Opportunity Meets Preparation

Anyone who could donate to a program like the GLP could literally be changing someone’s life. 

Carolina Gazal, Bob O’Connor

Mher Tarakjian’s story is emblematic of how dedication, discipline, and talent, combined with a lifelong association with AGBU can lead to success as the accomplished professional architect, community advocate, HUYS scholar, and Harvard graduate design student that he is today. 

Tarakjian received an AGBU Scholar-ship to pursue his graduate studies and is no stranger to the legacy and ripple effect of AGBU. Back home in Aleppo, Syria, he grew up in a family fully immersed in all things AGBU. He attended the AGBU Lazar Najarian-Calouste Gulbenkian School, where both his parents are alumni, frequently attending the AGBU Center, partaking in the Armenian Youth Association (AYA) Scouts, and sparking his artistic side at the AGBU Mardiros Sarian Academy. 

Tarakjian describes his coming of age years as synonymous with AGBU. “Until today I still think back to my very unique childhood, I don’t know if that can be replicated anywhere else.” 

These roots inspired his multi-tracked engagement with the larger Armenian community today, in tandem with his successful ten year career as a professional architect. 

A New York Summer 

After years of participating in various AGBU programs and classes with friends and family members also active in the AGBU Aleppo community, Tarakjian entered the University of Aleppo to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an architect. During his final year, he traveled abroad to the United States with a full AGBU scholarship to the then-called New York Summer Internship Program (NYSIP), now called the AGBU Global Leadership Program (GLP). It was the perfect opportunity to enhance his skills and knowledge in the real world of work in one of the most architecturally diverse and innovative cities on the globe. 

At the same time, political unrest was brewing in his hometown. In 2011, large-scale protests, student demonstrations, and rallies would soon erupt as part of the Arab Spring protests. Shortly after he received a visa and free admission to the NYSIP program, riots escalated. “Syria was starting to get bloody,” the architect recalls, “and I was in the United States while all of this was going on.” 

The GLP participant is forever grateful for AGBU’s safety net during this tumultuous time, and, more important, the invaluable experience he gained at the esteemed Ismael Leyva Architects firm for his first-ever stint in New York, let alone the United States. “It’s a beautiful program that supports undergrad and graduate students with various interests, and we’re all Armenians from different places—that’s just a very beautiful proposition to anybody and New York was the additional element.” Little did he know how vital this program and network would become in the next steps of his career path, where his mentor Areg Asatryan showed him the ropes of New York architecture, an entirely different genre from Syrian architecture, all while speaking their native tongue to one another. “New York was already a culture shock for anybody, but with AGBU, we felt at home,” he says. “To me, I would describe it in one word as wholesome. It felt like I was coming back to a place I knew, even though those two months were like a fairytale of wonderful new friends and a huge support system.”

Breaking New Ground

Upon returning home from his AGBU bubble to finish his architecture degree, however, Tarakjian realized war was quickly seeping through Syria, military presence was on the rise, and citizens were seeking refuge in different countries amidst frequent bombing, fleeing to Lebanon and Armenia. Yet, the then-student still had to wrap up his education and defend his final thesis—all while Syria was becoming an active war zone. 

Thanks to this AGBU program, Tarakjian still had an active visa that allowed him to travel back to the United States. “I was so lucky,” he stresses, recalling the whirlwind months that changed the course of his life. After attending a workshop in Cairo for honors students, Tarakjian left for New York and continued to work at Ismael Leyva.”You never know what’s going to happen,” he says. “Because of the GLP experience, I kept in touch with Ismael Leyva and things fell into place.”

After working in New York for three years, Tarakjian got his New York architecture license and proceeded to work in smaller New York firms for a handful of years before moving on to larger firms in the Big Apple like the Bjarke Ingels Group, handling major projects like the Wildflower Studios building in Astoria —a film studio facility for major production companies. This experience ignited his curiosity about the larger, societal effects of architecture on the environment and society. He felt compelled to pursue additional studies for an intensive ecological approach to architecture. 

With this new goal in mind, Tarakjian set out to pursue a Master’s in Design Studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design as an AGBU scholarship recipient yet again, still forever grateful for all the AGBU stepping stones that shaped his artistic ambitions and drive. “[The AGBU Mardiros Sarian Academy] gave me a lot of the basics for going into a visual practice—and architecture was the perfect balance between arts and engineering.” 

The Gift of Gratitude 

Putting it into perspective, Tarakjian adds: “Anyone who could donate to a program like the GLP could literally be changing someone’s life. That’s how impactful this unique experience can be for someone with the drive and desire but not the financial means to take part in a two-month program located in such an expensive city as New York.”