Here with this writing, I would love to share my personal humorous experiences in Architecture from my academic and practice-based internship stay. It was at a time when I was geared up and fired up myself to explore the practical spheres of the experiences in Architecture. I was a young design advocate and passionate Architecture student at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University in Ethiopia. The education comprises many intensive courses within the tiresome five years curriculum which is also accompanied by a mandatory half year-long internship at one of the selected and accepted Architectural offices. The internship was a pre-graduation half-semester practical course. Architecture students should study and work in design and Engineering offices outside the routine university studio experiences.
Reposition
I was an apprentice at one of the leading designs and Engineering offices in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Since I have joined the office for the successful completion of the university-industry linkage- UIL internship program, I was continuously challenged and confused by the great mismatch between the Architectural academia and its according practices. I was captivated to entertain and work with the lately recognized school-based and sometimes fictious design freedom. In which I was interested in showing my skills and expertise by leveraging the untapped potential of Architecture in providing solutions through designs for urban and building spaces. In fact, I was trained enough to project ‘fancy’, ‘standard’, ‘cozy’ and ‘glossy’ of these spaces even if I have remained short in designing them.
There was no such demand in almost every project. The demands were immature, extremely conditional, different, and dynamic for which I wasn’t ready even if it were inevitable. I said yes and one more time I have strived to understand the reality on the ground from all the professionals, office, and client perspectives. Luckily, I finally and clearly understood my role as a designer was not only to orchestrate the complex and multidisciplinary systems in Architecture but also to meditate on the tripartite and sometimes more desires from multidimensional perspectives. Hard right!
Rethink
The most interesting and humorous part of my student life was about concept derivation for projects. I mainly worked on subjective words as project concepts and also sometimes used amateur metaphoric expressions. Both were experimental trials in which I have significantly gained good knowledge and skills on how to direct designs using holistic and project leading Architectural concepts. I was more eager for contextual and socio-economically responsive concepts. When joining the apprentice office, the Architectural concepts of almost every building and urban designs were neither abstract, well-cooked nor artful like I have learned, and experimented to do so; but were simple wording and phrase suggestions which could impress not the design but the client who was basically the finance source. Compromising Architectural concepts for marketing purposes was truly sensitive for a young and passionate practitioner like me. It has brought a heavy inner argument between the concreteness of temporarity and durability. Here, I have realized the Architecture market and its multi-layered ecosystem was far more interested in the business aspects of Architecture than it’s solely basics and the ‘beyond’ human sceneries. So, my role was also to be creative in balancing these needs.
Re-de-fine
Doing so, I was continuously repositioning and rethinking my apprentice and Architectural practices to further understand and re-define the reality in a way I can at least help and at most directly intervene on the betterment of livelihoods by prescribing design principles of Architecture as omnipotent ordering tools. I have crucially developed an Architectural ideology that an Architect is more of orchestration, arbitration, mediation, and creation of truly best solutions by liberating places to functionally tranquilizing spaces. After successfully attending and completing my academic internship, I then went back to college to better implement the lessons learned and finish my undergraduate Architecture study by taking the reality outside the university in mind. Most of the time, I used to deeply think about the undergoing reality versus genuinely and honestly speaking, my hope both fades and shines as I started to comprehend how the system is in both extremes by failing and providing opportunities for young design enthusiasts like me. We were unconsciously urged to take Architecture at its face value even if it is a lifelong toughest lesson.
My personal experience I have gained in working with different professionals in the construction sector gave me a chance to nurture my knowledge of integrated building and urban designs. I was also privileged to travel and visit different construction sites in and outside Addis Ababa. This exposure has given me a benchmark insight of the Architect’s routine apart from design studios. These said: Ethiopia is one of the leading developing countries in Africa and the world with very young demography. The generation wants to see positive changes and transformations in the built environment and this is a big chance to work on. I strongly believe the fresh, talented, and passionate young generation of Architects in my country will shape my city, Addis Ababa to be true of her name and I will definitely put my marks.
