“I wanted to come to Australia and I wanted to come to Sydney. The University of Sydney was the obvious choice. I did some research and I compared the different universities and I looked at the student works. The level of students at the University of Sydney seemed to be very high. Sydney was the only University to which I applied.
The University of Sydney has a really good reputation, for me, going back to Sweden with that kind of degree is a really good thing. I think it's impressive to have a degree from the University of Sydney.
I think Architecture is very interesting because it's such a social profession. It affects everyone: communities and our standard of living. Everything revolves around the buildings in which we live and work and the environment we create in cities. It's so important to design buildings that are sustainable because they are going to be there for 50, 100, 200 years. I think it's really important that architecture has these good qualities.
The way we're being taught is very design and socially oriented. As it should be: architecture affects everyone. That's one of the reasons that I chose this program. I think it's so important that an architect is aware of the people that are going to use the building and how people that surround it are going to be affected. Sometimes architecture is a lot about form and shapes and the idea of something, creating shadows, different shapes or a feeling, but it's so much more to it. I think probably not a lot of architects are aware of the social aspects.
The course is very different to those in Sweden. I was worried in the beginning because it's so different to my engineering background and the way that we used to do things is much more pragmatic. Here it's conceptual. I think it's very good for me to get different ways of thinking and to be able to use both of them.
Sydney has such great culture; look at the Opera House. I think the Indigenous culture is very interesting, vivid and exciting. I wanted to go and study in a country that was English speaking and Australia was a good choice. A lot of Swedes come to Australia for working holidays; I've never heard anyone say anything negative about Australia so I wanted to study here.
The Campus is lovely, it's really nice, the buildings are great and it's good that it's so central in the city. I like the fact that it's very international and feels like a big city. I think it's really important to get an international education and experience a new culture or learn a new language or improve your second language. You can grow more as a person and a professional by having a degree from another country.