Deanna Manno :: Master of Architecture

Deanna Manno, raised in southern Florida, is a post-AOP Segment I Master of Architecture candidate at the BAC. Deanna was elected as a student representative for Atelier 2011-2012.

Like many BAC students, Deanna has a rather diverse background. While enrolled at Florida State University, she spent time as a dance, a studio art, and an art education major before finally deciding on art history with minors in psychology and museum studies. Her interest in spaces and architectural history (which she studied in her undergrad) led her to architecture.

Deanna believes that her roots in art and in psychology have directed her to an acute interest in the social-psychological implications of architecture, interior design, and urban design. She recently studied abroad in Spain with other students, led by Dean of Students, Richard Griswold.

"Spain was beautiful," she recalls. "I spent a lot of time appreciating both the art and architecture that Spain has to offer. I begun to think about the many ways they intersect and how my past in the arts is beginning to intersect with my future in architecture. The pace of life in Spain allows you to truly savor every moment of the day, and so I was able to truly savor every detail I saw."

"Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia and Barcelona certainly have a special place in my heart. Though, Madrid, where we spent most of our time, became my home. The city is amazing, not in the way that a city is glisteningly spectacular to tourists, but in the way that everything - the beautiful, the intelligent, the surreal, even the mundane - can fill you with amazement."

Visiting Rafael Moneo's office in Madrid, Spain

She continues, "I have never been more inspired and more intrigued. I found myself tasked with trying to communicate this amazement; but how does one turn the seemingly magical into words, pictures, sounds, or feelings? I doubted its possibility, I doubted my possibility. I had to change the way I think. There was a lot of who, what, where, why and how, but mainly I had to think about process, and connections, and logic, and motivation and detail. There was an ever so subtle but still completely drastic brain switch that happened in Spain. I think I became a designer."

"As a country that appreciates a slower pace and a fine sense of hospitality, Spain is meticulously into details and so the country is very appreciative of architecture and design in general. There was an incredible amount to see in Madrid alone; I have no idea how we even made it to other cities."

Visiting the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain

She concludes, "Everyday, I walked Madrid sunrise to sunset (and trust me, European summer days are LONG), so long I'd forget human beings have to eat and sleep, I encountered many hunger pains and sun strokes, but they were well worth it. I think there was no better place for me to really begin to appreciate life as a designer.  Going back to study, or maybe even live and work one day, is now an absolute goal of mine."

Deanna has been busy in practice as well. She works at Addo Novo, a design studio in the South End where she assists clients with furniture selection as well as helping them design their spaces. Previously, she worked on the Women's Lunch Place/Church of the Covenant Gateway Project as an interior designer before continuing with the project as an intern creating construction documents at Arrowstreet Architects.

Check out her work at deannamanno.com.