Archinect - News

In school, sometimes more research is just more procrastination

2020-01-08T17:59:00-05:00

More research isn't always better

Occasionally, we have tendency to look for more information even when it does not cause us to take action. Here's an example: let's say your thesis explores the intersections of music and architecture. You start by scanning the literature on these two disciplines. Naturally, you have access to a lot of architectural works, and through investigation, you discover some works on music.

After some study, you decide that your project will focus on the rhythmic aspects of music and how that can also be interpreted in spatial rhythms through architecture. This becomes the focus. As your presentation approaches, you determine that in order to have a "strong idea" that you need to learn more about how musical instruments are made and how their structural qualities are similar to that of buildings. This will deepen your understanding of the dichotomy you're exploring, you think.

Going further down this rabbit hole, you begin to also examine the physics behin...

Tackling confirmation bias in the creative process

2019-11-11T17:00:00-05:00

In his Masterclass, Frank Gehry touches on an important creative principle:

"I have always felt if you know what you are going to do in advance then you won't do it. Your creativity starts with whether you're curious or not."

It's an intriguing point. As I rewatched the trailer for the course, it reminded me of how Leonardo da Vinci would often abandon commissions. Many say he'd leave his creations unfinished out of boredom, but that's not what was really happening for him. Rather, he grew disinterested after he had solved whatever creative obstacle he was tackling. Walter Isaacson puts it perfectly in his biography on the polymath: "He [da Vinci] enjoyed the challenge of conception more than the chore of completion," Isaacson writes.

That's what Gehry is touching on: That, as architects, a large part of the creative process is situated in an iterative exploratory process. The work is constantly evolving along the way, details get refined, materials dialed in, and program realized. ...