When the night falls and the entire campus is surrounded by an aura of silence and emptiness, in one corner the architecture department shines in its glory. Sounds dramatic? But that’s the truth, night stays are one of the many reasons that make the architecture students unique. The concept of night stays or pulling up all-nighter is not an occasional thing for them, instead, it’s a part of the routine.
Every new project begins with a series of night stays, fixing and editing the site analysis. These night-stays become the most memorable one because everyone stays back on campus and works together; well not everyone is working, yet contributing in their own distinctive ways. Let’s travel down memory lane and find how you contributed to these all-nighter group assignments.
The Entertainer
In every studio there is always this small group of people who are there to make sure that everyone working is kept entertained the entire night, these people are the sole reason that the studio remains alive the entire night. They are the ones who set-up the music system and arrange the playlist and know how to adjust a dance floor right in the middle of the studio filled with sheets and models. No one can underestimate their potential in keeping the studio lightened up in night stays no matter how much the workload is.
The Jugaad
Remember that smart kid that always comes up with a solution when all of a sudden you are short with supplies in the middle of the night and no one knows what to do and how to get done with the work. This is one person who comes with the best ideas, if recycling old models. When you forget to buy plants for the model and he begins to create tonnes of them, buy a scrap of styrofoam and a handful of sand. This person comes like a blessing almost as a gift of God in the middle of the night, in these night-stays you realize the importance of his jugaad techniques.
The Spot-boy
Did you ever had a spot-boy (chote) in your studio, well I guess every studio has one; this person is clueless about the work situation in the studio but is very much aware of what is needed in the studio. Let it be the stationary or a cup of coffee or snacks, he or she is responsible for providing everything in the studio. You will never find this person in the studio; he is wandering around the campus, joining in occasionally.
The Extrovert
No one can teach you tricks to get done with work the way your senior can. After all, it’s not been long that they have been in the same situation, but who will dare to ask them. This is the perfect time when that extroverted student of the class who had to spend his semester trying to be friends with seniors gets to show his interactive skills. His friendship becomes the savior of the night stay when he/she brings in a senior to guide with the work and fixtures problems.
The Fixit
Well, the name of this person is very much self-explanatory but let me explain it through a personal incident of my studio. No matter how organized the work progress is, there are always these moments when things start to fall apart and this Fixit person of the studio is there to hold back everything together. Once in my studio when accidentally coffee was spilled over the entire sheet of drafted section and the entire class freaked out. This person fixed it but created the rendering style of coffee-stained drawing for the presentation.
The Calculus Guy
When 20-30 people are working on the same thing, it is very difficult to keep all measurements and all the drawing scales cohesive, and making everything on the model on a scale. But every studio has this one measurement guru who is so clear about all the dimensions and measurements. This person sits in a corner is busy fixing and aligning all the dimensions of the site keeping track that every measurement is precise.
The Caterer
We all are very well aware that the architecture students are always broke. We are literally on the verge of selling our kidneys to buy stationery. Therefore, arranging food in a reasonable amount for everyone is itself a big task, the foodie of the studio is always able to bring something like that to the table at the end. You see this person sitting in one corner scrolling through their mobile phone the entire time and maybe sometimes you don’t even like that person but admit it or not everyone loves this person at the end when the food arrives.
Thus, these collective night stays are the most memorable experiences of the year, I am not sure about how much work is done but definitely, it is a great time when everyone gets to know each other. These night stays are almost seen as a culture of the architecture department, something that makes students spend days and nights in the studio turning it into their second home.
