8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

1/21

Lifelessons Ilearnedin

Architecture

school

...

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

2/21

When I think of architecture, a very dierent image comes to the forefront of my m

than the one that used to appear years ago. It wasnt unl high school that I realize

had a so spot for design. I started to indulge in design shows of all sorts on TLC a

HGTV. I realize now that the design you see on television is just one are of the mu

tude of elds in design.

My inspiraon for design oen comes at the most random of mes. A few years ba

I designed a very simple bed frame made of clean lines and hard edges. At the m

modern forms and straight lines intrigued me. I cannot give you the exact reason

why that style appealed to me, it just did.

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

3/21

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

4/21

1Youcantbelieve

everythingyousee

onTV

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

5/21

College quickly taught me that nothing is ever as easy as it looks. Television des

shows are a big insgator of misguided percepons. One of my favorite shows in h

school was While You Were Out which aired on TLC. During the one hour of airm

the target (usually a spouse) would be lured away for an enre weekend. The co

spirator would then let the design team into their home for 48 hours and togeththey would make over a room for the person of interest. At the end of the weeke

the spouse would come home and the one room in their house would be complet

made over. What viewers do not realize is that the design team meets with the co

spirator prior to the taping of the show to learn more about the potenal targe

what they like, what their fashion tastes are, etc. Then, the lead designer goes ba

and comes up with a design that is going to t the needs of the person, designs all t

furniture, and plans everything out prior to the start of the makeover renovao

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

6/21

The same scenario is easily applicable to my experiences at architecture school. G

ing back to the example of the Tea House, I learned that studio projects somem

appear to be a walk in the park. However, when I fully get into the design and bu

process, I oen hit many brick walls of resistance. The nal week before the pr

ect is due is oen referred to as producon week. At this point, most people stevolving their designs and they complete their project based on what they ha

at that me. The design may not be as nished as you would like but now is t

me to start producing your nal drawings and building a scaled down model

your design intenons. It sounds easy enough to draw up the oor plans, trans

them to paper, and build a model based o that. However, when you start to bu

the model, you quickly realize that somemes you have to improvise because n

everything is going to translate directly from the plan to the model. It may not

unl you start building that you realize one secon of your plan is physically impo

sible to construct. Another important lesson Ive learned is that design and cr

are a lot more me consuming than you may think. I have spent three hours wo

ing on one set of stairs for a model that would appear to only take een minut

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

7/21

2Architecture

schoolisntreally

aboutArchitecture

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

8/21

The process for designing that is oen used in architecture can also be used in many o

er applicaons. Everything starts with an inial concept and then from there you ha

to decide what form is going to be most suitable for the ideas you are trying to conv

For me, baking is a lot like architecture. First you need to gure out exactly what it is y

want to make. Perhaps there is a parcular occasion coming up and you need somethspecial. From there you can start to gure out all the ingredients you will need to ma

a complete batch of cookies or an enre triple layer cake. At this point, you could do o

of two things. You could sck to the original recipe and reiterate the same cake out

the book or you could add your own style turn it into your own personalized creao

Architecture is much the same way. You can start from a base model of what you wa

the end to look like, or you can use that base model as inspiraon for your own desi

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

9/21

Through my experiences, I have found that inspiraon for design can come in a

way, shape, or form. Oen mes, Ill see something that will spark an idea and I w

begin to develop my concept from there. Throughout the enre process, though,

ideas are constantly changing and growing. The end result may not look anything l

what I had originally planned, but the idea behind the design is embedded in thesomewhere. I think this can be easily applied to all types of design, whether is

automobiles or desk furniture. The lessons you learn at architecture school and t

methods you develop as a designer go beyond the design of buildings and life form

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

10/21

3Somethingscannotbetaught

intheclassroom

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

11/21

Before we can talk about educaon, it is important to look at learning. Schanks (199

arcle tled Goal-Based Scenarios: A Radical Look at Educaon suggests that t

main problem in schools is the curriculum. He argues that natural learning is how

learn best. It gives us movaon and goals to accomplish only what we want to

complish. To support his claims, Schank recommends a curriculum that more clos

resembles learning in the real world. Oen mes in school, we are encouraged

learn and study things that our teachers want us to learn but not necessarily what care to learn. Schanks concept is important to keep in mind when we want stude

to succeed in school. It is safe to say that interest is a terrible thing to waste. If

want students to care, we have to teach in a way that invites creavity and personal

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

12/21

College has taught me the value of learning by doing. High school was all about g

ng a well-rounded educaon so that you were prepared for college with a variety

technical experse. Aer being accepted into the architecture program, I was excit

to narrow in on my love of design and harvest the skill set necessary for a professio

degree in architecture. College career-based courses oer a chance for students su

as myself to really develop all the necessary knowledge for a parcular degree. T

classes are a lot more hands on and the retenon of informaon is a lot higher wh

you actually have a chance to carry out some of the processes you are learning abo

You can read and write about precast concrete all you want but unl you actually go t

pre-casng plant and see the forms being precast in front of your very eyes, you will n

understand the depth of it. A picture is worth a thousand words but a demonstrao

worth a thousand more. I think it is safe to say that everybody learns beer by doi

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

13/21

4Thejourneyyoutaketogetthereismor

importantthantheplaceyouretryin

togett

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

14/21

Ive taken away a lot more knowledge and life gain from the processes Ive go

through to get to an end. From this assignment alone, Ive learned that nothing e

turns out the exact way you envisioned it from the beginning. I can also relate this

my me here at college. Before starng the architecture program, I assumed I wo

be learning the cold hard facts about how to build and building and make it sta

for thirty years. Nowhere in the descripon of architecture did I read that I would

learning how to harvest my own design skills. At the Bartle School of Architectu

professors Alexi Marmot and Marn Symes (1985) teach a pilot course to the th

year students of the undergraduate program. They call it the case-problem approa

which exploits the strengths of tradional teaching methods while remaining rm

based in real architectural problems. Students encounter a variety of cases intend

to give them a glimpse of some situaons they may face in the future where so

understanding is essenal. Each case involves a clear problem requiring urgent a

on in which no one soluon seems right yet something must be done immediate

The students and educators carefully consider the likely ramicaons on t

building and those involved in the development. Through this method of leaing, students learn a great deal from the frank and open extended discussio

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

15/21

Having said that, I want to add that maybe students need to stop worrying so mu

about how each course will or will not prepare them for their future endeavors. Po

sibly the real focus of school needs to be about the interacons we have and t

people we meet. I have learned that somemes a seemingly irrelevant course c

help my struggles during the most unsuspected mes. Having a blank slate in ter

of technical experse and praccal knowledge allows me to invoke my creavity mo

freely. I have also come to realize that some things dont always turn out the w

that have helped me to succeed at another thing later on down the road. It is i

portant to you originally planned. However, the lessons Ive learned through failu

of one thing have helped me to succeed at another thing later on down the roa

It is important to understand that the nal product of your eorts is not going teach you anything. The eort you made to get to the end is where the real value l

in learning. Looking back at the Tea House project from my rst year, I gained a

more depth and knowledge by my willingness to learn from my failures along the w

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

16/21

5Yourworkisnever

complete

E i I h l l i h l t t t th d E

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

17/21

Ever since I was younger, my whole goal in school was to get to the end. Every m

started an assignment, I couldnt wait to nish it. I was more focused on the nal pro

uct than the work I had to complete to get to the end. This lesson goes hand in hand w

the previous life lesion that the journey you take to get to the end is more importa

than the actual end. Through the process of designing, I quickly come to realize th

there is never enough me to do everything that you want to do. In that sense, yo

work is never complete because there is always something more you could be doin

have found that even in college, there is always ten more things I could be working

wards instead of sing in front of the television watching my favorite shows. The wo

you produce and the amount of me and eort you put into it is completely up to y

as a designer. I use the word designer lightly in this case. No maer what the task, yare always in control of the outcome therefore you are the designer. It also es in

my next life lesson in that nothing ever stays the same. Ive learned through mulp

projects that there is always more you could do to advance your design or paper. L

is constantly giving me lemons and so Ive got to keep making lemonade with the

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

18/21

6Nothingeve

staysth

sam

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

19/21

I am a place in my life right now where my views seem to change from one day to t

next. The ideas I came up with last week and the things I once drew inspiraon fro

do not have the same meaning they once did. I have learned through school, amo

other things, that life is just one big journey. I do not know where my journey is go

to take me or what I am seng out to do. The only thing I am sure of is that I am usure. I have also learned that it is important to take advantage of the things that me

the most to you when they present themselves to you. Architecture is very much t

same way; it is dynamic but not stac. It is constantly changing with the trends

the mes. Everyday there are emerging concepts that connue to evolve and gro

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

20/21

A decade ago, green design and sustainability were virtually unheard of. Now, e

ery rm is striving to meet green building codes in one way or another. One w

that rms can gain recognion for their smaller footprint on the environment

through LEED cercaon. According to Flora (2009), it has been nine years sin

the incepon of LEED. She also states that just as with any useful tool, LEED neeto be periodically updated and evaluated. Like anything in this world, educa

and pracce need to be able to adapt to the mes. The architecture profession

going to need designers that can go above and beyond whats already been do

8/14/2019 Life Lessons I Learned In

21/21

Flora, R. (2009, September 1). Perspecves: a lifelong learning pathway. Retriev

from hp://www.edcmag.com

Marmot, A., & Symes, M. (1985). The Social Context of Design: A Case ProblemApproach. Journal of Architectural Educaon 38(4), 21-31. Retrieved from

hp://www.jstor.org.

Schank, R. C. (1994). Goal-Based Scenarios: A Radical Look at Educaon. The Jour

of Learning Sciences 3(4), 429-453. Retrieved from hp://web.ebscohost.com.

Pictures by: hp://www.deviantart.com/