Image 1: My current Identity..
Image 2: My Identity in 10 Years.. 39!
I guess Image 1 pleases me as a whole. It feels powerful, chaotic, hopeful and dreamy. I am all of those things. What I feel is my identity right now has a lot to do with architecture and uni. I am competing in this arena that seems often daunting, scary and unknown. The image at the bottom depicts this uncertainty and the image as a whole realises that to attain my goal I need harmony and order. I have a balance of being strong, aware of what I like and aware of my goals (to make somehow the world a better place). The image in the bottom middle square shows this goal and reminds me not to compromise my integrity to get there, to not let the power of the top image overshadow my ideals. There is promise and style to my present identity that wont waver in its strength.
The future image (2) (of myself in 10 years) is not as pleasing to the eye. I’ve made this image to include a lot more balance than I feel I have right now in the present. Because of my studies I often neglect other aspects of my life: partner, family, health and sometimes integrity! It’s not as pleasing to the eye I think because I don’t know this person yet. I’m hoping she will be as strong and together as this person now, but there are things I want to encompass in my life that I am lacking. I want to be more connected with the city (left image), with my partner, and the world. I enjoy travel and hope to incorporate this with helping people and want to open my eyes to global issues (not just read about them).
This week’s cafe began with the exploration of a question:
Q: How often as a user do you feel critical of constructed environments around you?
For me I find it difficult to think critically about a room, a house, a design. First it starts with a feeling. I ‘like’ the house, its balcony, or the roof. Since this degree however I am beginning to move beyond the feeling of liking or hating something and discussing in my mind ‘why’. I must make a conscious effort to explore why I like the roof. Is it the height, the shelter it provides, the tactility, the scale etc. Or am I just reacting to an emotion it evokes in me? Is it a memory of a roof type I played under as a child? To think critically about something comes with knowledge. As my knowledge broadens about the built environment my opinions refine and I have the tool of architectural language to discuss them.
In the reading by Fisher (2005), he discusses a topic about architects drawing knowledge from environmental psychology. He talks about the architectural community ignoring the vast information it provides about human behaviour and cultural needs. I believe that design needs to be multidisciplinary and open to different approaches. The built environment affects human behaviour, health, culture etc so much, why shouldn’t we be informed before slapping the pen to paper? In a recent article in Architecture Australia, Tanner comments that we “must accept and acknowledge that splendid, complex buildings are produced through significant teamwork” (2008, p. 15) We must work with other disciplines; landscape architects, interior and industrial designers, environmentalists, the public when throwing ourselves into design. This made me think about myself as a budding designer and the task of encompassing all disciplines seems quite daunting. I am willing however, to keep learning. To not limit myself to just learning about architecture and to keep an open mind about how I design.
A recent lecture outside of university prompted this aspiration. A local architect that works in the valley spoke about projects he was interested in that were helpful to minority groups in society. He discussed a recent project for a skate park, which appealed to young women who would normally feel threatened in these environments. What interested me was his approach to design and that with each project he had a new team. On this project the panel included a professional skater, an advertising buff, a graffiti artist, a landscape architect and an environmental designer. This approach seems so logical and in context to me I wonder why it escapes the attention of other architects to design this way.
Archicafe Task 2: The Belkin survey and analysis!
Findings: I am a… “Completer-Finisher”.
Image 2: My Identity in 10 Years.. 39!
I guess Image 1 pleases me as a whole. It feels powerful, chaotic, hopeful and dreamy. I am all of those things. What I feel is my identity right now has a lot to do with architecture and uni. I am competing in this arena that seems often daunting, scary and unknown. The image at the bottom depicts this uncertainty and the image as a whole realises that to attain my goal I need harmony and order. I have a balance of being strong, aware of what I like and aware of my goals (to make somehow the world a better place). The image in the bottom middle square shows this goal and reminds me not to compromise my integrity to get there, to not let the power of the top image overshadow my ideals. There is promise and style to my present identity that wont waver in its strength.
The future image (2) (of myself in 10 years) is not as pleasing to the eye. I’ve made this image to include a lot more balance than I feel I have right now in the present. Because of my studies I often neglect other aspects of my life: partner, family, health and sometimes integrity! It’s not as pleasing to the eye I think because I don’t know this person yet. I’m hoping she will be as strong and together as this person now, but there are things I want to encompass in my life that I am lacking. I want to be more connected with the city (left image), with my partner, and the world. I enjoy travel and hope to incorporate this with helping people and want to open my eyes to global issues (not just read about them).
This week’s cafe began with the exploration of a question:
Q: How often as a user do you feel critical of constructed environments around you?
For me I find it difficult to think critically about a room, a house, a design. First it starts with a feeling. I ‘like’ the house, its balcony, or the roof. Since this degree however I am beginning to move beyond the feeling of liking or hating something and discussing in my mind ‘why’. I must make a conscious effort to explore why I like the roof. Is it the height, the shelter it provides, the tactility, the scale etc. Or am I just reacting to an emotion it evokes in me? Is it a memory of a roof type I played under as a child? To think critically about something comes with knowledge. As my knowledge broadens about the built environment my opinions refine and I have the tool of architectural language to discuss them.
In the reading by Fisher (2005), he discusses a topic about architects drawing knowledge from environmental psychology. He talks about the architectural community ignoring the vast information it provides about human behaviour and cultural needs. I believe that design needs to be multidisciplinary and open to different approaches. The built environment affects human behaviour, health, culture etc so much, why shouldn’t we be informed before slapping the pen to paper? In a recent article in Architecture Australia, Tanner comments that we “must accept and acknowledge that splendid, complex buildings are produced through significant teamwork” (2008, p. 15) We must work with other disciplines; landscape architects, interior and industrial designers, environmentalists, the public when throwing ourselves into design. This made me think about myself as a budding designer and the task of encompassing all disciplines seems quite daunting. I am willing however, to keep learning. To not limit myself to just learning about architecture and to keep an open mind about how I design.
A recent lecture outside of university prompted this aspiration. A local architect that works in the valley spoke about projects he was interested in that were helpful to minority groups in society. He discussed a recent project for a skate park, which appealed to young women who would normally feel threatened in these environments. What interested me was his approach to design and that with each project he had a new team. On this project the panel included a professional skater, an advertising buff, a graffiti artist, a landscape architect and an environmental designer. This approach seems so logical and in context to me I wonder why it escapes the attention of other architects to design this way.
Archicafe Task 2: The Belkin survey and analysis!
Findings: I am a… “Completer-Finisher”.
I feel these findings are quite true to who I am in a team. There are other aspects I like to contribute (new, fresh ideas and leadership) but overall there is a sense of order and urgency I bring to the team. I often am the person that sees the mistakes, edits the report, and sets out time goals for finishing the project. The exercise made me really analyse my role in a team and realise it was ok not to be good at everything. I feel I am often the gap filler, the person that sees the weakness in the team and sees where I can help to get the job finished. It also pointed out a weakness of mine to not place enough importance on the middle stages of a project. The middle process is important and often I like to rush this and skim over a lot of content just to make sure things get finished on time.References:
Fisher, T. (2005). On Practice: Architects Behaving Badly. Harvard Design Magazine. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from Queensland University of Technology, Blackboard Academic Site: http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/research/publications/hdm/back/21_fisher.html
Tanner, H. (2008, August ed.). Practising in the 21st century. Architecture Australia, p. 15.
No comments:
Post a Comment