The Duality of Participation
In his reading "The Negotiation of Hope", Jeremy Till tells us how "the architect should, in effect, be an expert citizen as well as a citizen expert" (Page 7.) He goes on to stress how important it is that "the architect first recognizes and then respects the knowledge of the user" (Page 8.)
Without even finishing architecture school yet, I can already see how this could be a problem with architects. We spend 6+ years in architecture school and dive so deep into the theory of the profession. We spend years accumulating various internship hours and study for a number of exams just to get our licence. After all of this, I can imagine it would be hard to bring ourselves back down to the level of a layperson and relate on a 1:1 level. Understanding the needs and knowledge of the client/user is one of the keys to success in this profession. I am sure there will be moments where we all need to be reminded of this in our career. Being relatable is crucial. What we should all want to avoid as architects is being viewed as the distant figure barricaded in a remote office cranking out drawings. It's okay to view the engineers this way, but for us, we need to make a concentrated effort to get out there and interact with the client/users.
Without even finishing architecture school yet, I can already see how this could be a problem with architects. We spend 6+ years in architecture school and dive so deep into the theory of the profession. We spend years accumulating various internship hours and study for a number of exams just to get our licence. After all of this, I can imagine it would be hard to bring ourselves back down to the level of a layperson and relate on a 1:1 level. Understanding the needs and knowledge of the client/user is one of the keys to success in this profession. I am sure there will be moments where we all need to be reminded of this in our career. Being relatable is crucial. What we should all want to avoid as architects is being viewed as the distant figure barricaded in a remote office cranking out drawings. It's okay to view the engineers this way, but for us, we need to make a concentrated effort to get out there and interact with the client/users.
A classic community design charrette. Perhaps it would be good to re-visit this Jeremy Till reading when preparing a design team for one.
This engineer is very triggered rn.
ReplyDeleteleave your feelings at the door in the spacesofconflict blog
DeleteI agree that today's architects need to be relatable and find ways to express ideas to the public, not just to other architects. Public architecture affects everyone's quality of life so it is important that we are doing the public a service when we design rather than just fulfilling our personal goals.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting perspective to how our school life and graduate demands take away from us. I believe that this can be different depending on the focus professors give to architecture along our formation. In my case, I would be hardly criticize if I did not think of the user or society reaction to a project during my undergrad.
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