Siddhartha Mukerjee said, “History repeats itself and science reverberates.” This resonates deeply when we consider architecture’s past and future trajectory. Architecture is one of the oldest professions—a perfectly brewed, balanced concoction of the arts, humanities, and science. The learned game as Corbusier said. Born the moment the cave-dweller, taking cues from nature, carved out a hole to let a crack of light in. Architecture is very much a human study. Threading together all the intangible elements of nature, preferences of the mind, body, and soul, it is the first embodiment of tastes, music, theatre, and everything that a human being created – the mother of all arts. There’s a significant emphasis on patterns and periodicity. In architecture and design, patterns are all we are surrounded by, regular at times, and irregular at other times. But the pattern is a constant. Syntax and grammar to design prevail over the land of the built environment. Architecture and the built/unbuilt environment, is at its essence, a keeper of memories – of thoughts, ideas – as much as an embodiment of a collective culture, tradition, as it is of a beacon of hope, a wellspring that nurtures the now.
The Evolution of Architectural Education and Practice
Architectural education evolves, is passed on, and is built upon by every generation that walks into its revered, hallowed halls. Education, formally, has been cited by a significant section of the scientific community to have ebbed the flow of the creative wellspring. It takes unlearning, and relearning by the wilful and determined to once more get attuned to the frequency of thriving innovation. Humanity is born with multiplicitous creativity that pulses and thrives in a young child. It takes various forms, shapes, and punctuation as one grows and evolves. The next biggest revolution after massive globalisation to take the world by storm is mass customization. And Architecture has a strong role to play here.
The Challenges Today
Architects are in a rat race, however much they want to accede or no matter how much more they dislike these tracks and timers. But all of that still doesn’t negate the trials and tribulations they face in the architectural academia and practice now. The pause, the gap of hesitation that the public’s imagination has with the significance of an architect in society. The misconception that architects are interior designers and elevation experts and that they work for luxurious urban projects only is staggering. That architects are not integral to spatiality. The human experience of life, in itself. This predicates a lack of strong footing to demand the right fee, especially fresh out of university. The profession becomes an if then, not a when. Internal strifes and clashes within the architectural fraternity exacerbate the issue, the solution driving itself farther and farther away from reach.
Forging Ahead
It is imperative that architects stake their claim firmly as vital contributors to community and individual well-being through awareness of the community, not advertising but with the sole intention of communication. The scientific studies they do and the research work they undertake must be taken back to the grassroots, to the common man for whom they practise and process architecture for. Architects make tall talks of designing with efficiency, with purpose, with a paradigm-shifting concept but it is equally and even more important that they ensure that society understands the nuances of their work. A doctor, a lawyer, an engineer fills the public’s firmament with the role they play in service to the society. It is high time that architects communicated the essence of their practice and study to their people.
The Future of Architecture
The future of architecture, then, is most closely connected to the future of humanity. The acceleration of capitalism and its hunger have been conspicuously visible for the last few decades. One would think, growing up, there had always been a cap to things within which humans could make room for enjoyment as much as possible. A middle ground that emphasised a rejection of excess, of greed. Redundancy was seen as a sin. Thorough and efficient usage was the norm. In a world where excess and extravagance are often glorified, the architect’s challenge is to advocate for the thoughtful use of resources, for spaces that prioritise well-being over ostentation. Architecture becomes a necessity when it prioritises the collective over the individual. Society and humanity along with it, is always in flux. Time and change flow over the educational system washing away, and dislodging practices, and theories that do not stay the course of growth and evolution. The studio of the future is hoped to provide a more nurturing creative environment that emphasises encouraging and civil attitudes, within, despite, and because. It is in the pursuit, the future will take form, take flight. Architects are not just creators, they are custodians of their shared future, navigating the landscape with a broader understanding of what it means to be human. By embracing their role as holistic thinkers, championing their visions of hopes and wishes for a brave new world of architecture, one where they are rightfully understood and recognized for the role they play.
