Wandering around the streets of Varna, Bulgaria when I was little I used to look at the old houses and buildings, some of which had their facades chipping and falling off. I used to imagine what it must have been like to have lived in those houses in their glorious days. There were houses as old as a century and some as young as a day old. There was construction all around the city of new buildings with white façades and round balconies. Many buildings were very distinct from the century old houses, which hid in the small streets of the city, and the relatively new communist complexes built during the Cold War, which stood tall in the Varna skyline. It was a constantly changing architecture, one which fascinated me because such a poor country (compared to the US) was able to build such grand and futuristic buildings.

Although I was always amazed by the architecture I did not realize I would actually enjoy designing until two years into the High School for Math, Science, and Engineering. Sophomore year we had to take Technical Drawing. I realized it combined three things I really enjoyed and was pretty good at: math, measuring, and designing. Furthermore my teachers were really impressed by my final project, which made me think that I was good at this thing people call architecture.

Until this summer I believed that an architect designed in order to express herself and achieve some sort of reaction or feeling by the inhabitants of the place. It wasn't until this summer's program at MoMA that I finally learned that an architect designs for others and it is crucial for her to accomplish all the requirements and really put herself in her client's shoes in order to design the perfect space for them. It is also very important to preserve the dignity, privacy, and choice to which one is entitled.