Now, as a third year architecture student at Carnegie Mellon, Shivani Jain has learned a lot. It all started when she arrived one morning on the rainy CMU campus and parked outside of Mudge, where she would spend the next 5 years of her life. Intimidated by the Architecture major at first, Shivani pushed through and challenged herself, even discovering new pursuits.
Shivani comes from a family of engineers, but she decided to break the norm in her family and push her creative efforts forward. Ever since high school, she has had a passion for painting and drawing and has even integrated her artistic finesse towards her architectural renderings. She has dabbled in photography and fashion design and is passionate about tennis as well. However, the first year of architecture was a struggle. Endless all-nighters and sleep deprivation caused Shivani to question whether she wanted to pursue architecture. Her headstrong nature forced her to stick through the program and during the summer of 2013, she traveled through Spain on an Architecture Study Abroad, in which she composed a sketchbook of architectural diagrams and sketches of each of the buildings she saw. Next she traveled to the Middle East to do an internship for an rchitecture and engineering firm, AECOM, in Doha, Qatar. These experiences have helped her view architecture and the world in a new light.
This past summer Shivani explored new pursuits. She worked with her friend Jacki to develop garments and apply to become designers for the Lunar Gala Show. Through trial and error and hand drafting, Shivani and Jacki learned how to create their own patterns that would fit their concept. Fortunately, they were successful and have recently sewn their final collection. Shivani is excited and proud to participate in Lunar Gala’s 2014 Hypnose show. Shivani has learned a lot through fashion design and her experiences with architecture and she hopes to one day integrate her knowledge of architecture with fashion design and become successful. Her dream is to have her own designer boutique located in Soho, New York.