Lessons Learned
After reading Rural Studio one of the things that struck me most was all of the lessons learned by the students that were unrelated to the technicalities of architecture. Reflecting on this brought me back to some of the discussions that we have had in class about the role of architectural education. For a long time I, like many others, have felt that our education should better prepare us for what we will be doing in an office. Building code, mechanical systems, modeling programs, and other "hard skills" are a very small part of our education and many students are left feeling unprepared for their career after graduation. But, what I have recently started to realize and has been reinforced by this reading is that school (architecture or not) is a place for soft skills. Reading through some of the interviews from students left me with a sense of admiration. One student listed some of the skills he has learned such as time management, taking risks, being flexible, and being humble. These students leave the Rural Studio with a skill set that empowers them to make a positive difference in the world.
Courtney, I completely agree, I think that having these skills, especially with actual client interaction is one way that architecture education can and needs to diversify itself. Similar to community build, and a studio I took in my undergrad. In school we are so disoriented from the people that matter, the ones that will actually be using our architecture, and I wish we were exposed to that more often.
ReplyDeleteI came to the same realization while I was in Graduate School Court. I remember how frustrated I was in undergrad when I was not taught how to use Revit or how to create the kind of projects that I worked on while I was in the office. I believe that what architecture school does, is to ensure that we never lose our sense of creativity, imagination, and hope in the built world. It inspires us to look at a new textile school in Asheville as an opportunity to house and educate the homeless, or at domestic violence victim housing in Alaska as a place to create community. School teaches us that we as architects can create new realms never before created in order to help society as a whole.
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