Architecture as Strategies and Tactics both!
Design, the way its taught and practiced has changed a lot in the last few years. With the increasing complexities, demands and technological changes, we are steadily moving towards a newer approach. We are engaging and learning from our context and attempting to build into the fabric. No longer are we the generation which is in its bubble. We are sensitive to these trends and changing dimensions of culture, society, politics etc.
This is also how my undergraduate architecture education in India was framed. We had multiple projects of varied scales, ranging from a small scale movable tea stall to larger organic city studies, which created multiple opportunities for social interaction. The friction between Tactics and Strategies were thoroughly discussed and debated on. I am glad to have been a part of that process that makes architecture symbiotic with its people.
This is also how my undergraduate architecture education in India was framed. We had multiple projects of varied scales, ranging from a small scale movable tea stall to larger organic city studies, which created multiple opportunities for social interaction. The friction between Tactics and Strategies were thoroughly discussed and debated on. I am glad to have been a part of that process that makes architecture symbiotic with its people.
Our Studio's very first project aimed at understanding how the tea sellers (informal sector) made a living out of selling tea. We had to comprehend and learn from the transient nature of these stalls, their spatial layout, and needs and draw them all out in detail. The aim of this exercise was to make the students understand their everyday life and make them design a better solution for the tea sellers.
Another project in my undergrad focused on the organic settlement of Jagganath Puri. Our study emphasized the use of the nooks and corners created by such settlements as places of social interaction and how they bled into larger public spaces.
Your studio project in India sounds like a very engaging learning process and something American Universities can learn from as a model to learn about urbanism. I think thorough study and research are greatly missing from the architecture studio model and could be better integrated for a better learning experience. I would argue that students would learn more from observation and study rather than moving so quickly into design.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting way of going about studio education and I completely agree with Chelsea- universities in the US could learn something from this. I think our design-build studio was probably the closest I'll get to this sort of learning just based on the research we did and designing something that will actually get used because we had a client, budget and deadline to factor in.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, as you did with your tea sellers project, architects need to be the observers, who watch the environment and study the interactions between the users and the space. It is only then that we are able to truly produce good, effective design. I also agree that while we lack this a bit in our schooling, it gets much worse at the professional level, especially with large firms who go after projects without ever once physically encountering the site, which is a shame because the social and natural environment have such a large effect on the success of a building.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our generation is ready for change and trying to keep up with it. The balance of strategies and tactics in your undergraduate education is great and I'm sure has helped you form the knowledge of design you currently have.
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