Chomp Chat with Cydney McGlothlin
Cydney McGlothlin is always looking for ways to express her creativity. With her father and brother both being architects, creativity has always been a large part of Cydney’s life.
Working at UF for nearly 20 years, Cydney contributes to the programming of buildings on campus with just a few of her notable projects being Steinbrenner Band Building, Harn Museum Asian Art Wing, the Reitz Union expansion and renovation, the Career Connections Center expansion and renovation, and the Herbert Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence. Holding the position of the University Architect and recently obtaining membership to The Association of University Architects (AUA) Cydney certainly plays an influential role on Gator Nation.
What you may not know about Cydney is her love for quilting. Growing up, Cydney watched her grandmother quilt and in recent years has used quilting as a hobby and creative outlet. Cydney remarkably is self-taught and often will use her talents to make quilts for her two children as well as gift quilts for coworkers expecting a baby. She explains that the type of quilting she does is modern quilting, which involves the use of bold colors, prints, and graphics.
What sparked her enjoyment for quilting is her passion to learn, which also translates to her role at UF. “One of my favorite parts of my job is learning from researchers, faculty, staff, and students about what makes them passionate and working towards how we can create the space that allows them to take it to the next step. We are always thinking about how we can make the best impression for everybody who comes to campus. Our campus must reflect our Top 5 ranking.” Being a member of The Association of University Architects (AUA) Cydney also notes she enjoys learning from her peers and sharing with others what UF has to offer.
As Cydney explains a correlation between the design process for quilting and the design of campus she says, “The way I envision our campus is like quilting. In quilting, you have your base color tone and additionally you have these signature pops of colors and design aspects that are highlighted throughout. For example, I make a lot of black and white quilts, but I will include a spark of red or spark of blue. At UF we strive to have a cohesive base feel to campus but also have certain buildings that stand out and pop. No matter what, everything must work together in harmony.”
She goes on to say how a large part of her every day involves thinking about how the team can continue to make UF’s campus a cohesive campus from a pedestrian level while incorporating striking buildings throughout. Cydney says she gets personally energized walking through campus and seeing how the community and its people interact with the spaces Planning, Design & Construction have created. “I always encouraging our team to pick their heads up, look around, and see all the great things we do.”
