Architecture + Community Build Certificate for all Schools
This week we’ve discussed how there is a disconnection
between architects and the needs of a community. There are many forms of pseudo-participation
which allows the public to think their opinion is heard when in fact the
architect is persuading them to approve of what they’ve already designed. After
working a few years at a firm, it was obvious that both the clients and the
project managers wanted to move the project along as quick as possible often
never getting public opinion until the final ARB meeting. I wonder if one of the reasons this occurs is because community involvement within the design process
is not a fundamental lesson taught in architecture schools.
It wasn’t until I
went to Clemson that I heard of an Architecture + Community Build certificate. And
I believe our graduate professors have done a tremendous job asking us to
always think about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ our architecture may be for the people. After seeing the success of the program in
Charleston, I think community design build programs should be a requirement in
all architecture schools. If this lesson is consistently taught within schools,
students can see the positive impact it has on the design process within an environment
where the client, budget, and time do not influence whether community members' voices
are heard. Then students will have these
skills and confidence to question our colleagues once we enter the
architectural field.
Great point. I think often we work on projects in our own bubble without any real input from the community or a real client. The clients are our professors but what they want is very different from someone actually living and interacting with the site and eventually the project. Maybe the solution at the extreme is community build project and at its simplest is design projects with interacts and input from the community, keeping their needs and desires in mind even in a theoretical project.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. I would be just like not using Revit in school and then trying to apply it to the field after we graduate, almost impossible. It would be great to be given more tools on how to engage with the public in a productive manner.
ReplyDeleteI personally think everyone should take a seminar or studio in community design because I feel how we are educated effects our outlook on architecture. I think architects are put up on pedestals in a way that disengages them with the public. Yes we have the "special knowledge" and we can conceive space in a unique way that ordinary people can't, but if we produce architecture without context, I believe it loses value.
ReplyDelete