FOURTH YEAR UNDERGRADUATE
Karlie Nguyen —Stewart Crawford Travel Award
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Karlie Nguyen —Stewart Crawford Travel Award
About the Award
Stewart Crawford Travel Award:
To recognize academic achievement and provide financial assistance to a student who is undertaking curriculum based travel.
Architecture allows us to travel, sometimes physically, and other times, through imagination. In my Community Hub project, rendering evolved into its own form of travel, exploring the relationship between the building and its surrounding environment. Through visualization, viewers could walk through spaces that did not yet exist, experiencing light, texture, and atmosphere long before construction began. Renders transform architecture into a shared journey and allow people to connect with a design emotionally, even without standing on the site itself.
During my co-op at Snyder Architects, I experienced firsthand how rendering serves as a powerful communication tool between designers and clients. I learned how imagery can build anticipation and convey design intent clearly. This process not only enhances understanding but also strengthens the relationship between concept and realization.
From this digital form of travel, I transitioned into physical experiences that deepened my understanding of place. At the 2022 Winter Station, I helped fabricate and assemble large structural installations along Toronto’s frozen beach, working with upcycled materials and MDF panels. Travelling to the site was its own challenge as we built the pavilion within two days amid freezing winds and harsh winter conditions. Yet, this experience taught me how adaptability and collaboration are essential to design execution. Similarly, at Camp Winston, I helped construct pavilions and play structures on sloped, uneven terrain, learning how topography and material availability inform each design decision. Each site demanded different treatments of materials and design responses, revealing how ideas evolve when grounded in real environmental conditions.
Now, thanks to the Stewart Crawford Travel Award, I will continue to develop my architectural journey through traveling to Tokyo for the 2026 Summer Abroad Studio. Experiencing Japan’s unique landscape and dynamic architecture. I am excited to learn how vastly different Japan’s dense city networks are compared to our Canadian cityscape. Experiencing its density, materiality, and cultural rhythms firsthand will reshape my perspective on how culture, history, and movement shape design.
This journey connects every phase of my education: from rendering imagined spaces, to building in real ones, to now studying how others around the world design within their own unique contexts. Perhaps architecture is best understood in context. The Tokyo Studio Abroad will expose me to architecture at multiple scales. Within Tokyo, I will study how pedestrians, trains, and bicycles shape urban form and public space. Notably, it will allow me to encounter regions; architecture that integrates heritage craftsmanship with modern needs, offering lessons in balancing cultural preservation with innovation. I am deeply grateful to the Stewart Crawford Award for making this next step in my architectural journey possible.
Stewart Crawford Travel Award:
To recognize academic achievement and provide financial assistance to a student who is undertaking curriculum based travel.
Architecture allows us to travel, sometimes physically, and other times, through imagination. In my Community Hub project, rendering evolved into its own form of travel, exploring the relationship between the building and its surrounding environment. Through visualization, viewers could walk through spaces that did not yet exist, experiencing light, texture, and atmosphere long before construction began. Renders transform architecture into a shared journey and allow people to connect with a design emotionally, even without standing on the site itself.
During my co-op at Snyder Architects, I experienced firsthand how rendering serves as a powerful communication tool between designers and clients. I learned how imagery can build anticipation and convey design intent clearly. This process not only enhances understanding but also strengthens the relationship between concept and realization.
From this digital form of travel, I transitioned into physical experiences that deepened my understanding of place. At the 2022 Winter Station, I helped fabricate and assemble large structural installations along Toronto’s frozen beach, working with upcycled materials and MDF panels. Travelling to the site was its own challenge as we built the pavilion within two days amid freezing winds and harsh winter conditions. Yet, this experience taught me how adaptability and collaboration are essential to design execution. Similarly, at Camp Winston, I helped construct pavilions and play structures on sloped, uneven terrain, learning how topography and material availability inform each design decision. Each site demanded different treatments of materials and design responses, revealing how ideas evolve when grounded in real environmental conditions.
Now, thanks to the Stewart Crawford Travel Award, I will continue to develop my architectural journey through traveling to Tokyo for the 2026 Summer Abroad Studio. Experiencing Japan’s unique landscape and dynamic architecture. I am excited to learn how vastly different Japan’s dense city networks are compared to our Canadian cityscape. Experiencing its density, materiality, and cultural rhythms firsthand will reshape my perspective on how culture, history, and movement shape design.
This journey connects every phase of my education: from rendering imagined spaces, to building in real ones, to now studying how others around the world design within their own unique contexts. Perhaps architecture is best understood in context. The Tokyo Studio Abroad will expose me to architecture at multiple scales. Within Tokyo, I will study how pedestrians, trains, and bicycles shape urban form and public space. Notably, it will allow me to encounter regions; architecture that integrates heritage craftsmanship with modern needs, offering lessons in balancing cultural preservation with innovation. I am deeply grateful to the Stewart Crawford Award for making this next step in my architectural journey possible.
