GERSTELL ACADEMY
LEADERSHIP • HONOR • COURAGE
LEADERSHIP • HONOR • COURAGE
Blake Bissen ’17 designing enriching spaces for student life.
Blake Bissen ’17 reflects on his architectural education and training leading him to foreign countries, while reflecting on the educators here at Gerstell who fostered his love for learning.
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College Park, MD
After graduating from Gerstell Academy in 2017, I attended the University of Maryland, studying architecture. I lived in the Language House, played club soccer, was an arts scholar, and hosted a WMUC radio show with Joey Tabak. I served as the Architecture Student Assembly class representative for two years and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2021 with minors in Real Estate Development, Construction Project Management, and Spanish Language and Cultures.
Quito, Ecuador
In Ecuador, at the Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, I studied the histories of indigenous and colonial art and urbanism in the Andes mountains.
Charlottesville, VA
I continued my studies at the University of Virginia, earning a Master of Architecture and a graduate certificate in Real Estate Design + Development. There I lived on The Range in Thomas Jefferson’s ‘academical village’ built over 200 years ago. I traveled to Warm Springs, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles designing for rural and urban contexts. This May, I was honored as a recipient of the University of Virginia Faculty of Architecture Award for Design Excellence.
Barcelona, Spain
For my last semester as a UVA graduate student, I lived in Barcelona, contributing to a research studio led by Manuel Bailo of BAILORULL Arquitectura, studying adaptive reuse of Barcelona’s coastal post-industrial brownfield sites and considering how to redevelop them for urban living. We spoke with preeminent Catalan design firms like H Arquitectes and Flores & Prats, where we discussed the importance of material heritage and using design to illuminate and enrich the layered histories of places and their people.
Barcelona, Spain
For my last semester as a UVA graduate student, I lived in Barcelona, contributing to a research studio led by Manuel Bailo of BAILORULL Arquitectura, studying adaptive reuse of Barcelona’s coastal post-industrial brownfield sites and considering how to redevelop them for urban living. We spoke with preeminent Catalan design firms like H Arquitectes and Flores & Prats, where we discussed the importance of material heritage and using design to illuminate and enrich the layered histories of places and their people.
Washington D.C.
I currently live in Washington D.C. and work as an architectural designer with Ayers Saint Gross, an employee-owned design firm. We work with 100% mission driven clients to create places for shared knowledge and culture that enrich the world. As part of our student life community, I spend my days sketching, drafting, detailing, and imagining places for students to learn, to live, and to gather.
I’m grateful for so many great educators from Gerstell Academy who helped build within me a love of learning and the confidence and ability to pursue my passions.
2500 Old Westminster Pike
Finksburg, MD 21048-1823
410-861-3000
1-866-861-3300
Finksburg, MD 21048-1823
410-861-3000
1-866-861-3300
