PRP Now! Shelley McDavid // Tod Williams Billie Tsien
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 Shelley McDavid [M.Arch. '16] about her experience.
PRP: Tell us about your PRP firm. Where are you working?
I’m working at Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects in New York City. There are about 30 people in the office. About half the office has been working on the US Embassy Complex project in Mexico City, while the rest is working on various other, mostly academic/institutional projects.
PRP: Do you enjoy the city you’re working in? Favorite aspects?
I do enjoy New York, especially now that spring is finally here (I know because there’s forsythia in Central Park!). Favorite aspects include: seeing friends from undergrad who I haven’t seen in a while and are now doing amazing things; living in Sugar Hill- supposedly named after the “sweet life” lived there during the Harlem Renaissance; being able to bike or run to and from work through Central Park; $2 dumplings in Chinatown. I like in New York establishing routines that make a place feel like home while simultaneously always having somewhere or something new and exciting to see/do.
PRP: What is currently on your desk? What are you working on?
Currently on my desk are an assortment of pens, white out, highlighters, notebook, metric scale, calculator, old redlined drawings, and gypsum and copper manuals. For most of my time here so far, I’ve been working on the US Embassy Complex project. I was pulled onto the team a few weeks before the 100% CD deadline to help with detailing the site portion of the project. I’m becoming an expert on expansion joints! I’ve also worked on generating presentation drawings of several projects for various publications. Check out April’s Architect magazine!
PRP: Can you describe the firm culture? The office atmosphere?
TWBTA is very welcoming and familial. Everyone answers the phones and has a weekly rotating chore. We all work in a large, open, sunlight-filled double-height space amidst models of past projects hung on the walls. Whenever someone returns from a trip to an interesting place they typically come with treats to share: ‘snacks in the kitchen’ is a frequent office email subject line. The office NCAA pool provided amusement recently- Billie won, with Tod as runner up!
PRP: What is the first thing you'll tell your classmates upon your return to UT?
Do residency, particularly if you haven’t worked in an office before. It’s invaluable experience that builds on and contextualizes school work. It’s useful practically but also inspirational as a designer. I’m looking forward to a final studio post-residency inevitably impacted by some of the processes and priorities I absorb here.
PRP: As you’re finishing up the week, what are your plans for this weekend?
I’m planning on seeing a play that a friend designed costumes for on Saturday, and would like to also finally see the Kehinde Wiley show at the Brooklyn Museum or visit the Cloisters- both on my to-do list. And on Sunday mornings I drop off my compost and buy eggs at the farmers market by Columbia University.