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Name: Cyrus Dochow
Major: Architecture
What year are you? Fifth-year
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Where do you live at Cornell? I live in a house on North Campus with some of my architecture friends. They’re pretty much the only people I see.
So, it’s true that architecture students only hang out with other architecture students? Yeah, well at least it’s true for me, especially now that I’m in my fifth year and most of my other friends have all graduated. Although by the end, our work had gotten so intense, I wasn’t seeing most of them anyway.
I know there are a lot of things going on with the College of Architecture, Art and Planning lately. What is that like? We’re a very conflicted group because this a tough place to be. There are all these changes going on with the buildings, the faculty, the dean and even the profession.
How has all the construction on the buildings affected you? The ten of us working on our thesis were supposed to be sent downtown, but then someone complained, so now we’re still on campus. But about 20 of our friends are in studios downtown. Everyone’s pretty much all over the place and we’re getting more removed from each other. However, the facilities are pretty inadequate, so this has to happen.
Did you go to Rome on the architecture program? I went to Rome last fall. It was interesting because I’d been studying in Mexico and Brazil over the summer, and after that I explored Egypt and Hong Kong with my brother. So all together, I spent seven months out of the country traveling.
What was it like coming back after having been abroad for so long? It’s really weird being all over the world and then coming back to Ithaca in the middle of the winter. I found it very stifling.
What did you do about that? I worked. I think that’s what a lot of Cornell students do when it gets cold.
After working so hard, do the architects have crazy parties? I would say so. There are a few nights a year when the upperclassmen surprise the younger students by going into their studios and throwing parties.
That’s really cool that you throw parties for them. Why do you do it? To try and feel like we’re part of the same community even though we’re in different years, and to make it seem like we share something besides our major.
What did you do for Fall Break? I stayed in Ithaca to do work. I need to decide what my thesis project will be about. We’re supposed to create something for the end of the semester, and I need to make a proposal for it by the middle of the month because we’re having a mid-term exhibition then. But, I’m still trying to figure it out — that’s why I look strung out and am eating lunch by myself!