BlogMas 2016 - Pipin'

Hello. It's Day Eleven.

Hands down, the one thing architecture school teaches you is to never say never. If ever in school anyone would tell me that I will have to stay awake for a week with only two hours of sleep everyday, and this might occur about six to eight times per semester, that person would see the back of me. No joke. But, see, there's this high of creating something with your bare hands, if you must, that makes you not halt even for a second. I'm not saying you would never need coffee - that'd be a lie. But believe you me, it's a high unlike any other. I remember there was this one semester, I had my entire design thought out, plans ready, models in place, but no other deliverables. I was jittery and way past being timorous, I was shaking with the idea of the juror failing me because of lack of my deliverables. I reached the studio and put up my work looking like a wet kitten all the while. My guide came to me told me very calmly that I had figured out the thread of my design, and I was holding it in my hand - and all there was at that moment in my hand were my sketches and tracings and notes. She wasn't wrong. It was, till my last jury, the best I've ever had. And my guide had very subtly taught me something that day. There's no point of all the hard work you put in if you don't find that one thing that'll knot everything together. And it's vital, you know, to think through everything. With just a semester's worth of time, and so much to do, I understand, and have a first hand experience at knowing that it's not possible to think everything to the utmost detail. But a slightly clear head to think of all the possibilities; even if you can't find a solution to it, that's alright. Recognising the problem is the first step to solving. 

What actually upsets me is that through the college, I saw the studio culture dying. I get that it's fun to sit around the canteen and soak up some sun. Students, I reckon, nowadays are failing to fathom that there is much to be absorbed from their guides. There are a limited number of hours of studio every week, and so much to learn, if you really went about it, it would be impossible to learn everything even if you gave ten years to college. And that is evaporating. The practice of learning everything from a human architecture book, as you possibly can. There'll always be teachers who'll know more than the others, but there won't be a single one who doesn't know more than you. A good discussion just about Kahn and light will open doors for you to explore. I'll never be able to sell drugs. I can sure sell you architecture. It's a much better high.

Until then.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Ak.