The Next Level

This week I focus on personal progression, keeping records and when and where students start developing their own architectural languages.

I am currently in the final stages of trawling through all of my school artwork and student work from my bachelors and whilst doing so have really noticed my own personal progression from those first ventures into architectural design. In this entry I’m going to explore whether it’s important to think about architectural styles as a student or whether its just better to enjoy the process and explore as much as you can.

I recently saw ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, which gave me a way of breaking down each stage of my personal development and is a great analogy for life keeps evolving. Without wanting to cause any spoilers, all I’m going to say about the film is that each character has developed new skills since the first film, which become relevant as the plot unfolds. In that regard it is not unlike education, where tutors aim to equip students with the knowledge, they need for both academic and personal progression.

Source: Jumanji: The Next Level

Looking at my first year work it’s fair to say my first few solo projects were not really fully resolved and looking back there are a handful of changes I would like to make, if not more. I can also say that I have changed and matured from where I was at that point in my life and believe that has been as important a factor as any in allowing me to become a more confident designer. Since that first project, I can see progression year on year, project on project and understand that means I have improved. I have also developed my levels of thinking during this time too, which has undoubtedly meant designs have been better informed and each one has explored new levels of creativity.

Looking at my first year work it’s fair to say my first few solo projects were not really fully resolved and looking back there are a handful of changes I would like to make, if not more. I can also say that I have changed and matured from where I was at that point in my life and believe that has been as important a factor as any in allowing me to become a more confident designer. Since that first project, I can see progression year on year, project on project and understand that means I have improved. I have also developed my levels of thinking during this time too, which has undoubtably meant designs have been better informed and each one has explored new levels of creativity.

I huge always tried to save as much as my creative work as I could, from way back when I first started to become interested in art & design. I can remember winning the end of year art award in my (very tiny!) primary school and the feeling of shock as I nervously accepted the award. I never felt I really deserved it but looking back I realise it was probably one of the defining moments of my education. It was important because it signalled the first confirmation for me that doing something creative was possible and it encouraged me to really throw myself into expanding my creativity ever since.

I have friends who are professional artists, who I have helped curate for, and I am always hugely impressed by their understanding of a wide range of topics, more so than I think the average person is. They are usually always interested in politics, music, fashion, lifestyle, business, travel, weather and psychology. Artists have remarkably broad minds and I think it is fascinating.

While I may not be the most talented artist, I have never suffered the trembling fear of putting that first mark on the page. Thankfully I have the sort of personality that allows me to just go for it. Whilst I have moved slightly out of touch from my pure art studies since I went to Architecture school, more recently I have found myself drawn back to it as I’ve began revisiting old work and exploring the themes I media again. In my spare time since graduating I have begun developing some prints, among other work, that I hope to be showcasing in the near future.

It was a huge benefit for me that at Kent School of Architecture we were taught the methods of drafting by hand before moving onto digital design. It felt like a very tactile process, exploring things by hand and I really do believe it makes students more aware of what they are actually designing when there is that connection behind hand and page. Though more precise (and a lot less messy) on the computer, it has always felt like something is missing if you try and start working too early on a CAD system or similar software. I personally felt as if the computer was doing half the thinking for me and I wasn’t fully in control of the design process.

Source: Own sketches from a 2nd year design project.

I learnt this first-hand in my second year, whilst working on the project ‘Shipyard’. I had injured my right shoulder and spent the first three months of the project in a sling, unable to draw with my right hand but just about able to manage to use a mouse and keyboard with my left. I spent innumerable hours trying to develop my ideas on the computer without realising I was working at a precise level of detail that I hadn’t even considered yet. I spent far too long thinking about specifics instead of considering how the spaces would be used and how the scheme fitted in to the existing surroundings. I decided to learn to sketch with my left hand and reconsider some elements of my scheme late into the project. As a result, the scheme fulfilled the requirements of the brief but lacked character, something that I think that developed very early on in each project when the architect thinks about how they want to present what they are creating.

When I look back at that project, I can see aspects I did well and some I could have improved upon. It was a valuable learning experience and one that I’m very pleased to have had. I think it will be of huge benefit in the future. I can see my later student projects evolved through a much more thorough and natural chain of thought, from a much more structured process that results in a much more meaningful result.

During my second and particularly in my third year, I started spending a lot more time researching. This added new levels of information and places to draw inspiration from. I was constantly seeing things on google or Pinterest or wherever and thinking wow, wouldn’t it be great to have that in my scheme? That was the easy part. The harder part was learning to unpick the reasons behind why other architects or developers had done what they had and why it was or wasn’t successful.

I learnt a lot about the issue of style during this time too. In some ways its fortunate that many student projects are never built, which allows students to explore vast numbers of new ideas without the risk of it ever being built. It means that the projects are often judged primarily on their response to the brief, the uniqueness of the scheme and whether or not it is of taste to the markers. It is never about beauty or style and I found that only a handful of students consistently designed using similar methods. Most were keen to explore new styles and methods that enhanced their learning. I have often worried that none of my schemes look they have been designed by the same person and that perhaps that may simply be because I haven’t found a discipline that completely works for me.

I also found that during our third year in particular, students projects all started to branch off into what people were personally attached towards. For example, projects that revolved around archways or technologies. Students started to develop their own individual style and I think its wonderful. It was also pleasing to see two very different, but equally successful projects get similar marks, a nod to the fact that tutors are responding to each proposal and idea with the same criteria in mind.

It was also during our final year that we undertook a module simply titled ‘Modernisms’, where students were required to study modernism as a movement and respond with a 2500 word essay. We were introduced to hundreds of buildings, during which time I really started to wonder what the obsession with style is. I was aware my projects were all different and I was unsure if this was a good thing or not. It also became apparent to me that since modernism first started being uncovered, that it had evolved into many different forms and sub-sections, there had been modern revivals and things built that would have been previously unimaginable. Was this simply a response to advancing technologies or was it about architects having more freedom?

Since then, I’ve been a bit more analytical on the topic and slightly more open minded. I returned to architecture in 2019 and really began to focus on characteristics of buildings and architects. I realised that some architects have honed their craft and specialised and that has what has made them famous. These portfolios are similar in presentation and close to perfect in result. Luis Barragan and Ricardo Bofill stand out for their mastery of concrete geometry in warm climates, while BIG’s reputation is built around a uniquely novel approach and exiting dual typologies.

Source: Scandinavian Traveller: The BIG Architecture Tour of Copenhagen

I have been drawn to two distinct areas or architecture throughout my hours spent reading and searching online, those being large scale community projects and the second subtle private spaces and houses. I’m interested in the psychology of living and believe architects need to really understand as much about people and societal views as possible. I’ve questioned whether I could specialise in these two areas later on in my career and whether or not it’s worth developing a way of working that makes this more achievable. I’ve come to spend a lot of time trying to map out various movements and styles and often when I walk past a building I’ve never seen before; I try and mentally test myself about its origins before googling it when I get home.

However at this point in my career, I’ve also come to realise that its not important to focus on what others do, what’s important to focus on is to develop yourself as a person and a designer. Is it more commendable to master just one craft or to have ability in many? I don’t know is the simple answer. All I can say is that as varied as my work is, I have learnt a huge amount from each project and that is something I can be proud of. If I’m meant to develop a style or a movement then that’s great, but I’ll approach that level with the same enthusiasm as I have done each one before it. It feels great to say I am proud of the strides I made during my B(A) and have needed to see all of my work in a short space of time to realise that.

Because it is likely going to be easier for future generations to store more work digitally, I would seriously encourage anybody going into design school to store as much of their work as they can for future reference. It’s not just about keeping it as a record of your progress, it’s also about being able to build your career year on year, project on project and having those references really helps. It builds who you are as a designer and informs what you do next. there is also the small amount of self-satisfaction one can get through reliving old work and I hope others get as much of that as I’ve done this past week or so.

Source: SITA: Bags on the Move

For all the reminiscing and retelling of personal progression, what I’m looking forward to most is getting into practice and seeing what I get involved in next!

Also worth mentioning, next entry will be the first update into my research project ‘ThinkTank’, where I’m looking at agricultural planning laws and what the future of the British countryside might look like.

Updates about my marine print series will also be coming in the next few weeks!

Until next time,

RK