UVA's Margaret Saunders on Connecting with Younger Students, Building on Experiences, and Service
By Julia Gamolina
Margaret Saunders is a first year Masters of Architecture candidate at the A-School at the University of Virginia. Prior to graduate school she worked as an English teacher and apprentice to an architect in Avignon, France and worked in Washington, DC as a design assistant at interior design firm Zoë Feldman Design.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in architecture on the urban studies track and a certificate of advanced language study in French from Yale.
JG: Why did you decide to study architecture?
MS: I didn’t consider studying architecture until I was in college. Freshman year I took an introductory course and fell in love with it. I was seeing everything around me differently. It felt like the world lit up! I remember as I walked across campus from class — along what I would now call an “architectural promenade” — buzzing with excitement about what I was learning.
The combination of my mind processing what I was reading and discussing in class plus the embodied experience of being surrounded by such impressive architecture was transformative. Of course now, upon reflection, it makes complete sense; as a kid I built fairy houses at the base of a tree in my backyard, and during car rides I spent hours imagining houses I could build in the medians of highways.
Apprentice work done for Architect Raphael Azalbert for a home in Avignon, France.
Plan of Residence for Visiting scholars showing upper level of scholar dorms and library building.
What are some of the initiatives you’ve focused on in school, and why?
One thing that has been really important to me since starting my MArch is connecting with younger students. I was really intimidated as an undergraduate taking courses in the YSOA. There is so much thrown at you when you start studying architecture — technology, vocabulary, not to mention the entire format of studio and critiques. For most people it's a foreign world, and I definitely felt overwhelmed.
I was a TA for a first year undergraduate course this fall at UVA called Lessons in Making taught by Sanda Lliescu. I tried to remind myself as I was teaching what I would have wanted starting out — someone I felt comfortable asking a lot of questions to, making mistakes in front of etc. Architecture schools are such a unique space where undergrads and grad students coexist within the same building, which creates a really dynamic space of learning but can also be a daunting space of comparison. I want to continue seeking those mentorship opportunities both as a mentor and mentee.
What was the favorite project you worked on in school? Favorite paper you wrote? Favorite extracurricular?
I wrote a thesis paper my senior year for the Urban Studies track, titled In Search of play, which looks at the existence and inclusivity of play spaces in cities. It proposes that play is fundamental to people of all ages, and analyzes how different play spaces — playgrounds, parks, exhibitions etc. are or are not inclusive of age, further looking at their inclusivity in terms of race, gender, and socioeconomic class.
I was, and still am, very passionate about the content of the paper in looking at how design can incorporate more unique, inviting, and inclusive spaces for play. On top of that, it was a keystone piece of work in my education, and very representative of my interests and skill set at that point in time. From deciding on a topic, researching, writing, graphic design, and formatting, it was my most holistic and concrete body of work to date which felt like a true capstone of my undergraduate education. The publication can be found here: "In Search of Play" by Margaret Saunders (yale.edu)
“Architecture schools are such a unique space where undergrads and grad students coexist within the same building, which creates a really dynamic space of learning but can also be a daunting space of comparison. I want to continue seeking those mentorship opportunities both as a mentor and mentee.”
When searching for internships and jobs, what are you looking for?
The most important thing for me right now is being in an environment which fosters development and growth for young architects. My focus after graduating will be working towards licensure, so I’ll be looking for firms that offer support for that process, as well as mentorship towards entering the professional field of architecture in general.
What’s important to you? What inspires you?
I draw a lot of inspiration from art, and it's always evolving based on what I’ve recently seen or read about. My boss last year loved the work of Helen Frankenthaler, so at that time I was thinking and reading about some of the women who were part of the abstract expressionist movement in NY. I read 9th Street Women by Mary Gabriel over the summer before starting my Masters, and was thinking a lot about ideas of a creative community, education, apprenticeship, and patronage that are discussed in that book.
Recently I’ve found a lot of architectural inspiration in how artists can create movement in their work. There’s a photographer, Melissa Schriek, who did a series of photos of people mimicking the forms of objects in cities called “The City is a Choreography,” which I find incredible. Her work creates a sense of lyricism towards seemingly banal objects, and from an architectural perspective, pushes questions of the successes and failures of design based on how people interact with the built environment. I also recently saw Night: William Dunas Dance Suite 4, a series of four paintings by Alex Katz where the subject looks like she's dancing through the frames. When a 2D work makes you want to move along with it, that's a convincing concept.
SW View of Sectional model of a Residence for Visiting Scholars sited on a steep topography at the base of Observatory Hill on UVA’s campus. Model is chiseled into wood topography from scrap wood milled by UVA sawmilling group.
NW View of Sectional model of a Residence for Visiting Scholars sited on a steep topography at the base of Observatory Hill on UVA’s campus. Model is chiseled into wood topography from scrap wood milled by UVA sawmilling group.
Concept model exploring ideas of site configuration.
I have also been an athlete for most of my life, so there are different quotes from coaches that are forever lodged in my brain. One of my favorites is “How you live your days is how you live your life.” To me this means putting equal emphasis on small moments just as much as big successes — a reminder to stay grounded in the process.
What do you hope to do in your career?
I hope to build on my experiences to date, my background in urban studies, appreciation of details in interiors, language, and art and apply that perspective as I build my career in architecture. Working in an interior design firm, there was a big emphasis on the fact that interior design is a service industry, and I think the same goes for architecture.
The idea of service, no matter the scale of the project, is something I plan to keep as a pillar in my career. Whether as a guideline when designing how a space can serve a community, a consideration of how a material can serve a design and vice versa, and the ultimate reminder that my role as an architect will be to produce for clients. I hope to take my background and skill set and use it to serve whatever task is at hand.
“The idea of service, no matter the scale of the project, is something I plan to keep as a pillar in my career.”
Who do you look up to? Both in terms of women in architecture, and in general.
I have a really strong network of friends from college who I look up to a lot. They are all incredibly diligent and hardworking as they start to build their careers in respective fields, and always seem to tackle challenges with grace and confidence. I feel very grateful to have such strong and ambitious women as close friends.
I am also seriously inspired by this platform and look up to all the women I have read about here! I found this as an undergrad and have been a loyal reader ever since. Hearing different people’s stories and seeing their work has been a constant source of inspiration.
Thank you so much Margaret. Finally, what advice would you give to those in high school now, choosing their field of study?
Go with your gut and figure it out from there. If you think you might be interested in something, just try it. I was speaking with someone about why I had decided to go back for the M.Arch and I said, “I had always wanted to, but was intimidated by all of the things I don’t know.” They replied saying, “It’s like wanting to play the guitar. You don’t know how to play it until you learn.” Things can seem daunting when starting out, but you have to start somewhere, and you don’t know how to do things, or how you feel about them, until you actually start learning.