Up until high school, most of your decisions have been taken for you. All you have to do is show up and do your best. As you make your way towards the end of high school, you’re considered to be old enough to start making most of your own decisions and the path forward can look like a blur. Life after high school is a drastic shift from the regular, scheduled, and predictable routine to a life of uncertainty and doubt. It is especially true if you’re a student considering a future in a college of architecture. Coming into architecture, you must’ve been bombarded with certain “have and have nots” or the “must-haves” to excel in architecture. Maybe these “qualities” were the reason you decided to get into this extensive field. Or, if you were anything like me, A small trigger made you realize that this was the future that you want, one where you had the power to imagine anything, in a world that was probably not yet ready for it.
Regardless of why you got into this field or are planning to get in this field, there are no instructions that are set in stone as you begin your journey, and all the presumptions are nothing but experiences of a few that can be far from anything you will go through. As you step forward, you will make some of these assumptions too, and then maybe you can one day note them down to make others realize that the experience of one doesn’t have to be the experience of many.
Every individual creates their understanding of what works for them and what probably doesn’t, and in this article, I’m sharing with you the things that I learned and am learning as I move forward in this world of architecture.
Tools should not dictate your design.
Through the years, there have been various innovations in the field of computer-aided design, but we seem to blur the line between understanding that these tools were made to aid your design process and not dictate it.
No tool can replace the power of a good model.
No matter how advanced digital modeling gets, a well made physical model will always help you explain your design better. A physical model allows you to understand the spaces inside and how the form would look in real life. A physical model helps you understand the scale and proportions, which can be challenging to gauge through software.
Doing is just as important as thinking.
As you go through the perils of a designer’s block, you likely feel like you cannot get things done, and it is also possible that you have brilliant ideas that you just aren’t able to execute. In such a situation, it is essential to understand that bringing those ideas into the world is very important, that may be in the form of sketches, models, or even splatter of paint on a blank canvas, this will allow your thoughts to flow.
Failure is allowed.
College is a place where you’re allowed to experiment, and you can find new ways of presenting your final design or make models. You can experiment with new mediums such as VR and have concepts that may seem absurd. It is important to understand that college is a place for learning and trying, and sometimes a failed experiment might be better than a successful box.
Good design always surpasses good representation.
In a world of first glances, you should not forget that a good functioning design holds much more weightage than a drawing that looks magnificent. It is also essential to remember that, however pretty you make your drawing, the presentation won’t hold any value if it is not legible.
By-laws aren’t the enemy.
We tend to dislike the by-laws because we think they restrict our designs, but the fact is that once you start designing in the real world these by-laws are still going to exist and so the sooner you learn to work with them, the better control you will have on your design.
The process is just as important as the product.
The final outcome of your design will be governed by how deep you went into the design process. Having an understanding of each part of the process will give you the confidence to explain your design to the best of its ability. And your confidence is directly linked to how you can convince the jury of your design
College does not teach you everything.
Architecture is a multidisciplinary field. You can link architecture to subjects varying from biology and chemistry to writing and acting. The majority of things you learn will happen when you explore outside your college’s realm because there is only so much that you can fit into a syllabus.
Smart work is just as important as hard work:
Architecture is a course that requires grit and hard work. As architects, we tend to think about the tiniest of details and meticulously plan everything. While this an important quality to possess, it is imperative to understand that hard work should be towards something useful, and hence being smart in your work is very important
Don’t be afraid to ask questions:
As you learn something new, you are bound to have questions. Sometimes we feel as if our question is too silly to ask, and the fact is it might be as foolish as you think, but it is likely that the people around you had the same exact question. What matters, in the end, is that you understand what is taught.
Your learnings in the first year are actually very significant.
Those lines and dots that you drew? Yes, they are vital; they will help you as you start your designs.
Your faculty’s constant emphasis on documenting all your work is a habit that if you form, you will not regret. Sometime in the future, you will need all the work from your first year, and that is when you will understand its importance
Taking a break from all things architecture is fine.
I will go to the extent of saying that taking a break every once in a while is a must. Architecture is born out of your mind, and in this day and age, it is essential to give that mind a rest so that you feel rejuvenated. Architecture should make you feel energized, designing should get you excited, and when these feelings are replaced with that of compulsion and strain is when you know you need a break.
As you go forward in your journey and create your own experiences passing down your own presumptions I will leave you with this “Develop a passion for learning, if you do, you will never cease to grow” – Anthony J D’Angelo.
