PRP Now! Marianne Nepsund // MASS Design Group
PRP Now! aims to showcase the great experiences students encounter within the Professional Residency Program. PRP offers upper-level architecture students a unique opportunity to expand their education through work experience in the architectural profession. Over the past twenty years, our students have been linked with 260 firms in 29 countries.
We will feature a handful of students within each session, graduate and undergrad, domestic and international firms. PRP staff mostly recently had the pleasure to speak with Marianne Nepsund (M.Arch, '15) about her experience:
PRP: I understand that you are currently doing your PRP internship. Where are you working?
I'm working at MASS Design Group, a non-profit architecture firm focused on health and education infrastructures in developing counties. I'm in my 5th month of my internship in their Boston office. They also have offices in Kigali, Rwanda and Port au Prince, Haiti.
PRP: Currently, what is on your desk? What are you working on?
Right now on my desk I have a set of construction documents for a school in Tanzania, my coffee cup, my bike helmet and a giant cookie from the Farmer's Market down the street. I'm working on wayfinding graphics for the GHESKIO Tuberculosis Hospital in Haiti.
PRP: What song best describes your work-style?
I mean, the Eye of the Tiger song from Rocky seems like an obvious choice, but I'd probably have to go with the old Bill Withers tune "Just the Two of Us."
PRP: What is the office atmosphere?
Working at MASS feels a lot like working at a start-up. The firm has grown from 5 volunteers to 40+ employees across three offices in just a few years, so everyone is pretty young and definitely busy. In addition to architectural, landscape and industrial designers, MASS has a dynamic group of development and public health experts as well as a full research team, all in the same space. I get to work on small projects teams, often just one on one with a project manager.
PRP: That sounds good. Are there any unusual traditions? Funny stories?
At some point, the office acquired an air-pop popcorn maker and it gets used pretty often. My co-workers like to put this crazy-hot chili oil from Rwanda on it and pass it around at meetings.
PRP: What is the first thing you'll tell your classmates upon your return to UT?
MASS is going places! One of our projects was on the cover of the New York Times in August. I'd highly recommend the firm to any students who are interested in a unique residency experience at a unique firm.
PRP: So, as you're finishing up the week, what are your plans for this weekend?
This weekend I'm planning on heading to Kahn's Exeter Library, just an hour north of Boston!