Hands-on Education

Devanshi Shah (M.Arch. ’22) received her undergraduate degree in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, from Sal School of Architecture before looking to the United States for graduate school. She says she’s always wanted to live in New York City and “being on the Manhattan campus lets me be in the middle of the city.” Shah also says that New York Tech and the master’s in architecture program were very appealing to her. “The course structure is very well-planned, and I love the small class sizes,” she says.

As a student, Shah says she developed many skills that have helped prepare her for her career, including making architectural models. “I worked at the Studio Gang Architecture firm in the model shop,” she says. “It was an interesting and very useful experience that helped me gain hands-on skills. It gives a person a better look at the building and understand how the building will work and look before it is actually built.”

In her Material Tectonics class, she learned how to work with a client. The students were tasked with designing a pavilion for the Green Acres Community Garden in Brooklyn, N.Y. Shah says she enjoyed being part of the design process and connecting with the community members.

“We started brainstorming the design process and the various design ideas after getting the brief from the community garden members regarding the needs for the garden,” recalls Shah. “As we went back and forth between designing and connecting with the members, we also discussed the materials and the budget needed to complete the project along with prototyping the models and structural stability for the pavilion.”

The project was successfully completed and the pavilion now stands in the Green Acres Community Garden in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.

Shah’s love for community extends to the people she has met at New York Tech, saying she’s made good friends in her classes, who helped make her transition to New York Tech easy, and who continue to help her learn and grow. “Every faculty and classmate has helped me. They have been a huge support,” she says.

Shah’s advice to new students is to stay focused: “It’s always a challenge to achieve goals but keep chasing them!”