Young 18-year-old evelync asked the Archinect community Wednesday if she should pursue a degree in architecture:
"...I've been thinking about doing an Architecture degree (specifically at UCL) because they seem to embrace creativity and artistic contemporary design which is my only interest with architecture, and I also thought this degree might suit me since it's also science related which I love...I wanted to know from people who are actual architects/architecture students if the reality of architecture is not artistic/creative."
It's a fair question for a young student intrigued by the profession and many had crucial insights. The short answer is no, architecture is definitely not all about the artistic and creative, there are so many more aspects to it. square. provided wise counsel:
"...I only caution you because you are asking from the perspective of someone who loves art, and if you are pursuing architecture because of the artistic side, there is no doubt you will encounter some level of disillusionment if you end up working in a traditional office."
midlander also contributed some important thoughts:
"...the problem is only for those who go in fully intent on being a designer and get nowhere because they don't look for opportunities in other roles..."
An important point for anyone drawn to architecture solely for its artistic characteristics. Architects have wide ranging duties and design is only one small part of a much bigger picture. Be sure to check out the original forum post to chime in on the discussion.
An excellent point and a harsh reality to many. Star-driven cultural professions tend to idolize the few celebrities at the top. 'Design' becomes more multi-faceted as one progresses in the business - very few people reach a stage in their career where they could design with a sketch and delegate everything else to their studio. Celebrities like Steven Holl pertuate this overly idealized workflow in their publicity materials. In practice, design occures at every step of the process, from designing procurement processes to technical details. However, the rise of Instagram 'designers' could further this illusion of carefree design as celebrities with no training enjoy the so-called creative process by picking mood boards and approving work done by professionals - all the fun and none of the grit. This is especially prevalent in interior design, where wealthy homeowners sometimes morph into bona fide social media designers by picking furniture and accents.
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An excellent point and a harsh reality to many. Star-driven cultural professions tend to idolize the few celebrities at the top. 'Design' becomes more multi-faceted as one progresses in the business - very few people reach a stage in their career where they could design with a sketch and delegate everything else to their studio. Celebrities like Steven Holl pertuate this overly idealized workflow in their publicity materials. In practice, design occures at every step of the process, from designing procurement processes to technical details. However, the rise of Instagram 'designers' could further this illusion of carefree design as celebrities with no training enjoy the so-called creative process by picking mood boards and approving work done by professionals - all the fun and none of the grit. This is especially prevalent in interior design, where wealthy homeowners sometimes morph into bona fide social media designers by picking furniture and accents.
Its unfortunate that the answer can't be YES. Its a degradation as a discipline after centuries of design theory.
Every part of architecture is design. Every particle of it! It's all connected. From start to finish. There are architects involved in every step, from dreaming up to realization of a design. Be prepare to have an idea and knowledge of all the components to their assemblies to final product. From handling brick to handling people to handling ideas.
Absolutely true. I'd add that one of the least appreciated aspects of the art is that of psychologically analyzing your client, but the thing to remember is regardless of how many colors you have in your box of crayons, you can always be creative. The fallacy is that functional or economic limitations need constrain creativity. Quite the opposite.
I don't do much Capital-D Design, but I am very satisfied in the knowledge that the buildings I have worked on only exist at all because of the design work I did to realize the concepts with real materials and methods.
Well put Orhan. It's a shame that this is not put front and centre in school that design is much more than the sparkly grand idea gestures.
This is partially the fault of the media. The need to attract eyeballs tends to outweigh the more humble but many times better work that's out there. Another thing is the ideological purity test which keeps those projects deemed traditional and therefore reactionary out of the limelight. It's the nature of the (economic) beast to rely on the bright and shiny objects but if the media highlighted other work, our schools might be more motivated to train architects for the 95% of work that is relegated to drafting pools of whatever style a developer thinks will sell.
this is all interesting, but i think it' a different issue than the op was asking about- they were asking about the artistic components in the practice of architecture, not about becoming a starchitect (in my opinion this real problem is often used to deflect other real issues with the profession, but that's another post..). and, i think this is a bit more complex issue than presented here... the reality is that for most of this profession's life, there was an actual craft and/or art involved in the making of architecture (drafted drawings, physical models..), which school more closely mirrors. i think the discrepancy between this and the almost completely digital "craft" of professionals today is a tension that hasn't really been resolved yet, and the thing that yes results in many disillusioned and/or burned out new grads, but also disgruntled professionals who are frustrated with these new grads.
Design where you have complete artistic freedom is very rare, but within the constraints of a project you will have moments and opportunities to "design". In fact, I would argue that bringing a project to fruition given all the constraints is the ultimate form of creativity and design!
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