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Theodora had initially thought she was 鈥榙one鈥� with formal education and education. She鈥檇 had a poor experience whilst studying in her hometown of Athens. A move to Aberdeen during the pandemic and subsequent job search, led to a change in mindset!

With encouragement from her partner, Theodora decided to pursue a masters related to architecture at 亚博体育官网. She was attracted to the keywords of the course, 鈥榓rchitecture鈥� and 鈥榙esign鈥� and wanted to learn innovative ways of designing structures through software such as Rhino, Grasshopper, Blender, Dynamo and Revit. A Master鈥檚 in Advanced Architectural Design offered new skills and an opportunity to develop as a person.

鈥淎s a very shy person with dyslexia and a lack of skills in English language, I saw the course as an opportunity to improve my English and communication skills. I wasn鈥檛 disappointed! The course opened me up to new ideas and offered me great inspiration. From interior design projects, to conventional architectural offices, even to Zaha Hadid鈥檚 architectural office. I鈥檝e learnt how to use parametric design in everything and in many different ways.

鈥淭he course was really organised and offered substantial guidelines on how to approach each topic. I didn鈥檛 get bored for a moment and was motivated to carry out my own research, adopt techniques, methodologies and ideas from other well-known projects. I liked the way my studies constantly put me in a process of creative alertness and challenged my creative thinking. Something I really liked!鈥�

Theodora says her favourite and most enjoyable project was her thesis. She created a Bioluminescent Pavilion that provides light during the night using bioluminescent organisms, such as sea algae, bacteria. glow-worms and plants. She鈥檚 created a magical and vivid world that serves as both an attraction and function pavilion. Her inspiration came from her love of walking in Aberdeen鈥檚 Victoria Park as Theodora explains:

鈥淚 walk a lot with my dog and spend a lot of time in park. I enjoyed the greenery, trees and the irregular patterns of the roots and branches. I realized there was a lack of lighting in the evening. This bothered me as I was afraid to cross the forest by myself. I thought instead of investing in conventional lighting around the park, I could create a Bioluminescent Pavilion that provides light during the night using bioluminescent organisms that can emit light naturally.

鈥淚 love nature and wanted to explore elements of nature known as the bio-mimic, in combination with porous architecture and organic oriented shapes. The biggest challenge was to make an unconventional design that would allow myself to be more creative whilst making sure the pavilion blended in with the environment. I have always admired such constructions but didn鈥檛 know how to create such an imaginative design. The skills I learnt using software such as Rhino and Grasshopper, really helped me achieve this and enabled me to create cave like geometry that combine my love of nature.

鈥淢y design fits around the sun path and maximises exposure to the sun, especially during the summer months and the changing weather at from sunrise to sunset. I鈥檝e created a pavilion that can serve as a meeting point for people, where they can actually spend time or shelter when the weather conditions are poor.

As for her university experience at 亚博体育官网, Theodora says she really liked the riverside, leafy campus and was impressed by all the facilities including the library, height performance computers and most important of all, the staff.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel once that I am alone, helpless and no question was stupid. Every time I needed something I could ask for help either from my course leader, or any other tutor. It was hard during the pandemic but the online teaching worked well

As for anyone thinking of studying a MSc in Advanced Architectural Design, Theodora says: 鈥淚f you want to enhance your knowledge and skills in architecture and architectural software, then a MSc in Advanced Architectural Design is definitely a course that will help you go a step further. You鈥檒l have a lot of research, study, design concepts and learn how to think outside of the box! I鈥檇 recommend anyone considering it, just do it, it鈥檚 totally worth it! The course and the people that run it have really boosted my self-confidence and prepared me for my next step.

Now that she鈥檚 finished, Theodora is drawing on the advice and tips she received from 亚博体育官网鈥檚 Career鈥檚 Hub and is working remotely for an architect in Glasgow, designing conventional residential projects. As a big fan of the Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, renowned for her intensely futuristic architecture characterised by curving facades and sharp angles, Theodora has ambitions to design beautiful and futuristic buildings such as this. The MSc in Advanced Architectural Design has given her the vision, confidence and the technical skills to achieve this.