From Theory to Reality

Posted: 2011 09 14 In: staff musings

Three years ago I entered an architecture graduate program at Washington University in St. Louis.  It was like entering a whirlwind of ideas and concepts whose reason for existence seemed to rest on the precept, “don’t think, just work.”  I still look back and try to figure out why we did certain things.  It was a world with no boundaries, where gravity did not exist, and where pointy things did not hurt children.  At first it was difficult for me because I had stepped into it from a world of budgets, deals, prices, material longevity, real people and gravity.  In school I noticed an abundant use of skyhooks, which was perfectly reasonable as long one was exploring three-dimensional possibilities. 
While studying at WashU I was exposed to tremendous ideas and ways to think about space and materials.
 

Whether it was comparing the taste of buildings or using a photograph of an unidentifiable shape to base one’s design off of I was always being exposed to new ideas.  Much of what I have learned has been by looking back at my experiences and thinking, “Oh that was what I was supposed to do.”  But life is just that way.  Vagueness from instructors was purposeful so as not to diffuse an idea that the student might achieve on his/her own. 
Almost every project in architecture school is hypothetical, or as I like to think, imaginary.  Everything done is a theory – assuming or hoping that what is done would be used or would affect the user in a certain way.

For a student it is tempting to suppose that the user will deal with anti-functionality for the sake of an “awesome” design; or that the user will forsake a large and general view to the outside for a single (usually small) puncture in the wall that “frames an amazing view”.  Whether these and other ideas may or may not be true has yet to be determined, but it was fun to assume that they were.

Since May of this year I have been exposed to reality, where buildings can fall because of gravity, leak if not sealed properly, or go over budget if not managed intelligently.  It is thrilling and sobering to work and realize that someone will actually use what I am drawing.  It is exciting to work with materials that have a price.
At times it is tempting to let the realities of architecture weigh one down, but the challenges are part of what make it exciting.  To be able to achieve something despite what may stand in the way can be considered a victory.  To achieve these victories is majorly why I love architecture, whether it is delivering a certain quality of design within budget or providing someone with a space that is even better than what they could have imagined.

Thankfully, my architectural education opened my mind to new ideas of how someone can live in a space or how materials can be combined to create a façade that is actually a work of art.  I am grateful to have been able to test ideas in an environment where there were no consequences for failures.  I am excited to apply what I learned in the “real world” that will benefit from these explorations.

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