An MIA Alum Went From Dietician to Interior Designer
Abbey Bartkowski, MIA ’24, began working at the firm R3A Architecture after completing her Master of Interior Architecture degree this spring. (Photo courtesy of Abbey Bartkowski)
Abbey Bartkowski, MIA ’24, was working as a dietician when she started to pursue a degree in architecture, chasing a desire to tap into her creative side.
The Scranton native had made Pittsburgh her home after several years of college and graduate school, so she quickly gravitated to Chatham University’s Master of Interior Architecture (MIA) program, the only accredited program of its kind in the Steel City.
One part of the program she appreciated was that it was quick to complete. “That was very appealing,” she said. “I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in school again.”
Architecture department chair Kyra Tucker said the MIA degree, which was revamped for the 2024-25 school year, was designed that way.
“We’ll be bringing in a class on our new curriculum, which has gone from 72 to 54 credits, starting this fall,” said Tucker, who’s also the director of the architecture program.
One big thing that’s different: people could have stayed in the program for as long as five years before, if they wanted. Now, it’s leaner, and students take classes for two years straight. With just nine credits per semester, it still gives folks the flexibility to attend school without quitting their jobs.
“It’s a more palatable way to do graduate school, because most of our students are change-of-career students,” Tucker added.
Bartkowski was one of the students in that position.
“I felt like they did a really good job of catering to people like me, who did not have a design background at all,” she said. “The professors were very patient with me and others … in articulating the verbiage that is used in the industry, not making us feel bad or down because we didn’t know those things.”
While she said it was intimidating at first, Bartkowski found courses covering drafting and architectural history gave her a well-rounded introduction to the craft.
“We would start up with hand drafting and we would build up to working with 3D renderings and 3D programming, which is what most firms use today,” Bartkowski said.
“Because I did those more fundamental skills at first and learned where to add things and why—just using a pen and paper—it really helped my understanding once I moved onto the more complex, 3D programs.”
In her final semester, Bartkowski started an internship at R3A after getting connected to the firm through a member of Chatham’s faculty. Now, after recently graduating in the spring, she’s working in a temporary, full-time position at R3A while she tries to find where she’ll go next.
“I’m working on about four different projects right now, and they’re all in different phases,” she said. Her day-to-day work includes looking through and annotating construction documents, helping design presentations for clients, and helping with material selection.
“I’ve touched each part of a project at different stages, which is really cool,” she said.
For others who may be considering a career change or are interested in pursuing a career in interior architecture, Bartkowski said Chatham is a great option.
“It’s a city school, it’s a beautiful campus, and the professors are willing to work with you and your schedule.”
Chatham University offers both Bachelor and Master of Interior Architecture degrees. Learn more at chatham.edu.