Cross-Course Reflection
My name is Zachary Korecki. I am currently an Architectural Design student at Parsons School for Design in New York City. I am also interested in business, marketing, economics, interior design, and furniture design. I try to embrace individuality, sensuality, and obscurity within my work. I strive for, and esteem when, architecture and design is created to be much more than a function structure. Design is much more than just the appearance of an entity, but has the power to influence the way an individual can act and feel. Design is a philosophy; I want to engage with it and learn.
I grew up in small coastal community in southern California and made a big decision to come to the bustling New York City across the country. I strive to challenge myself and make large decisions to erase my fears. New York City has been an extensive learning experience and I only hope to learn more. In the future, I’d like my education to take me abroad to Milan in Italy where I can study historical architecture and contemporary design. For now, one year from now, I aspire to engage in learning in design or business outside of the classroom. I understand internships are difficult to obtain as an underclassman but that does not scare me. I would like to study under individuals in the business and design sectors, this can take the form of an internship. I hope wherever my ambitions take me that I am able to learn and grow not only as a student, but also as a person.
When I look back on my first year at Parsons School for Design, I can see a lot of similarities that developed throughout my work as well as differences. It is no secret that I like to study various forms of philosophy and government structures, and have those influence the work I create. To add, I am also passionate about creating art and design that stems from themes of sensuality and masculinity. I truly feel like I am creating my best work when I push boundaries and take creative risks to address subjects some individuals may find uncomfortable to talk about. I found that my Integrative Studio 1 course helped me immensely to become more comfortable about talking about myself and my work. I feel like skill became very useful when I was introduced to my second seminar course, Integrative Seminar 2. I learned to describe my interests, my processes, as well as the reasonings behind my ideas. This was particularly useful when addressing my Intervention proposal for the 41 Cooper Square site. Since most of my academic studies stem from interests outside of design, I find that my academic interests are connected to my studio-making in which they both influence each other. Pushing certain ideas in my studio may lead me to want to learn about the same subject academically, and vice versa. What I found to be exciting through this is that I was always engaged in the work I was creating whether it be project or paper. I was always able to dive deeper into subjects of my courses that I was already fascinated by. I believe there is never a point when an individual says no more research could have been completed, as a person I am constantly learning and I would like to keep it that way. To reflect, I wish I looked deeper into the political figures that started and lead the various political parties. This may have influenced the way I analyzed government structures and then from there influenced by design work.
The first highlight of my first year under Parsons School of Design was the Artist Manifesto assignment assigned by Sarah Montague in my Integrative Seminar 1 course. Ms. Montague asked us to think of who we are as artists, what we are passionate about, what are our influence, and to think how those aspects will influence the work we will complete throughout our careers. When the assignment was initially assigned, I was excited to be able to think about who I was as an artist and designer. Though at first, it was hard because I was still questioning the work I wanted to create and what I wanted to pursue under Architecture. Ms. Montague had me look back at my work within the Fall semester and study overlapping themes and ideas that were present within my work. I began to see passions and interests I was oblivious to. After researching myself and my own work, I was able to successfully formulate an Artist’s Manifesto. The manifesto helped organize my passions, my interests, and my work as a designer which I believe made me more sure of myself. I think this first highlight was more of a self-realization project than anything and was particularly important to me because it helped build confidence within myself.
The second highlight of my first year under Parsons School of Design was the Final Research Paper for my Intervention Proposal assigned by Elizabeth Chakkappan in my Integrative Seminar 2 course. The paper was the final assignment that organized and professionally presented the evolved product of our intervention. The assignment originally began as assignment that looked at our passions and interests and acted as a form of discovery. I was asked to describe and analyze why I was drawn to the 41 Cooper Square site and what about the building either attracted me or had me withdrawn. The process was very mind-opening as I was able to then see why I choose the 41 Cooper Square site and what my intervention was based. I am positive that the site could have been proposed many various interventions, however the one I proposed was honestly a extension of my interests. What I valued and interested me inspired the intervention I was proposing. Ms. Chakkappan acted a strong mentor through this process as she guided me through the analyzation process of the architectural structure as well as my open work. The final paper is essentially arguing for an intervention that addresses three unique problems within the site that combat the values of the originally creator. The hopes of my intervention is to restore the original values. This paper, and this process, was very important to my work as it more broadly helped me realize the influences and actions that inspire the decisions I make.
In conclusion, I have learned that some of the most important assignments I have completed this year are writing assignments. Writing assignments and papers help me organize and walk me through my own ideas. After reflecting back on my first year at Parsons School for Design, I am confident in how I want to move forward in the coming three years. I am interested in learning more about complex ideas such as how political figures influenced their political parties, the connection between between political figure’s ideas and design details, and how architecture can be used inappropriately to influence negative effects. I am also equally interested in learning about simpler ideas such as a national economy’s impact on the global economy, how cultural philosophies influence business and politics, and other subjects revolving around economics and business structures. All of my interests are connected in some form or another which can lead me to see them influencing each other as I create and work on projects. Similar to the experiences I have had earlier in the year, I predict my academic studies will likely influence the work I create while studio-making, and the work I create will studio-making will likely influence the subjects and studies I pursue academically. In the future, I can see writing skills, research methods, structured processes all being important skills to learn to successfully continue my studies at Parsons School for Design.
