Catherine Chattergoon, BArch ’24, is a project team member at Adjaye Associates, the architecture and design firm whose recent projects include The Studio Museum in Harlem and Princeton University Art Museum.
In the following Q&A, she tells Prattfolio how she sought mentorship and connection to bridge the gap between graduation and a creative career that serves as an extension of her values.
Can you tell us about your current role and what a typical day looks like for you?
Adjaye Associates works across a range of scales and disciplines in the architecture and design work we do, but at the heart of all of our projects is deep commitment to building structures that support the needs and voices of diverse communities. We design work that celebrates culture and context.
Looking back, what was the most valuable part of your Pratt education?
Learning what it means to live your life in pursuit of your passion. The community at Pratt taught me what it means to believe in your creativity and curiosity. It helped me recognize the beauty of living a passion-driven life—following your dreams without hesitation and knowing your work as an artist and designer can enable the dreams of others as well.
What’s a professional skill you developed at Pratt that you rely on today?
I learned and refined a variety of skills at Pratt that I use today, but the skill I appreciate the most is the ability to articulate the importance of the arts in societal change.
I came to Pratt as someone who loved art and design and wanted to spend the rest of my life creating. I left knowing that art and design have a fundamental role in change, consciousness, and building a better world into existence.
I feel grateful to have a steadfast understanding of why we as artists and designers must go to work and contribute to the world through our practices.
Can you walk us through your journey from graduation to your first full-time creative role after Pratt?
I first became involved in the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) when I joined the student chapter, NOMAS, at Pratt. Through the organization, I met many diverse practitioners who also studied at Pratt, such as the great Pascale Sablan ’06.
I leaned on my NOMAS network to help with my transition, and it was through the organization that I found an employment opportunity at Adjaye Associates.
The firm shares my sentiment of practicing architecture as a social good, and I now have the pleasure of working with Pascale as our CEO.
Can you tell us about a particularly difficult professional challenge you’ve faced?
While architecture school teaches you the fundamentals of design, the application of the design skills you learn in school is quite different in the field. It can be hard at times to learn the nuances of architectural practice while keeping up with the demand of projects, but I have learned that experience is a valuable teacher and am grateful for all of the learning opportunities I have had so far.
Thinking about your portfolio, is there a specific project you consider a turning point in your career?
The most influential project I worked on while at Pratt was Replay: Reset Towards a New Commons, which was supported by the Pratt Center Taconic Fellowship and the Center for Architecture.
I was a member of a multidisciplinary team of students, faculty, and diverse practitioners, and together, we worked with gifted young designers living in NYCHA housing in East Harlem to reimagine what joy, play, safety, and belonging looks like in their homes and community.
This project illuminated the ambition of my career: embracing architecture as a means of practicing compassion and moving towards social and spatial equity.
What advice would you give to a student about making a creative career a reality?
I recommend viewing your career as a “continuous project altered daily,” a concept from Robert Morris that I encountered at Pratt.
Your work is not just about big ambitions, but also the daily journey of creation, experimentation, and exploration. After graduating, I learned that every success story is unique and often filled with unexpected pivots.
The life you want is yours to shape, so never lose sight of how you tend to your dreams each day.
