Ashley Mowry, of Ottawa, has wanted to be an architect for as long as she can remember.

After graduating from high school, she applied for admission to the Bachelor of Architectural Studies at Carleton University but was unsuccessful. Instead, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in History and Theory of Architecture at Carleton, which she completed in 2021.

“While I enjoyed it, I still wanted to pursue a more practical study of architecture and decided to apply for the Master of Architecture program,” Mowry says.

With no idea of how to create a portfolio, she took STUDIO FIRST in summer 2020.

STUDIO FIRST is an intensive five-week studio in architectural design for students from a wide range of backgrounds who are considering graduate studies in architecture, urban design, or landscape architecture. The main goal is for participants to generate portfolio material appropriate for application to a three-year Master of Architecture or related design program.

In fall 2021, Mowry entered the three-year Master of Architecture program at Carleton.

“My portfolio is entirely made up of work I did during STUDIO FIRST,” she says. “I truly believe that STUDIO FIRST is the reason I was able to create a successful portfolio and get accepted into the MArch 1 program.

“In terms of formatting, I wanted to make my portfolio as simple as possible to let the drawings and images speak for themselves,” she adds.

All images courtesy of Ashley Mowry.