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An allowance of exploration: scholarship opens doors at home and abroad
For as long as Dylan Findlay can remember, architecture has been his passion.
Dylan Findlay, pictured in Building 10, New Academic Street, Melbourne City campus. Photo by Emma Phillips (Bachelor of Fine Art, Hons, 2016).
The Master of Architecture student was first awarded a Carey Lyon Scholarship in 2015 while completing his undergraduate studies.
“I grew up surrounded by family friends that were architects. And I got taken into their offices, and saw the big drafting tables. That is really what captured my imagination.
“I’m from Queensland, but I got convinced by someone to apply for RMIT, because they’d heard that it was really good for architecture.
“The first year of uni, I was eating baked beans three times a week – just cheap and easy kind of feeds. Then when the scholarship came it paid for better living, spending more time at university.
"Not having to worry about my finances all the time, I could really just focus on what needed to be done."
“It also allowed me to take some studios that I could not have otherwise afforded. I ended up taking one at the start of last year which involved a field trip to rural New South Wales, if I didn’t have the scholarship I would not have been able to pay for the excess course fees. And that is one of the best studios I have taken. And on top of that, I am also planning a semester on exchange and the scholarship is a cornerstone to that adventure.
“The money is one thing, but the currency of those experiences that have been awarded is something that you can’t really put a price tag on because that has really contributed to so much of who I am now and what I’m interested in.”
Findlay now works for Carey Lyon’s award-winning architectural practice, Lyons, which is responsible for New Academic Street on the Melbourne City campus.
Thanks to Carey Lyon
The Carey Lyon Scholarship is made possible by a generous donation from Carey Lyon, director of one of Australia's leading architectural practices, Lyons. Lyon is an alumnus of RMIT, having completed his Master of Architecture in 1992. Lyons is responsible for two major capital works at RMIT; Swanston Academic Building (Building 80) and the soon-to-be-completed New Academic Street (Buildings 8, 10, 12, 14).
If you would like to establish a scholarship, leave a bequest or donate to research contact the Philanthropy office to talk about how you could make an impact.
Story: Ally Forward