My name is Marlene, and I'm an Architectural Designer at Ballinger, a multidisciplinary architecture & engineering firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I graduated in May of 2019 from The Pennsylvania State University with a Master of Professional Studies in Management and Organizational Leadership and a Bachelor of Architecture. 

 

I have always been passionate about the creative process and enjoyed the freedom to be imaginative. Even so, I also craved more analytical thinking, which is why I pursued business courses during my architectural education and received a business Master's degree. Together, these two fields of study provided a well-rounded, wholistic view on my education and in my career thus far. 

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MY WORK

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I hope that through my portfolio, you get a sense of the kind of diligence, passion, and creativity I put into my work. I hold the utmost importance of hand as our greatest tool in design. Because of this, I try to incorporate drawing or hand-sketching into every one of my projects. The same quality of hand drawing cannot be fully reproduced by a computer; it can, however, aid to make drawings realistic and life-like. The combination of hand and digital rendering provides a depth unmatched by either tool used separately. 

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CAREER GOALS

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In addition to bridging the gap between my design background and the business world, my graduate studies provided me with valuable leadership and communication skills, which have helped immensely in my career thus far. It is my belief that having a basic foundation in business principles greatly aids in decision-making and communication in the workplace, provides you with a unique skill set, and gives you a wider breadth of opportunities to explore within architecture or related fields. I desire to combine both creative and analytical thinking processes in everything I do; in other words, be able to see through multiple lenses in order to solve problems. Working at a multidisciplinary firm is very important to me, as it allows for the teamwork and collaboration of people who have varying backgrounds, educations and experiences, allowing you to learn from others and more effectively solve problems. 

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STUDYING ABROAD

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In January of 2017, I studied abroad in Rome for a semester, leaving my home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and the country for the first time. While overseas, I experienced living in an entirely different culture than what I had grown up in. My feelings of being a foreigner quickly diminished, and soon I felt at home in the eternal city. I grew to embrace the unknown, and when the time came, I was more than willing to take that initial step and embark on new explorations. While living in Rome, I had the opportunity to visit multiple cities throughout Italy, as well as Greece, France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. 

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When I finally returned home to the States in May of 2017, my desire to see more of the world only burned brighter, leading me to the second opportunity of a lifetime: a summer study abroad trip to Japan and South Korea. An intense six-week excursion throughout multiple cities of Japan and South Korea opened my eyes to the absolutely breathtaking world of East Asia, a stark contrast to what I had just experienced in Europe. Nonetheless, I found myself immediately immersed in these new cultures, while getting to witness some incredible technological feats of mankind. 

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My travels abroad opened my eyes in more ways than one. The ancient ruins of Rome, the ornate, breathtaking churches anchored throughout the streets, and the technological marvels of their time still remain a living, breathing part of the urban fabric. Going from one extreme to the other, I witnessed some of the most amazing modern architecture I have ever seen in Japan. Steel, glass, and concrete designed in ways unimaginable. The Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples of Nara and Kyoto inspired me so much that it led me to research Japanese Gardens in-depth for my undergraduate thesis.