PRP Now! Marion Piper Cain // Leroy Street Studio

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 Marion Piper Cain [B.Arch. '16] about her experience. 

PRP: Tell us about your PRP firm. Where are you working?
I am working at Leroy Street Studio (LSS), an architecture firm that is located smack in the middle of Chinatown in Manhattan. We mostly do work within the high-end residential realm, so the cross section of clients we have is pretty colorful. During my time here, I've especially realized that designing high-end residences in Manhattan involves an interesting play in creating seemingly grand, lofty spaces within dimensions that are quite constrained. As a result, the firm pays delicate attention to materiality, lighting, and construction details in order to invigorate and elevate one's experience of smaller spaces. We also work with houses, mostly on Long Island (especially the Hamptons), and there we have more breathing room to experiment with space. We also have a non-for-profit branch called Hester Street Collaborative that deals with public space and community organization-- this allows us to inhabit the opposite side of the spectrum and do ground-up work with parks, installations, and comfort stations. We highly enjoy it. Location-wise, the firm is close to many a good cheap dumpling. Sarah D. Roosevelt Park is a block away, so I often eat lunch at the track that no one uses for track (it's populated by old men playing cards and kindergartners playing red light green light) or walk a block more and watch the youths of Manhattan play basketball.

PRP: Do you enjoy the city you're working in? Favorite aspects?
I feel very at home in New York City. I love seeing the mash of cultures change as I walk from one block to the other, the unexpected run-ins, and the tucked-away gems. My favorite running spot is along the East River at the southern tip of Manhattan-- the pedestrian path shoots underneath the Williamsburg Bridge and by old brick buildings. The smell of the salt air and the sounds of the water lapping against the piers are really calming. It's so beautiful that sometimes I almost smile (but then I remember that I am running, and that I hate running). I love that it is so easy to get anywhere from New York. You can fling yourself into the middle of nowhere in a matter of an hour and proceed to enjoy mountains or beaches or fields. Or, on the other hand, you can stay in the city and do (I say this warily) literally anything. Everything is happening in NYC, always.

PRP: What is currently on your desk? What are you working on?
Right now I am looking down at hand-drawn plans (in process) of a project in the West Village while I let a rendering of a cool, twisty, Dr. Seuss-y stair in another project contemplate finishing on my computer. There is also my iPhone (the office is very music-friendly) and a small bottle of lavender oil my dad gave me to "help activate my brain".

PRP: Describe the firm culture? The office atmosphere?
There are about 40 people working here-- all smart, young, funny, kind, and beautiful. It makes me wonder where all the angry and boring architects go after they graduate. I quickly became part of multiple project conversations because we have about 25 projects in different stages of development right now. We have an interiors branch and some engineers as part of our team, so the conversations we have within the firm encompass a huge part of the project process. The project meetings are democratic, so the products of the discussions are usually Frankensteins of everyone's ideas put together (in a good way). I've felt useful and productive here. Besides work, the firm is gung-ho about happy hour and having sporadic tea-times throughout the week. I often feel pressure to bring in baked goods because everyone else regularly brings in homemade brownies, cakes, pies, muffins, donuts, etc.-- so I made some chocolate mousse. Forgot to warn everyone about the raw eggs, but that was a month ago and everyone is still alive! In summary: I feel very comfortable, happy, and challenged here.

PRP: What is the first thing you'll tell your classmates upon your return to UT?
When I get home, I'll tell my friends "I am moving to New England for the next chapter of my life, and I will try to work at Leroy Street Studio again after I graduate. Let's go get a Margarita for less than $10!"

PRP: As you're finishing up the week, what are your plans for this weekend?
Hopefully, if the gas comes back to our apartment, I will cook/bake myself a feast. I've had raw vegetables and raw tofu for two weeks. And perhaps go exploring, or catch up with old friends who live here. There are no limits.

PRP: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
If you are a student contemplating doing a residency, DO PRP. Go somewhere new or weird and challenge yourself. This has been one of the most refreshing, exciting, gratifying things I've done.