So I am a 3rd year architecture student (I know I should of dealt with this by now but...). You know how they say that there is nothing scarier than a blank paper? Well that is my problem. I have a very hard time coming up with ideas for a concept. I never know how to start. I always procrastinate because when I sit down and start to work my mind simply goes blank. And then because I started working too late, I always end up with something I don't like. And then since I don't like, I don't want to work on it. And of course it ends up all shitty. And I know I could do better, but I can never make myself to start working. When I think about starting a project, I am always super excited, because hey how many students have an opportunity to create something, but when I actually have to start working I get cold feet and panic because ''I am so stupid I never have good ideas everyone else is so much smarter why why... I'll never make something really god.. blah blah''.
I don't think that I should change my course. Because when I actually get to work, I quite enjoy it... but sometimes I feel that I am really behind other students because they can start working so easily. I never know how to express myself very well through sketches.
So how do you deal with this? Also any thoughts of what is a concept for you, and how do you start someting like that? When I have a site, and a list of rooms I have to squeeze in a building, how do you start, what do you think of first?
Welcome to life in a creative field! I don't pretend to be a theorist, but I believe wholeheartedly in prototyping and iterative design. Basically it forces you to make something, but not put too much stock in it. It doesn't have to be perfect because you are going to make 30 more versions of it, refining/rethinking it with each new iteration. The process of making is the desired outcome, not the thing itself.
This used to happen to me when I was in school. I'm sure there were other people in my year with the same issue, but I felt like I was the only one!
Looking at the blank piece of paper gave me anxiety because I always put too much pressure on that first idea. In my mind, it had to be THE idea - the magical perfect solution! So don't let it be a blank piece of paper. I started with doing a tiny doodle in the corner of something stupid, a car, a star, a ghost, etc., which helped me relax and free sketch some concepts, whether it be in the form of massings, relationships, or diagrams. Once you get a first idea, you can start with iterations, thinking of ways to completely change your approach. All this to say, maybe start with some free association/free sketching/free modeling with chipboard or paper, and see what you think of.
It may also help to see images on google of the city where the site is located, and get a sense of the vernacular language of that particular area.
Another good mindless way to just start doing something is to create a site plan. You know you're going to need to do it anyway, so you just open up CAD and start drawing. If I'm working on a site in an urban setting, I'll draw the whole neighborhood. It's a useful base map for diagramming. Same can be said for a rural site.
Suspend judgment - don't think about it and just do it. Save the edits for later (I taught writing and you would never teach a writer to edit while writing, just go, go, go and edit later, same thing.)
Channel instead of create - let the building come through you instead of from you, what does it want to be? Be a medium instead of a designer.
Use a narrative - describe the scene in words rather than drawings, models, or sketches. Make up a story about it.
Don't start with a blank sheet of paper - doodle on a used envelope or in the margins of your notebook.
Put fodder in your brain - I used this when teaching writing too, read first before writing. Look around, look at stuff.
Creativity block?
So I am a 3rd year architecture student (I know I should of dealt with this by now but...). You know how they say that there is nothing scarier than a blank paper? Well that is my problem. I have a very hard time coming up with ideas for a concept. I never know how to start. I always procrastinate because when I sit down and start to work my mind simply goes blank. And then because I started working too late, I always end up with something I don't like. And then since I don't like, I don't want to work on it. And of course it ends up all shitty. And I know I could do better, but I can never make myself to start working. When I think about starting a project, I am always super excited, because hey how many students have an opportunity to create something, but when I actually have to start working I get cold feet and panic because ''I am so stupid I never have good ideas everyone else is so much smarter why why... I'll never make something really god.. blah blah''.
I don't think that I should change my course. Because when I actually get to work, I quite enjoy it... but sometimes I feel that I am really behind other students because they can start working so easily. I never know how to express myself very well through sketches.
So how do you deal with this? Also any thoughts of what is a concept for you, and how do you start someting like that? When I have a site, and a list of rooms I have to squeeze in a building, how do you start, what do you think of first?
Welcome to life in a creative field! I don't pretend to be a theorist, but I believe wholeheartedly in prototyping and iterative design. Basically it forces you to make something, but not put too much stock in it. It doesn't have to be perfect because you are going to make 30 more versions of it, refining/rethinking it with each new iteration. The process of making is the desired outcome, not the thing itself.
This used to happen to me when I was in school. I'm sure there were other people in my year with the same issue, but I felt like I was the only one!
Looking at the blank piece of paper gave me anxiety because I always put too much pressure on that first idea. In my mind, it had to be THE idea - the magical perfect solution! So don't let it be a blank piece of paper. I started with doing a tiny doodle in the corner of something stupid, a car, a star, a ghost, etc., which helped me relax and free sketch some concepts, whether it be in the form of massings, relationships, or diagrams. Once you get a first idea, you can start with iterations, thinking of ways to completely change your approach. All this to say, maybe start with some free association/free sketching/free modeling with chipboard or paper, and see what you think of.
It may also help to see images on google of the city where the site is located, and get a sense of the vernacular language of that particular area.
Another good mindless way to just start doing something is to create a site plan. You know you're going to need to do it anyway, so you just open up CAD and start drawing. If I'm working on a site in an urban setting, I'll draw the whole neighborhood. It's a useful base map for diagramming. Same can be said for a rural site.
Suspend judgment - don't think about it and just do it. Save the edits for later (I taught writing and you would never teach a writer to edit while writing, just go, go, go and edit later, same thing.)
Channel instead of create - let the building come through you instead of from you, what does it want to be? Be a medium instead of a designer.
Use a narrative - describe the scene in words rather than drawings, models, or sketches. Make up a story about it.
Don't start with a blank sheet of paper - doodle on a used envelope or in the margins of your notebook.
Put fodder in your brain - I used this when teaching writing too, read first before writing. Look around, look at stuff.
High school is a wild time.
I don't understand the metaphor.
las vegas strip ~ garbage
Wrong metaphor.
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