Brooklyn's brownstones unarguably are magnificent and impressive, with their historic architecture, detailed facades, spacious and sturdy stoops, subtle shifts in earthy shades from one to the next ...
But for Carla Giarrusso, a project executive with more than 25 years of experience in construction, its the infrastructural details that stand out: air vents, inlets, ductwork — things that affect how the building works.
“All of those play into how you put a building together," Giarrusso says. "It's always a puzzle, and it’s a new puzzle every project.”
See her work up close in Prospect Park, beginning with the restorations of the Prospect Park Boathouse, the Tennis Center, the Lakeside Center and Grand Army Plaza. All of these renovations have Giarrusso's Midas touch.
In construction, women only make up around 11% of the workforce. But that has never discouraged Giarrusso.
Giarrusso grew up in Long Island and was exposed to construction and architecture at a young age. Her father was an aeronautical engineer, and her grandfather worked in design. And in grade school, she elected to take classes in mechanical drafting and architectural design.
She went on to study architecture at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. After graduating, she moved to Boston and found work in architecture firms around the city.
“When you go from being a student into the actual professional practice, it's a little bit jarring,” Giarrusso said. “Things aren't as abstract or creative as they are in school.”
Through her work, Giarrusso realized that so much of the design process involved understanding how different building systems work together. To grasp this connection better, she decided to spend as much time as possible in the field. There, she witnessed how construction aided design and saw how her drawings and 3D renderings became a brick-and-mortar reality, which she loved.
“There's so much problem-solving and challenges that come, and you learn so much,” she said.
After finding her passion in the field, she transitioned to positions combining both design and construction. She moved back to New York and jumped into projects restoring buildings around Prospect Park.
Now, Giarrusso acts as a project executive at Suffolk Construction. On any given project, she oversees a team of workers in the field, interfaces with the client and ensures the project stays on schedule.
“I just try to keep people moving and happy, and that’s my job,” Giarrusso said.
It’s common for project executives in construction to visit the project site once or twice a week while spending most of their time in an office. But Giarrusso works on-site every day.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said. “You see the information first-hand.”
Aside from witnessing the build first-hand, having the project executive at the build each day builds morale and develops a good team dynamic in the field. It reminds people that they are part of a larger goal, she said.
At the end of the day, it’s people building with their hands. Although construction involves plenty of computer-generated calculations and renderings, the act of building still goes back to our basic need for shelter, she said.
“Construction is a science, a real science,” Giarrusso said. “I always felt it was a really underrated profession.”
