The actual first post was a response to my first weeks. It is a bit harsh, but the first weeks were stressful. I was on the way to see some caves (my first cave experience) and I saw these pockets of bad housing and it ruined my day. But this is the real start.
WHY AM I IN MEXICO?!?!?!?
Well, I will start with an excerpt from my thesis proposal. I end my "World View as an Architect" section with:
"Critical thinking of architectural education leads to the realization that people in the architectural profession have been taught to ignore many parts of society. Due to lack of a better term, these can be called ignored communities and include the homeless, homeless children, illegal immigrants, legal migrant workers, deportees, women in difficult situations, and even whole nations. The lifestyles of these people are unfamiliar to most architects. The building types and methods, if their rudimentary stacks of materials are even granted the title of building types and methods, are unfamiliar to most architects. The needs of these people are often misinterpreted by most architects. As a result they are simply ignored or forced to accept wrong solutions and the negative results are ignored. It is not that architects are bad people, but currently there is no time in a form- and recognition-based profession to fully address these issues."
I follow this paragraph with my "Statement of Inquiry" which is the heart of the proposal:
"As a student who has had many years of formal architectural education and many months of formal professional architectural experience, what is there to be learned from these ignored communities? And how can an experience in working with people of an ignored community go to influence architectural education?
To clarify a bit more, what I find troubling about current architectural education is that we spend several semesters being taught about theoretical and historical figures and movements in architecture. This is crucial to our education, but we are at a disadvantage when we are not taught the realities of the current world we live in. How can valid and interesting theories be correctly implemented into a world that is not clearly understood? We can continue to discuss for several semesters about whether modernism, Eisenman, Gehry, and new urbanism are good and bad, but should we not also include the rest of the world that has no obvious connections to those topics? If our studios train us to have the ability to make design inferences in the traditional way, can our skill be improved in the non-traditional way? And can others benefit from this process?
I feel that these questions must be included in the education process for the same reasons that historic preservation, environmental sustainability, new urbanism, and others are included: there is a need and a desire to study and work in this area. Many students are not interested in historic preservation and do not agree with the approaches of new urbanism, but they are covered in education. In the same way, the building methods and building needs of ignored communities must also be addressed for the architectural profession to become socially responsible and to make socially responsible contributions.
My concentration for graduate school has been sustainability. In regards to the triple bottom line that sustainability is often taught from, I have noticed that social equity is lacking while economical and ecological factors dominate projects. Working with ignored communities will allow for more of a balance within the triple bottom line and also creates a simple integration into the traditional way this concept is taught in architectural education.
The most apparent way that working with an ignored community can highlight social equity would be to witness first hand the actual inequality that takes place within these communities, or even regions..."
As my fellow students at BSU know, there are 30-something other pages that support these ideas, and if any of you would like to browse or read the rest of my proposal, it can be found here. I suggest checking out the "World View as and Architect," "Literature Review," and "Case Studies" sections.
So this is the gist of it; the sneak peak with the deep voice and bright flashes of light. Stay tuned for more as Jesse describes his brief first visit to the community that the studio project will be focused on where he saw firsthand true slum conditions. But nothing will prepare you for the story of spending the night in rural Mexico, drinking water collected from rain, being forced to communicate broken Spanish as he is left behind by the rest of his companions, and catching a ride in a van on the side of the interstate when the bus fails to show up.
But really, I'll put some experiences and thoughts up very soon. In the meantime I'd love to hear from you all. I'd prefer emails over IM chats as I can choose to read emails at anytime and I usually do not go into detailed talks with IM. My email is jesse.alan.miller@gmail.com So tell me how things are going with you!
레알 마드리드 CF(Real Madrid CF)
5 months ago
1 comment:
Olon Dotson replied to me in an email about this post and I thought I'd put it here:
"This is in no way a criticism of your blogspot or your reflections. On the contrary, I find your posts to be quite refreshing and enlightening!!! With respect to the excerpt from your thesis proposal however; I do not believe that we have actually been "...TAUGHT to ignore many aspects of society..." On the contrary, we simply HAVE NOT BEEN TAUGHT!!! There are few in architectural education and practice truly qualified to teach about any aspect of this expansive segment of society. Nevertheless, I am becoming increasingly optimistic that interest and dialogue is improving in this regard. Ultimately, this will improve architectural education and produce graduates are better prepared to address many of the challenges we face. Some of the lessons lie in sharing and discussing immersive experiences such as yours and through an empathetic approach to learning."
I can agree with Olon that it can be better to say that we have not been taught, but I feel that educators have a big responsibility to educate students about a vast number of things. I was dissappointed that it took until my fourth year (in Olon's studio) for me to have a project that focused on an ignored community, low income housing in Muncie. Unfortunately I did not get as much as I should have out of this studio as I was in the midst of securing an internship, and then many of the issues I learned of in the studio were not followed up upon in the professional setting.
So to summarize, it is correct to say that we have not been taught to seriously think about architecture in regards to ignored communities. But I like the phrase "have been taught to ignore" better because that is what is happening when it is boiled down. The first years of architectural education, some of the most important, do not typically address these issues. They are addressed later on, when students choose the studios they participate in. Therefore it can be argued that learning about ignored communities is voluntary. But learning about Italian Futurism, Corbusier's horrible urban plans, and sustainable design are required. These are all good elements to architectural education, but there is another world full of opportunities, problems, ideas that has to be taught.
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