MZA is delighted to introduce Brianna Bartelt, recipient of our summer 2022 internship program.

▪️Brianna received her B.A. in Architectural Studies from Boston University in 2019 after transferring from Middle Tennessee State University. She is currently pursuing a Master of Architecture degree from Taubman College at the University of Michigan.

▪️Brianna grew up in construction. Her dad works in residential remodeling here in Nashville, and she grew up going to job sites and breathing in sawdust. During undergrad, she started interning at museums but after taking more studio courses and studying abroad in Venice, Italy her senior year, she started considering architecture school. She loves experimenting with new materials which continually open up new possibilities for design.

▪️She attended Hume-Fogg high school before the Nashville boom: "then, downtown was pretty quiet without many pedestrians about. That’s hard to fathom now! All this growth has brought the city so much, I just hope Nashville doesn’t lose its charm."

▪️When asked if she sees herself practicing in Nashville: "I think so. I would love to see more affordable housing near downtown. A lot of my friends keep having to move farther and farther from downtown to afford living here. I would like to see fewer tall-and-skinnies, more site-specific buildings, more density, and more adaptive reuse."

▪️And OF COURSE she is a musician! She released her debut album Hex Sign under the stage name Bri Barte in February 2022. "I worked on it between undergrad and grad school. I wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on the record except for a couple of drum parts. I’d call it a bedroom pop album!"