Ever since he can remember, Christopher Baziw has dreamed of becoming an architect.
“Architecture has always been a passion and love of mine,” he said. “I was one of those kids who loved to play with Legos and was lucky enough to have parents that trusted me to build a tree fort out of lumber in my backyard.”
Now entering his third year at the Laurentian University McEwen School of Architecture, Baziw is working toward his goal and being recognized for his efforts. He has been presented with the Peddler’s Pub Architecture Award, established by longtime downtown Sudbury business owners and strong Laurentian University supporters, the Gainer family. The award recognizes students who demonstrate technical knowledge in their design work while maintaining a high grade point average.
Receiving the award is “absolutely gratifying” according to Baziw.
“It’s really great to have people notice me and all of my hard work,” Baziw said. “It makes me look back on all those long and extra hours of drawing, sketching and stressing out over exams. Receiving recognition like this makes all those days’ worth it.”
Completing architectural projects can be costly, but receiving a scholarship has provided Baziw with a sense of comfort and the financial relief to do his best work.
“This pushes me to work even harder now,” he said. “Architecture is very expensive because for a lot of our projects you need to sketch out drawings and need that extra material to complete a project. This will help me to not be afraid to go over my budget to complete a project.”
Baziw has been excelling inside the classroom thanks to the generous support he has received, which has also allowed him to better enjoy the unique hands-on learning experiences the Architecture program provides. This past year, Baziw and nine other students travelled to the town of Dinkelsbühl, Germany for five weeks to work alongside their professor, Randall Kober.
“This wasn’t the average backpacking across Europe trip,” Baziw said. “It was a fully involved study trip to learn about architecture, and more specifically, wood construction practices around Europe.”
He and his fellow students worked on carpentry projects which entailed the reconstruction of an attic space and roof structure in a nearly 800 year old house, and a stairway that connects a house and a garden located within an old medieval wall. They also travelled to Austria and Switzerland to observe unique architectural designs, and concluded their trip by visiting and showcasing their own work at an exhibit alongside schools from around the world at a conference in Vienna.
“This trip motivated me in so many ways and broadened my understanding of architecture completely,” Baziw said. “It really gave me the opportunity to push forward the designs I create and appreciate the Canadian buildings I study. I will be able to look back on this for the rest of my education to pull up inspiration and ideas, it really was the trip of a lifetime.”
Contact the Development Office to learn more about supporting the Laurentian University McEwen School of Architecture.