FOURTH YEAR UNDERGRADUATE
Luca Castellan—FEAS Ledcor
Luca Castellan—FEAS Ledcor
About the Award
Ledcor Award:
For overall academic excellence and excellence in technical courses in fourth year.
My leadership emphasizes balance, where passion, creativity, and teamwork perform together, so that design outcomes reflect the strengths of the entire team. I approach projects by setting clear building science rules that guide goals, benchmarks, and innovation, all backed by collaborative hands-on work. Digital fabrication excites me because it merges efficiency with experimentation, as I explored in a design-build project led by Professor Will Galloway, which I completed in collaboration with five other students. Working with 3D-printed nylon joints and plywood sheets, we designed a bench and gathering space that combined organic shading with structural precision. I promoted a sketch-model process to minimize software barriers in the team and provoked mock-ups to ground debates in shared evidence. The experience reinforced my belief that clear dialogue and tangible testing are essential to reaching outcomes everyone can stand behind.
The lessons I have learnt working collaboratively on extra-curricular projects has influenced my academic journey. For example, I engage constructive discussions around my work and ask more frequent questions to gain insight from multiple perspectives. I have developed a stronger personal design process, one founded on iteration, as a result of working hands-on in group settings. I firmly believe that the best projects succeed when shared motivation sparks unexpected passion, allowing people to connect through both personal experience and character. For me, architecture is about being personable; fostering collaboration, building connections, and bringing people together through design.
Ledcor Award:
For overall academic excellence and excellence in technical courses in fourth year.
My leadership emphasizes balance, where passion, creativity, and teamwork perform together, so that design outcomes reflect the strengths of the entire team. I approach projects by setting clear building science rules that guide goals, benchmarks, and innovation, all backed by collaborative hands-on work. Digital fabrication excites me because it merges efficiency with experimentation, as I explored in a design-build project led by Professor Will Galloway, which I completed in collaboration with five other students. Working with 3D-printed nylon joints and plywood sheets, we designed a bench and gathering space that combined organic shading with structural precision. I promoted a sketch-model process to minimize software barriers in the team and provoked mock-ups to ground debates in shared evidence. The experience reinforced my belief that clear dialogue and tangible testing are essential to reaching outcomes everyone can stand behind.
The lessons I have learnt working collaboratively on extra-curricular projects has influenced my academic journey. For example, I engage constructive discussions around my work and ask more frequent questions to gain insight from multiple perspectives. I have developed a stronger personal design process, one founded on iteration, as a result of working hands-on in group settings. I firmly believe that the best projects succeed when shared motivation sparks unexpected passion, allowing people to connect through both personal experience and character. For me, architecture is about being personable; fostering collaboration, building connections, and bringing people together through design.