Valmira Gashi M Arch ’20 and Julien Legeard, of Legeard Studio, have established a new scholarship for M Arch students at Gashi's alma mater, the Spitzer School of Architecture, as a way to give back and foster a new generation of talent.
Valmira Gashi M Arch ’20 and Julien Legeard have donated $22,500 to the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture to establish the Valmira Gashi & Julien Legeard Scholarship in support of a student enrolled in the M Arch program.
The donors have contributed $7,500 for the Spring 2024 semester, with the remainder of $15,000 to be disbursed throughout the 2024-25 academic year.
In addition to the scholarship money, recipients of the award spend a summer interning at the Legeard Studio, under the close supervision of the principals.
“We grow with them and they grow with us,” said Gashi. “We want this to be a mentorship.”
“I had an amazing experience and I loved my professors,” said Gashi. “I had full scholarships for two of my three years. Spitzer helped me to be a designer and I want to have that level of impact and passion. I always wanted to give back, and a scholarship seemed to be the logical way to do that.”
Gashi and Legeard have created space for the interns, who may have the opportunity to join the firm as employees when they graduate.
“We want them to finish their education before they start, which is why this is a summer internship,” said Gashi.
The Summer 2024 Legeard Scholar, Perparim Morina M Arch’24, recently accepted a job with the firm as a junior architect.
“The opportunity to gain knowledge from visionary designers and gain first-hand exposure to crafting impactful designs aligned perfectly with my career aspirations,” said Morina. “This internship not only boosted my academic knowledge but also provided real-world exposure crucial to my growth as an architect.”
The Summer 2025 Legeard Scholar is Tyler Hernton M Arch ’25.
A property manager for a Brooklyn real estate company for the past decade, Hernton won the Spitzer School’s Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Scholarship for academic excellence last year.
The firm’s reputation had much to do with his decision to apply for the scholarship.
“Julien and Valmira [are known to] nurture emerging talent,” said Hernton. “Legeard Studio has local as well as global appeal, and they do good work that will help me grow as a designer -- not only on a technical level, but on a people-to-people level.”
“It is so wonderful that Valmira is already in a position to give back to her alma mater in such a meaningful way,” said Spitzer School Dean Marta Gutman.
About the Anne and Bernard Spitzer School of Architecture
The Spitzer School of Architecture, the flagship public school of architecture in New York City, is committed to creating a just, sustainable, and imaginative future. Through innovative research and interdisciplinary collaboration, the distinguished faculty educate the diverse student body in degree programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, urban studies, and urban sustainability. Students are invited to design, to build, and to dream; they weigh in on (and intend to solve) the crises of our time; they learn the fundamentals of the craft of the professions of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. As designers, builders, developers, public servants, leaders, and innovators, graduates of the Spitzer School reflect and enrich the complex communities in which they live, practice, and work; they become skilled, committed, and engaged professionals who advocate for a better city, a better country, and a better world.
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