I know I don't know
Habraken asks “What is it your profession knows that others do not?” which gets at the heart of his argument that collaboration is essential for building today. He suggests that architecture of the past is centered around the architect’s relationship with the building, rather than the building’s relationship with the environment. Getting a building to a point where it fits into its surroundings involves a number of different skills and knowledge. In school we are taught to think about design as it relates to our own personal understanding of site, aesthetics, and goals without asking what our limitations are. In asking the question of what we know that others do not, we are also forced to confront what we do not know. Reckoning with this uncertainty will invite a desire to seek guidance from others and–hopefully–usher in more democratic architecture.
Emma, your call for collaboration always strikes a chord with me. As we finish out what could be our last year of school, I can count on one hand the opportunities I've gotten the chance to truly collaborate with students from other disciplines outside of architecture, as part of our curriculum. This to me is a major break from the realities of our practice, as Habraken speaks to the importance of learning what your profession does not know. To me a more democratic architecture should be taught through academic projects that bridge these gaps.
ReplyDeleteCollaborating with people outside our own profession is so important and opens up so many more avenues for creativity. We will learn of ways to improve our design and the lives of those that inhabit it that we would have never been able to think of on our own. If we limit ourselves to collaborating within our own firm with our immediate coworkers, a whole world of opportunity will surely be missed. Collaborating with the landscape architecture students in studio is a tiny glimpse of how we can be provided with information that we did not otherwise know, and I wish we did more of it!
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