Lessons June 24, 2018

Spring Term 2018 has come and gone, and somehow I continue to be on track to complete the M Arch program by next May.  Translation:  “somehow” means a little luck and a lot of very long hours.

One thing I have to say for architecture is that it fosters a continual process of getting to know oneself, and in many different ways.  What is important to me?  What am I good at, and what are my weaknesses?  What resonates for me, and what seems like bullshit?  What advice do I follow, and what should I simply dismiss?  How can I balance what is of interest to me with what is expected of me in the classroom?

Last week I happened to read the January post for a New York Times series on leading a better life.  This particular treatise explores creativity and points out the importance of downtime to let ideas percolate.  I couldn’t agree more, but it seems my teachers couldn’t agree less.  The pace is relentless, and in my mind, it can be antithetical to careful and considered creativity. 

I am slow. I like to explore many different ideas and paths, and I embrace logic, method, and meaning along the way.  I keep hoping, as with any endeavor, that intuition and self-confidence will gradually kick in and that I will be able to generate ideas more quickly, test them more efficiently, and reach the final critique with fewer parts lagging.  Of course, efficiency and deadlines are the stuff of architectural practice, so I do need to learn these lessons.  And here is my ear worm, in the words of Leonard Bernstein, “You need a plan and you need not quite enough time.”