School of Architecture
CUSE works with outstanding students of all years, colleges, majors, and disciplines.
If you are a School of Architecture student and would like to highlighted on our page, please fill out this Google Form!
Rylan Chromy, Class of 2026
FUSE (Sorin) Scholar
Hometown: Schuyler, Nebraska
Major: Architecture
Minor: Italian and European Studies
What is your favorite spot on campus?
The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. There is a sense of peacefulness and restfulness that isn’t found anywhere else on campus. I like spending time there during mid-exam weeks or whenever I am stressed. It is also nice spending time outside in the fresh air. I also enjoy the grotto because of my year in Rome through the Architecture program. I loved the beautiful setting and architecture in Rome and Notre Dame’s grotto brings out the same beauty I experienced there. It is also a place of quiet. ND’s basilica has similar elements to the architecture in Rome, but the location and the attraction of the basilica to tourists and visitors causes it to be busy and loud. The grotto is tucked away and one has to be quiet for those praying.
What has been your favorite course(s) at ND so far and why?
Graphics 4: Watercolor
During my year in Rome, I took a watercolor course taught by Professor Kelly Medford where I was able to go around the city of Rome, learning how to paint, while using some of the prettiest buildings in the world as practice.
I originally hated watercolor, but this technique is crucial in the architecture program. I held resentment towards the medium because I had to use watercolor in my first and second year of the program. Many architecture students were talented while I could not utilize watercolor well. However, Professor Medford’s course helped me grow in this medium everyday. There was physical proof that I was getting better with every lesson. I eventually learned how to enjoy painting and rendering with watercolor. We would also get to explore Rome to paint. Professor Medford would choose the location for each class session and we would go and paint there. We painted by St. Peter’s Basilica, the Trevi Fountain, and various beautiful villas. We got to explore the city while improving our watercolor skills.
How did you decide on your major/minor?
Since I was a child, I have always said that I was going to be an architect someday, and while I didn't know what that truly meant at the time, even after figuring that out, it still holds true. I had been claiming since I was 6 that I wanted to become an architect. I realized what this meant by the time I was in high school when I began researching careers. This solidified my decision to major in Architecture in college. I was incredibly lucky that Notre Dame, a school I wanted to attend since I was young, had a phenomenal Architecture program.
Now, I have a meaningful relationship with this major. To me, being an architect is about giving back. On the surface, this profession doesn’t seem that important. However, architecture is everywhere and affects everyone. I would like to be a part of a profession that has a positive effect in the world. What I design can be given back to the public. The field of Sacred Architecture means that I get to design churches and cathedrals. Even if someone is not religious, churches are so pretty that people go visit them. I saw this with tourists in Rome. During my four years of study, I have come to really fall in love with the subject, not only because I enjoy what I am doing, but because it is a way for me to help people and serve the public through providing the spaces in which life takes place. I would like to build something that outlasts my life.
I added my European Studies minor before adding Italian. I wanted to be engaged with European cultures to be able to diversify my perspectives. It wouldn’t be right to put an American building in the middle of European cities. I wanted to move beyond American-centrism. However, as I took courses in this minor, I gravitated towards Italian courses.
I chose Italian as another minor of mine because I had been taking Italian related courses with European Studies, but also because I was going to be in Rome for a year. I wanted to be more than just a tourist there and really dive into the culture and language. The Italian minor is more than just the language, but about Italy in every form. Each city in Italy also has a unique history whether you are in Rome, Florence, or Venice. In addition, I got to be my friend groups’ lead communicator in Rome. I was able to recommend places to visit and figure logistics out for my group. It paid off and I had a lot of fun! These two minors led to many experiences that I could not have imagined my freshman year.
What are your research interests?
I have conducted multiple facets of research, both pertaining to the world of Sports architecture, while also exploring diplomacy through the use of sports. In the fall of my sophomore year, I traveled to Dublin, Ireland, for the Aer Lingus Football Classic and researched how American and Irish cultures combined and interacted through a purely American sport played on foreign soils.
Sports venues are generally inactive after the season for that sport is over, but it takes up a lot of space. Especially in European cities, sports venues are at the center of busy cities. I wanted to work on how to give a stadium life for the other days that it exists outside of the sporting season. For example, Notre Dame’s football stadium now has the Duncan Student Center attached to it. Now the stadium and student center is a hub that remains active beyond the home football games.
During my junior year, I traveled to London and spent a week researching the way Premier League Football stadiums across London were built into different communities allowing for these massive structures to be used for more than just the few days of the year in which a match takes place but integrating community elements into them, such as grocery stores, exercise centers, schools, and museums.
Finally, as of February 2025, I am in the process of applying for a summer internship and research grant through David M Schwarz Architects that would allow me to return to Europe to study Marian Basilicas and Cathedrals across western Europe to study and document the architectural language of Marian churches in preparation for my senior thesis.
What kinds of extracurricular activities did you participate in and why?
I am a part of the Humor Artists of Notre Dame, the only improv comedy troupe on campus. Improv taught me how to be able to talk and think on the spot, in front of people. This is a necessary skill that has helped me in my academic field. As an architect, I would need to be able to sell my designs and answer questions about it on the spot. Beyond these skills, I find this group to be awesome. Improv also combines my love and background of theater and I have fun on stage, where I truly get to be who I am.
I am also very active in Morrissey, both on intramural teams as well as activities within the dorm. I love being active with sports and I believe that this is the best way to enjoy sports. I also feel a sense of brotherhood with the Morrissey dorm and those on the intramural teams.
Academic clubs that I am a part of are the Notre Dame Students for Classical Architecture as well as the American Institute of Architecture Student's Chapter of Notre Dame. I joined these clubs to further my professional and academic goals. We meet about once a month and there are cool lectures.
What are your future plans? How did you decide on this?
After graduation, I hope to immediately enter the field. My plan is to pursue a career in Sacred Architecture. After a full year in Rome, I saw how impactful architecture could be. Building a church or a cathedral is more than just an art piece and building, but a reflection of God’s glory and beauty. A beautiful church is spiritual. Everything in the church is done to reflect that. There is nowhere else where one is more connected to God than in the presence of a eucharist. I would like to be able to build a building that reflects this.
Sacred Architecture is also in the middle of a revival. Many firms across the country build beautiful churches. In the middle of a recession, church goers and others still fund church construction. People attend churches even during tough times. Sacred Architecture is also a stable field.
How did you find out about CUSE and when?
I received an email to apply for the Sorin Scholars (FUSE) program my Freshman year. I applied and got accepted. I wanted to be a part of a community that wanted to take their educational interests to the next step. I also wanted to be able to engage with others outside of Architecture. I was able to get my foot in the door to the many opportunities and resources CUSE provided. I was able to bring together my love of sports with my academic trajectory of studying Architecture– I wouldn’t have been able to bring these interests together without CUSE and other members of Sorin Scholars.
How has CUSE helped you?
CUSE has been my number one resource that I have used since my first year. CUSE guided me towards resources on campus, assisted with all my applications to various scholarships and internships, and helped expand my ideas through dialogue. CUSE helped turn a thought bubble I had into a concrete research proposal. CUSE has also been there for me every step of the way in my academic career. I also had a new group of people to engage with and to learn from through the Sorin Scholars program.
Did you apply to any grants, scholarships, or fellowships through CUSE?
Yes! I applied for the Nanovic Research Summer Grant, the Nanovic Winter Research Grant, a Summer Internship with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, the David M. Schwarz Summer Internship and Research Grant, and the US-UK Fulbright Commission Summer Institute. I also received funding from CUSE for research.
What advice do you have for applying to grants, fellowships, scholarships, or internships?
My advice to peers who hope to apply for grants, fellowships, and internships is to just go for it, no matter what. If there is something that you're truly passionate about, there are so many people across this campus who would want to help you make your aspirations into reality. I have found that asking someone is always the first, and hardest step, when it comes to these things, so once you can get past that fear, you enter a whole new world of opportunity.
What have you learned from CUSE that you will carry with you past your undergraduate experience?
That anything is possible.
CUSE helped take a personal interest of mine and make it relevant to my academic goal and trajectory. I originally wanted to watch a football game in Ireland and through the help of CUSE, I was able to connect this to the architectural interests that I had. While I watched the game, I was able to come up with a creative project. I was able to connect Sacred Architecture with Sports Architecture.