Building a career working part-time? At an architecture firm? That’s possible. In the interview, oow associate Svenja Tarabusi talks about her unusual career – and how she, as a mother of two, helps shape a major project.
Quite dramatically! Back then there were mainly fixed-term contracts, and it was almost standard practice to move from one office to the next after graduating. Today, by contrast, there is so much being built that there is a shortage of skilled professionals. Now it is the applicants who get to choose the studios. The whole thing has turned a full 180 degrees.
Here, yes! (laughs) Everyone knows that I only work in the mornings, and it really works without any problems. On top of that, I also work from home. I live on the edge of the city and would face a commute of over an hour to the office. With two small children that would mean a considerable amount of effort. But here too Sebastian and Mathis accommodated me and made it possible. Many companies these days present themselves as family-friendly without really being so. Here, by contrast, it is actually lived out, and the bosses look at how they can respond to each individual! I was even promoted while working part-time and from home. That was a wonderful recognition.
Yes and no. (laughs) At school I took art and maths as advanced courses, and architecture really does combine the mathematical and the artistic aspect. But I definitely would not have imagined it to be so complex, and I had no idea that there are so many specialist planners that an architect has to "manage". We did of course also cover some structural engineering during our studies, for example, but in everyday working life it is the structural engineer who does the calculations, not us – I had not been aware of that before. It is in any case an incredibly varied profession, and it is wonderful to accompany a project from the very beginning and, of course, eventually to see it built!
I was honestly involved in everything, which is what made it so exciting. I joined the project during the conceptual phase, then worked on the planning permission and am now working on the detailed design. The next thing I have coming up is the tender. A colleague is in charge of supervision on the construction site in Bonn, but for other projects I will of course also be on site. I do enjoy the fact that I’m not only responsible for one thing, but can really “watch a building grow”. It just makes you relate to the building in a completely different way.
