Three years ago (tre anni fa) around this time I was applying to colleges. I had a little to no idea what I wanted to do at the time. I was 17 at the time and I remember thinking how crazy it was that I had to make a decision that would heavily impact the direction of my life. I had barely had my driver’s license for a year and I still felt like a child at the time. I also remember I was always drawn to architecture and it’s aesthetic but I didn’t know anyone at the time who could tell me more.
Naturally, I turned to Google. I still laugh at the first search I made. I simply typed “architecture”. From there I was learning all that I could like the different styles, architects, jaw-dropping buildings, etc. Finally, I came across one building that caught my eye; I had never seen anything like it before. It was the Bosco Verticale or the Verticle Forest. The architect was Stefano Boeri. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to be an architect. I dug deeper into it and even wrote about it in my admissions essay for the University of Texas at Austin.
In the end, I did not get accepted to the School of Architecture. I did, however, get accepted into the Cockrell School of Engineering with a major in Architectural Engineering. I used to be sour about UT’s decision but the more I take classes in Architectural Engineering the more I realize this is what I wanted to do all along. This past spring semester I had the first intro design class. We were tasked with designing the architectural, mechanical, and structural components of an office building to be located in Austin, Texas.
Now I find myself in Milan. Someplace I would have never pictured myself being 3 years ago. The first free weekend I got in Milan I made a short trip to Bosco Verticale. It was almost surreal seeing it in person. Like this was the building that got me to where I am now. I thought back to 17 year old me and how he couldn’t have predicted seeing it in person. As I move on to the second half of my undergrad I know I want to attend graduate school, but I find myself in a similar position I was 3 years ago. I sat in a park not too far from the Bosco Verticale and I gazed in awe at the building in front of me taking in the whole area. I’m not entirely sure where the next 3 years will take me but I’m eager to find out.
