Taryn Barrett

I love finding and making... nothing in particular - sewing, refinishing, painting, anything really.  I enjoy the process: the planning, the search, the discovery, the creativity, mistakes made along the way, the sense of accomplishment, and the beauty of aging.  This is what brought me to architecture.  As a child my first "architectural" experiences ranged from my father's  log cabin magazines, to fabric and paint swatches from my mother (an interior designer), a doll house, a ladder modified over and over to climb trees, and play houses constructed from hay bales in the barn or mapped out in the tall field grass.  Then in middle school a first place science fair project captured my attention all night while modeling the hanging gardens of Babylon.

After discovering my passion for design coupled with a competitive attitude towards track and field I found myself at Miami University (Oxford, OH) for six years.  My architectural interests were scattered between graphics, computer rendering, salvaged and recycled materials in sustainability, industrial buildings and sites, teaching, study in London and Italy, and universal design.  As an architecture student I was one of the few who was also an athlete.  My role as a heptathlete and captain of the track team challenged my multitasking abilities beyond the hurdles, shot put, high jump, 200m, long jump, javelin, 800m, and the occasional 4x400 race.  The time management skills that I acquired as an undergraduate athlete gave me the ability to work on a custom accessible home for Lianna, (right in picture) as a graduate student completing my thesis.

After graduation I moved to Vermont where TJ (my husband) and I bought our first home in South Burlington.  My interest in accessible and universal design quickly led me to Michael and Bob.  I have been at Duncan Wisniewski Architecture since June 2008 and continue to enjoy every minute!

EDUCATION   
Miami University, Oxford Ohio
Master of Architecture, 2008
- Henry Adams Fund: AIA School Medal
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, 2006
- Magna Cum Laude, GPA 3.8, Departmental Honors
- Miami Academic Dean’s and President’s List
 
AWARDS   
2007-08 AIAS Community Service Honor Award
2006 Miami University Female Scholar Athlete of the Year
Miami University Undergraduate Summer Scholars Award 2005
First Prize: Metal Construction Band Shell Competition 2005
EPA Team Award for Recycled Paper Wall System 2004

PUBLICATIONS   
Thesis: New Lives for Industrial Buildings: Merging Preservation and Sustainability
Proceedings for 2007/2008 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Conference, Central Conference, and Southeast Fall Conference

TEACHING                 
Miami University Teaching Assistantship,
- Freshman Graphic Media Course: Oxford, Ohio
Miami University Teaching/Traveling Research,
- London, England

TRAVEL       
Abacos Islands, Bahamas
San Salvador, Bahamas: Tropical Marine Ecology Class
London, England: Thesis Research
Dublin, Ireland
Northern Italy
Vancover and Victoria, British Columbia
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

INTERESTS
Outdoors, Track and Field, Running, Cooking, Traveling, Gardening, Making