Biographies

Blanche Tarabrella is a sophomore majoring in Architectural Studies with a minor in Dance. At the outset of her college career, she thought she wanted to be an engineer, but after taking Drew Armstrong’s modern architecture course and studying abroad in Central Europe with him, she fell in love with studying architecture. Blanche is originally from Middleburg, Florida, but has family roots all over western Pennsylvania.

Bryan Trew is a senior in the Architectural Studies program. His four years at Pitt have given him a diverse set of experiences, including the chance to work on a project for a sustainable housing community in Kathmandu along with a journey to France, to study the elements of space, power, and memory at the Palace of Versailles. Bryan will be attending Carnegie Mellon University for his masters of architecture in the fall working towards his goal of becoming a practicing architect.

Sana Mahmood is a junior triple-majoring in History of Art and Architecture, History and Philosophy of Science, and Biology, with a minor in Chemistry and a Certificate in Foundational Concepts of Medicine. She is a co-founder and the current President of ARTificial, Pitt’s only club focused on the creation and appreciation of the visual arts. Sana volunteers at the Carnegie Museum of Art, where she serves as a teaching assistant to art instructors that lead Saturday Art Classes for Kids (SACK.

Juliane O’Day is a junior majoring in Architectural Studies, a field that she was interested in for quite some time before coming to Pitt.

Caroline Fazzini is a junior, majoring in the History of Art and Architecture and Studio Arts and pursuing a minor in Museum Studies. She is currently serving as an undergraduate teaching assistant for Dr. Erin Peters' Museum Studies special topics class on audience evaluation.

Gene Han is a sophomore majoring in Architectural Studies and minoring in Studio Arts. Originally attracted to the popular pre-med track, Gene switched when he realized he was more intrigued in creatively expressing his ideas with hands on work rather than regurgitating specific functions of the endomembrane system. The studio life seduced him.  

Anika Shah is a junior and an Architectural Studies major who is also working towards a double minor in Studio Arts and Sociology. At first, she was unsure which field to pursue in her studies at Pitt, but after much exploration, she decided that architecture was the perfect fit. In the summer of 2015, Anika traveled to both Paris and Prague, where she became fascinated by the influential nature of architecture and the experiences it evokes.

Antonio Parente is a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Architectural Studies, with a certificate in Civil Engineering. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Antonio always wanted to matriculate to Pitt, but was unsure what field he wanted to study.

Eliza Wick is a senior from Pittsburgh majoring in the History of Art and Architecture with a minor in Museum Studies, and a transfer from the University of Kentucky. In the fall of 2016, she helped create an exhibition for the University Art Gallery, Paradoxes of Play: Concrete and Conceptualist Proposals from Brazil and Beyond. She also completed an internship that involved work for a digital exhibition on Botany Hall of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History curated by two Ph.D.

Leslie Rose will graduate from Pitt in April 2017 as a History of Art and Architecture major with a minor in Museum Studies. Her research centers on issues of diversity and representation in modern and contemporary art.