March Student Member of the Month

Sarah Cobb

Iowa State University

4th Year Architecture Student

1. Why did you choose the design/construction field?

When coming to college I was considering many different majors including engineering, construction, and various musical majors. Engineering was a little too technical for my taste, and a career in music seemed too variable as a profession. So, in true Goldilocks fashion, I found architecture to be the perfect middle between all my interests.

2. What is the most unusual medium you have used for a model, and what did it represent?

One time I used floral foam for a massing model and it was really successful in my process of describing and defining my project. I carved pieces away from the foam to represent the curves of my idea and the way I wanted it to flow over the land.

3. What has been your favorite studio trip so far?

Can my semester studying abroad count as a studio trip?! I’m currently in Italy and every week has felt like a studio trip because the city is so rich with architecture. Besides this, I loved going to Chicago my second year and getting to know the people that I would be spending the next four years with.

4. What is the best advice you have received from a professor or mentor?

Don’t let fear hold you back. Keep trying. If all you can do is take baby steps, then take baby steps.

5. How has Iowa Women in Architecture influenced you?

This club has made me take my profession and my gender more seriously! Carving time out for these meetings proves to myself that my future is worth making time for, and that there are other women who are just trying to figure things out like me. Although we are growing up in a time where women are taking a stand against gender inequality, that doesn’t mean that the workplace is equal. I have already experienced that there are still subtle pressures on women to perform perfectly, to be “less emotional”, and to not take time off for their children. I am proud to be a female student and a future working woman!

Engage | Project Digital Representations

This a portion of my final project during Fall 2019. I enjoy taking information and boiling it down to its simplest parts, and translating these into diagrams.