This summer, I was very lucky to take part in the SEU Workshop in Nanjing, China. This trip was just over two weeks and took us from Philadelphia to Shanghai and around Nanjing, Hangzhou, and many rural villages. I had a really wonderful time getting to meet the students from other participating universities in China and I’m happy to say I made a few friends during my time there!
After China, I flew to the Swedish island of Fårö, where my dad’s side of the family is from, to spend time with my relatives and study some Hanseatic League-era architecture. On Fårö, there is a tradition called Täckating, a folk festival that involves the restoration of a barn roof while food is served. Typically, the island comes together yearly to re-thatch the roof of a local barn in need. The traditional thatching material is Ag, also known as Cladium mariscus, or Swamp sawgrass in English, and after the old thatch is removed, the Ag is reapplied in bundles until the roof is fully covered. Once the roof is done (and sometimes, while it’s still in progress but people are hungry) traditional food is served.
While I didn’t stay long enough to witness this year’s Täckating, my family’s barn was restored in 2016 and traditional thatched roofs are everywhere on the island. I took plenty of pictures!
After my time with family, my partner and I took a tour to Estonia and Finland and then returned to the UK to drive to Croatia. We visited a number of sites of both landscape and architectural significance, including Löyly Sauna, Helsinki; Kadriorg Park, Tallinn; the Barbican Centre and Conservatory, London; San Marino; the Duomo, Florence; Diocletian’s Palace, Split; Dubrovnik Old Town; Stari Most, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Széchenyi Thermal Baths, Budapest; the Court Church of Residenz Würzburg; Strasbourg Cathedral, and Villa Savoye, in Poissy. At each site I did a ton of sketching, and I managed to fill up an entire notebook with drawings of this trip.
I’m really glad I had the opportunity and support to travel so much this summer, and I’m pretty excited to use my experiences to strengthen my studio work this year 🙂
StuCo Co-President 2025-2026
University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design Stanford University ’23, B.S. Architectural Design University of Pennsylvania ’27, Master of Architecture University of Pennsylvania ’27, Master of Landscape Architecture
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