Learning about Architecture

After all the mental preparation for a fail for my design studio subject, it turns out I didn’t fail. I got a pass and that’s enough to make me happy because they give me a chance to proceed to the next level in my study about architecture.

Chatted a while with my tutor before getting my result and she actually found out the reason why I fail to develop my ideas in a more advance level.

“Architecture is not math. There is no formulae on how you can design a building and it’s always about TRIAL AND ERROR. You will just have to keep designing and designing until you get the right sense of it.”

“Putting people in the space that you have created, showing how the space can be used doesn’t mean in real life people will use it that way. You will actually have to create the space in such the way that people will feel that that’s the way they can use the space.”

Architecture is not easy.

I started off don’t know anything about it and I’m not shown how to do the right thing starting from the beginning. In fact, there’s no right way of doing things in architecture. It’s all about feel and sense. Along the journey of learning about architecture, I fall, I got upset, I got demotivated and then I reflect and I rise again. And then I fall, I got upset, I got demotivated and then I reflect and then I rise again. It’s a cycle, an endless one. It required a lot of deep thinking and pondering which makes it so tiresome. I remember how torturing I feel and how reluctant I feel whenever I need to think about an idea for my design studio project. That’s the time when I posted the most negative status on facebook, if you realise.

However, if the right way is shown starting from the beginning, I bet I will never learn as much as I had now. If the right way is shown from the beginning, I will never explore and I will gradually lose the spirit to explore on new things which may lead me to new discoveries. If the right way is shown from the beginning, I will just stick to what I had taught to be the right way of doing things and when things go wrong, I will stuck. I think, we can learn the most when we explore something on our own. At least, this applies to me.

Architecture is not easy. I do think of giving up in becoming an architect before (because I don’t think I’m qualified) but thanks to fellow tutors and lecturers, now I see hope in it.

“Architecture can’t help to solve any problem. It can only provide a platform for a problem to be solved.”

“Architecture is about creating sense and being an architect is just like being an author of a book. You have to take control of everything to lead people to think or feel in the way of how you want them to think or feel. To do that, an author of a book plays with words and plots whereas an architect plays with proportion and arrangement of space.”

On last two week Architectural Technologies lecture, we actually had all our tutors each having around 5-10minutes time talk about their career as architects. It was really a useful session as it makes me feel like I’m getting closer to the world of architecture. There’re also advices given by tutors for us to keep in mind in our journey to become an architect.

“To be an architect, we must first become the scientists, only then can we be artists!”

“Creation is a patient search.”

“One thing common in all architects is they love to make things.”

I’m glad that I LEARNT A LOTS in this semester and in fact, in every semester. I don’t get good grades but I LEARNT and I GROW. That’s more important than anything. =)