would’ve thought, huh?

My program at Columbia has really offered some once in a life time opportunities professionally, broadening my thinking and understanding of our built environments to try and comprehend the fundamental political, social, economic and environmental considerations that come into play in its creation and adaptation over time. The speakers we have heard have been phenomenal - Rem Koohaas, Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, Kenneth Frampton, Santiago Calitrava and the list goes on. (Sorry non-architects, these are our movie stars of architecture!)

While New York has so many exciting things happening, it has been great also getting out to visit other parts of the country to experience the States. I have managed to get to Chicago, Washington, Boston, Maine, Miami and all around regional New York with my studies. In January our class took a trip to Ecuador where we were studying two different cities - Quito and Guayaquil - while some of us traveled beforehand through the Amazon and the Andes. Both main cities are facing large future urban growth, much of which currently occurs ‘informally’ or ‘illegally’. Often thousands of people settle overnight on a piece of land, without any services of power and water. Being such large groups, the local governments are unable to shift these invaded settlements and are forced to supply services as an after thought, as opposed to being integrated into planned growth. Simultaneously people add to their houses as they please, with no respect to legal restrictions, all the while slowly destroying the local natural ecologies of mangroves and quebradas (ravines) as they are filled in with waste. We are now spending the semester, having worked with the local communities and government, on suggested solutions, considerations and directions in which these cities can manage their urban growth in the future in a sustainable and progressive manner. Final presentations to the school and visitors from Ecuador are in one week, so fingers crossed!

It has been difficult to think of leaving the bustling life of Manhattan, so much so that I am hoping to find a job here that will allow me to stay for an additional year of academic training. Perhaps a bit more time out of school will foster even more explorations of this fantastic city that without Fulbright, I would never have had the chance to experience. My extensive thanks to Fulbright, and I promise to keep you posted!