The Experience has Ended

The end of July has come, and so has my stay in Monterrey; for now at least. Briefly, here are some thoughts that I had on the way home.

As a result of this past semester, remaining in Monterrey for part of the summer to continue working on some of these projects, and the search for a way to make a living I have many thoughts about what design and education should work toward. For the people who realize the need to be socially, globally, and environmentally responsible in our work, moving beyond titles and occupations is necessary. For architects, the norm is to become registered and continue to doing quality projects, ideally with repeat clients. However, being aware of local realities beyond the common architectural projects is a step that must be taken. The firm that I repeatedly interned with in Indiana is an expert in school construction. Recent cuts in the state budget and new guidelines in the way state funded projects will come about has caused the market for schools to "dry up." Predictably, the firm is looking to other markets and other states for more work to take the place of the void created in the local school market. But a socially conscious designer would look further than the obvious void in the usual workload. The lack of funds for schools has many roots. I do not claim to know them, but I am aware of the fact that there are about 8,000 abandoned houses in the downtown Indianapolis area, there are about 2,000 homeless people in Indianapolis on any given night, and there are many students at these schools who are classified as homeless. I know that a large scale low-income housing project was completed in Muncie, IN, but that the architect had trouble being compensated for the work and a similar project is not likely to be undertaken in the near future. I know that Indiana is a destination for many immigrants from countries to the South and that there are many inequalities that the people must deal with. I know all of these things because I search to know this information, and others have done the same. But what will this architecture firm, and others like it, do? What will students who are aware of these problems and would like to work in their home state be able to do to address these problems while still making a living?

In Mexico, the world of the common architect and the common person are very different. At ITESM, the university I attended, all students are required to complete about 400 hours of social service before they are allowed to graduate. But many of the students who have the opportunity to go to this school have jobs lined up for them when they graduate, often stopping the pattern of social work.

Ball State University architecture department has options for students to study and learn about global social issues. The CAP Asia program and the NASHCC program, which I participated in, are two examples that provide excellent experiences. But only a handful are able to participate in these each year. Several times I have had people say to me how so many people are talking about a paradigm shift in design education and the design professions and that it is great how I am doing something about it...but I still feel like I am just talking about it. The education system is full of factors that create so much impatience. In a world that revolves around four month semesters and grades, I strongly believe that it is past the time for education to not be in the forefront of socially responsible design work. It simply is not proving to be sustainable enough ("sustainable enough" sounds like an oxymoron, but I digress). However, doing something while being in the education system is one of the best learning opportunities there is, and these programs should be expanded by 1000% at the least.

To close, this thesis was something that theses should be moving toward: a personal learning experience that is more than a summary of the education process and is something that is much more than results based, especially in terms of images. And most importantly, making a change to do something you feel strongly about is not as hard as it appears and is very rewarding.

Now that school is over (until that doctorate study, maybe) I'm off to find some work. Wish me luck.