FULBRIGHT IMPACT
Building with Your Own Hands In addition to his architecture studies at the university, Pekko Sangi got invaluable practical experience by building wooden cabins for a summer camp.
Pekko Sangi 2018–2019 Fulbright Finland Partnership Award for Graduate Studies – The Johnson Scholarship Awardee University of Colorado Denver
THE MOST MEMORABLE PART OF MY Fulbright
before me and Taisto Mäkelä, Associate Profes-
Finland grant year at the University of Colo-
sor and Director at the College of Architecture
rado Denver was the Design Build program. This
and Planning at the University of Colorado Den-
year’s Colorado Building Workshop project, led by
ver personally visited Tampere University. Those
architect Rick Sommerfeld, was located in Tho-
connections made me feel warmly welcomed to
reau, New Mexico. 30 students from seven dif-
the U.S. even before I arrived. The Finnish Ful-
ferent countries designed, prefabricated, and
bright Welcome Network was also an import-
Fulbright Finland Partnership Award – The Johnson Scholarship www.fulbright.fi/ partnership-awardcu-denver
built six wooden cabins and an outdoor kitchen
ant resource: a local Fulbright Finland teacher
in only five months during the spring of 2019.
alumna contacted me soon after my arrival and
The cabins were designed for the children’s sum-
drove me immediately to the Rocky Mountains.
mer camp of Cottonwood Gulch located in high
During the year I met a great number of young
desert terrain. The building process on site took
people in Denver from all over the country,
18 days.
and many of them had Finnish or other Nordic
Building everything with our own hands was the biggest value of this experience; it enabled us
U.S. as a Finn was even more meaningful.
to learn things that theoretical studies would have
It feels great to remain as a part of the Fulbright
never taught us. Not only did we get an amazingly
Finland family after my time abroad. I decided to
valuable experience about architectural drawing
join the ASLA-Fulbright Alumni Association’s Ful-
sets and construction, but also about entrepreneur-
bright Buddy program. I’m glad to be able to share
ship and the whole process and market in our field
the hospitality and to show my home country to
as we worked in cooperation with real companies.
the U.S. grantees, and to help them get the most of
I knew a few of my fellow Finnish architecture students had received the same scholarship
16 | www.fulbright.fi
heritage. This made me feel that coming to the
their time in Finland.