“For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an architect,” Matthew Wilde tells me.
“My uncle is an architect in Dundee, and when I was younger and the competition was going for an architect to design the V&A, he would take me to the open days to see all the projects.
“He would buy me the latest architecture books.
“And he would talk to me about his time as a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.
“That kind of started my interest in architecture.”
Since then, Monifieth-born Matthew has graduated with a degree in architecture from Dundee University (where he won student of the year), gained a master’s in the subject from Yale University (where he was also a teaching fellow) and is now designing townhouses in New York.
All this, and he’s just 26 years old.
Upon learning his age I can’t help but say this makes me feel under-accomplished (I am 28) which earns a bashful laugh.
He probably gets that a lot.
So how does a former DC Thomson paper boy and Monifieth High School student get here?
Matthew, who is speaking to me on the phone from his home in Brooklyn, says every art project at school was an opportunity to throw himself into architecture.
Matthew Wilde was a multi-award winning Dundee University student
This led him to Dundee University, where he completed a three-year bachelor’s degree in the subject.
During this time he won a list of accolades that would exceed the character count on LinkedIn, including the Student of the Year Award, the Interior Design Award and the Institute of Architecture Student Award. He was also nominated for the Architects’ Journal Student Prize in 2019.
“Yeah, it was fun,” he says modestly of his university experience.
This teed him up perfectly for a role working at award-winning Dublin architecture firm, O’Donnell and Tuomey, working on museums and university buildings.
Getting into Yale School of Architecture
Then he got into Yale School of Architecture for a two-year master’s degree.
I ask if the Connecticut-based university (he calls it “grad school”) lives up to the hype.
The answer is a resounding yes. “The campus is amazing. It’s very beautiful. There’s lots of very interesting architecture there.
“I mean, everyone’s very smart, I would say smarter than myself – by far – and just very switched on.”
He emphasises this fact with an anecdote about his stressful first attempt at coding. “I tried to take a coding class, and everyone could already code, and they’ve been coding since the age of 14, and I’m just like – ‘this is insane.'”
The architecture course itself is “intense”, with back-to-back classes, exhibitions on the weekends and educational trips to Mexico, India and Venice.
“They pack a lot in. You need to really want to be there,” Matthew says.
How Matthew Wilde landed dream architecture job in New York
And he clearly did – a fact that wasn’t missed by his professor and esteemed New York architect Steven Harris.
After graduating from Yale, Matthew landed a job working for his company, where he is currently designing two townhouses in the posh Upper East Side.
He is also working on an extension to an existing project in the Hamptons – a luxury seaside resort on Long Island.
Funnily enough, this “aspirational” project has taken inspiration from the Scottish Parliament, designed by Spanish architect Enric Miralles.
“We’re designing it almost like a floating boat on top of a building,” he says.
Does Matthew – who was raised by mum Evelyn – enjoy living in New York?
“It is an absolute whirlwind of everything – it’s so busy.
“They make it seem like it’s busy in the movies, but when you come here, it’s just non-stop.
“People are constantly moving around. And they are as angry as you think they are. Everyone’s incredibly focused on what they want to do.”
And it seems like the perfect place to be for an up-and-coming architect. “There is so much going on in terms of the art world and in terms of architecture. There’s a different exhibition on every weekend.”
‘I do get homesick’ says Monifieth architect
But Matthew still longs for his hometown.
“I do get homesick, I miss my family, I miss the comforts of it,” he says.
“When I was back over Christmas, I just couldn’t believe how quiet things were.”
Last summer, he took some friends from Yale up to the Highlands.
After they asked to go on a hike – “nothing too big” – Matthew took them up Ben Nevis.
“It was great,” he laughs.
His friends seemed to forgive him.
Maybe it’s something to do with the Scottish charm.
“People are definitely fascinated by you here,” Matthew says.
“Everyone thinks that they’re Scottish here, because they’ve got some sort of heritage towards it, so it definitely helps in terms of the connection.
“It definitely makes life easier having the Scottish accent.”
Whenever Matthew comes home he tries to visit the V&A, one of his favourite buildings in Dundee. “[The waterfront] is constantly changing. Every time I come home, something has developed. Like after Covid we had a beach all of a sudden!”
V&A Dundee puts city on the world architecture map
It seems the V&A, designed by award-winning Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, has put Dundee on the map as well.
“I’m usually a bit reserved when I say where I’m from because I always think people wouldn’t know it,” Matthew says.
“But a lot of architects know about Dundee now through the V&A.”
He is also a fan of the Maggie’s Centre – a cancer support centre near Ninewells Hospital – designed by world-famous architect Frank Gehry.
It’s one of the buildings his architect uncle, Graham McNab, took him to visit as a child.
What’s next for Matthew?
“I feel like a bit of me will always want to come home, but I definitely don’t think there’s any time soon,” he says.
“There’s lots to do first.
“I love the idea of coming back and designing a piece of architecture in Dundee.
“I would love to do a cultural building – a museum or a university building.
“Something big.
“That would be my dream.”
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