An internship with Czech glass and crystal brands BOMMA and Rückl gave Enderun Architecture graduate a closer look at how light, materials, and craftsmanship shape a space.

For Enderun Colleges BS Architecture graduate Maria Angelie Solis, an internship with BOMMA and Rückl in Prague brought the finer details of design into focus.

A lighting fixture can look convincing in a rendering. Making it work in a room requires a closer understanding of the material itself. Glass has thickness, weight, and variations that affect how light passes through it. Those details became part of Maria Angelie Solis’s architectural education during her internship in the Czech Republic.

Solis, a BS Architecture graduate from Enderun Colleges’ Class of 2026, completed her placement with BMRC Group, working under its Marketing Department in coordination with design teams for BOMMA and Rückl. Based in Prague, she encountered a side of architecture that extended beyond plans, construction sites, and buildings.

Her work brought her closer to the decisions that shape how people experience an interior, from the form of a lighting installation to the finish of a crystal object.

“It was part industrial design, part interior architecture, part material research,” she writes in her internship reflection.

Two Brands, Different Approaches to Glass

Understanding the placement begins with the companies themselves.

BMRC Group brings together Czech glassmaking brands, including BOMMA and Rückl. BOMMA, founded in 2012, creates handcrafted sculptural lighting. Its work combines traditional glassmaking with contemporary design and technology, producing pieces that range from individual fixtures to large installations.

Rückl has a longer history. Its glassmaking heritage dates to 1846, while its Nižbor glassworks was established in 1903. Known for hand-cut crystal, the brand gives Solis’s experience a connection to a craft sustained across generations.

The distinction mattered. At BOMMA, she found opportunities to consider expressive forms and the possibilities of lighting. At Rückl, she observed the precision involved in making and finishing crystal. Together, the brands offered different ways to examine the relationship between an idea, its material, and its production.

Where Marketing Meets Design

Solis’s responsibilities included client-facing work, research, and tasks involving renderings and material publications. She also had opportunities to work alongside marketing and design directors.

The placement gave her a view of how design moves beyond the studio. A product must be developed, presented, understood, and considered for use. Working where marketing and design intersect exposed her to those connected responsibilities.

For an architecture student, that setting offered a practical lesson in collaboration. Her architectural knowledge remained relevant, particularly when considering lighting and interiors, while the work required her to engage with people whose expertise came from other disciplines.

She began to understand architecture through its relationships with product design, engineering, craft, and art. Seeing stages of production also gave her a fuller appreciation of the work behind a finished object.

Seeing Light Beyond the Rendering

Some of her most useful observations came from watching how glass behaved.

Solis describes seeing how it refracted, scattered, and softened light. She noticed how thickness could affect brightness and how hand-blown forms differed from machine-made pieces. These were material conditions she could observe directly, adding another dimension to what she had studied through diagrams, calculations, and renderings.

The experience sharpened her attention to lighting’s role in a room. It can direct movement, establish a focal point, and influence how a space feels.

BOMMA’s approach also encouraged her to reconsider the forms she used in her own work. Exposure to sculptural lighting prompted her to think more freely about floor plans and façades, including curves and shapes that challenged her existing habits.

Rückl offered a complementary lesson. Watching artisans work reminded her that a finished design depends on careful execution at a much smaller scale.

“It’s easy to get consumed by the big concepts and ideas in design,” she writes.

Her attention returned to joints, railing curves, façade patterns, and the way a surface responds to light. These details demanded the same consideration as the larger concept. Observing craftsmanship gave her a clearer reason to study them closely.

Learning to Live in Prague

Outside work, the adjustment was more ordinary and equally necessary.

The Czech Republic had not been her first choice of destination. She arrived in a country whose language, transport system, and working culture were unfamiliar. Grocery shopping, boarding the wrong tram, and trying to understand directions became part of her daily education.

Each task required her to make decisions without the familiarity she relied on at home. Over time, those experiences helped build confidence.

“You will really discover how brave you can be when you choose growth over comfort,” she reflects.

Relationships made the transition easier. Fellow interns, colleagues, professors, and people she met during her stay offered different perspectives and a sense of familiarity. Conversations and shared experiences became part of what made Prague feel more manageable.

Her growth also happened during quieter moments, walking through streets, watching daily life, or reflecting at the end of the day. Living abroad gave her time to consider both the work she wanted to pursue and her ability to adapt to an unfamiliar place.

Solis left the internship with a broader understanding of architectural practice. A placement in marketing and design had brought her closer to materials, production, and the people responsible for turning concepts into finished work.

“It really did help me discover what kind of designer I want to become,” she writes.

For her, that discovery involved learning to look more closely: at the glass, at the light passing through it, and at the decisions that would eventually shape someone’s experience of a room.