Alex Carrasco, Robert A.M. Stern Architects

What can I say? Alex is vigorously pursuing his dream. From day one, he set his sights on Robert AM Stern Architects and impressed everyone with his already developed sense of professionalism and internal motivation. What more could an aspiring architect ask for than to work in the nation’s premiere architecture firm, with essentially unlimited access to its personnel and archives. Alex is working under Larissa Woo, RAMSA’s director of archives and imagery. His major work includes the labeling and categorizing of the firm’s 270,000 plus slide collection – needless to say this is a very “ongoing” project however not at all tedious for the young architect to be. When I walked in today, Alex was hunched over the light table with a stack of slides in front of him and stacks of design sketches piled on the table around him. He is also creating an organizational matrix of decades worth of sketches, drawings and blueprints representing the evolution of architectural technology and styles over the last 40 years.

By and large, Alex has access to the most extensive collection of professional resources and research materials anyone could possibly dream of. There is an extensive library of books and magazines, which he is free to peruse. Most importantly, Alex is certainly not shy about approaching his coworkers for professional expertise. He has developed an excellent rapport with the firm’s managing partner, Rob Buford. Mr. Buford has been kind enough to sit down at length for an interview and continue to answer Alex’s open-ended questions via email. After my visit today, it is clear that Alex is very fortunate to be a member of this extraordinary professional community. With 250 plus employees, this is the nation’s largest architecture firm, yet it somehow still maintains a distinct sense of quality and craftsmanship that is palpable to a casual visitor such as myself

For the time being, Alex’s plate is extremely full. He is compiling his research on the history of the firm and the development of the field itself. He aims to focus specifically on the use of LEED certification in modern buildings, which for those who are unfamiliar is a rigorous set of federal building standards for energy efficiency and environmental design. Alex has also been able to tap into the firm’s in-house training classes in digital design tools, beginning with an introduction to the Adobe suite and Photoshop. Before June he’ll have the opportunity to take advanced classes in other architecture specific applications. All of this experience should help to put him at the top of his class at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute starting Fall of 2007.