MAKENNA DAWSON, AIAS
Master of Architecture Student University of Kansas
(816) 783-3195
Kenna@KU.edu
November 30th, 2024
The University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design 1465 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045
To whom it may concern,
Growing up I was always passionate about the arts. All pieces of art have the unique touch of their creator. Througout my life I’ve created at every opportunity I’ve had. From making worlds within my imagination accompanied by stick bow and arrows or hay bale battleships as a child to paintings, photographs, and embroidered patterns as a teenager, to a tiny home and furniture as a college student. I’ve also always been drawn to math and the sciences, they’re languages I love to speak. When it came to deciding on a major and a future career, architecture made perfect sense and once I figured that out, the University of Kansas was the next obvious choice as the renouned Design-Build program excited me.
For the 3rd year Design-Build studio, I was in Chad Kraus’ Dirt Works Studio as Communications Manager. I was already comfortable with individual work, but this studio pushed me and thirteen other students to work together seemlessly to create Phoenix House, the 530 sf home being used by Tenants to Homeowners to transition individuals out of homelessnes. In the fall we made decisions as a studio and then made the CD set to match. After we recieved the permits, we built the house in 8-weeks using almost entirely cross-laminated timber. It’s amazing to have made this type of impact on my community.
As I’m preparing to enter my 5th year of the 5-year M.Arch program, I’ve reflected on what I’ve learned about myself and the world around me. To be able to experience a culture abroad and to be immersed in it, would broaden my perspective on architecture and my role within it. For the past 6-months I’ve been taking French lessons from a native speaker. If given the opportunity I want to absorb as much as possible from the 5th year Paris option. This program is said to be transformative, I would love to be a part of it. In my career I want to experience the variety of cultures in our world and then apply what I’ve learned to benefit the communities where I live and where I design.
Thank you for your time and consideration, Makenna Dawson
Refrences
Jihye Lee
Assistant Professor of Architecture, Inje University, South Korea
jlee@inje.ac.kr (work)
architecte.lee@gmail.com (personal) +82 10 5145 5639
Francesco Carota Professor of Architecture, University of Kansas
francesco.carota@ku.edu
785 813 7196
Emmylou Mary Nicolle
Native French Language Tutor nicolleemmy@gmail.com
+39 351 721 02 62