One wish counts twice: Centrale Lyon and the architecture double major
Do you want to tell us about your path to engineering studies?
I've always loved science, but I also had a creative side that I wasn't sure what to do with, so I put my faith in science. Preparatory school was an obvious choice, I did a PC preparatory school because the subjects seemed more balanced.The first year was very hard. I didn't really know what to expect. Some people's remarks and the pressure didn't help. It put up personal barriers, I didn't feel up to it. Psychologically, the second year wasn't going very well, I ranked my schools a bit haphazardly and didn't get a school I really liked. Then it all clicked! I cubed to start again this second year and I got away from the system in quotation marks...I worked all the subjects in my own way and without pressure.
What made you choose Centrale Lyon?
After the competitive entrance exams, I knew I would have to choose between Centrale Lyon and ENSTA Paris. As I come from the Paris region, I was naturally drawn to Paris. But when I saw the double curriculum engineer-architect at Centrale Lyon in partnership with the ENSA Lyon, it changed everything. I could give meaning to my creative side. I knew that if I ranked ENSTA Paris before Centrale, this option would disappear. I did some thorough research and opted for Lyon, with no regrets.
How does the selection process for the double engineering-architect curriculum work, and what's the rhythm?
At admission, you're given a sentence created by the course leader, a deliberately absurd sentence, and you're given carte blanche to respond to it: comic strip, sculpture, text, drawing... The main thing is to show that you're capable of thinking outside the engineering box. It did me a world of good to get back into something creative after three years of prep school. Once entered, the pre-selection process continues with texts and drawings to be handed in every week on very free themes, it's poetic, open, stimulating. There were six of us from Centrale Lyon, we quickly bonded, and the four who made it to the end were all admitted. Then, we form a class of our own at ENSA Lyon with Thursday afternoon sessions mixed with other double-diploma students from INSA Lyon and ENTPE. We learn directly through projects and independently. Right from the first year, we turn in plans for a single-family home: it's demanding, but it's also what makes the curriculum unique.
Managerial drive and the winning triple
You became president of the BDE in your second year, what did it bring you?
I was president of the BDE in my second year and I loved it in a way I hadn't anticipated: managing a team, bringing people together, creating something together. It was a real revelation! Then during my internship in a front-end design office, I realized that spending my days behind a computer with no interaction wasn't what I wanted. I saw the double degree with emlyon and I told myself that this was where I wanted to go professionally. My tutor said, "You have to choose, you can't do everything." And she was right on paper. At that point, I was ready to quit archi at the end of the second year.
And in the end you didn't have to choose?
That's where chance came into play. I was admitted to the double curriculum with the emlyon but the unregistration for the architecture school had not been done. I received both timetables and realized that it was compatible. I asked the administration if I could continue the architecture curriculum in parallel with my first year master's at emlyon and this request was accepted. I hadn't planned it, but I seized the opportunity.
How is the double-curriculum at emlyon?
It's very different from archi, but finally quite close to Centrale Lyon in the method: lectures, TDs, group projects. What really stood out for me was the field approach: we're pushed to go and interview real players, identify real needs before creating anything. We cover finance, strategic management, CSR, business creation... In my second year I did a work-study placement with Egis in business development, which enabled me to confirm that management in a real professional context was really where I wanted to be.
Three diplomas, one project
How do these three backgrounds come together in your career path and your projects?
During the Master 2 program at emlyon, I had a final project to hand in, and for a while I'd had the slightly crazy idea of a participatory hotel in which the employees would be homeless people, themselves housed in the establishment. While working on this project, I met an alumnus of the architecture school who said to me: "You've done the business study, that's good. But now you've got to design the building. You've still got two years of master's to go to the end of the architecture degree, these are the best two years. Keep going."
Did you graduate from all three courses? Where are you today?
Today I'm a graduate of Centrale Lyon and emlyon. I'm pursuing a Master 1 in architecture at ENSA Lyon and I work part-time in a smart city consultancy. It's my triple background in engineering-architecture-business that got me this job. Whether I go ahead with the participative hotel project or not, I realize that the three courses of study are completely compatible and, above all, useful!
With hindsight, any advice for those who would like to embark on a double or triple degree course?
In pre-prep, you absorb a huge amount of work it helps to project yourself onto busy schedules and when you really enjoy what you're doing, the load becomes different. I've done a lot of voluntary work alongside my studies, and I've never had the impression that all I did was work. In my opinion, you have to be strategic about the areas you put your energy into, you have to accept that you won't tackle everything with the same intensity. At the time, I couldn't see how it was all going to come together, but I had a real desire to follow what seemed coherent at the time. Today, all three really make sense!
