Should I go into architecture?

 
This question keeps popping-up. I think, with any profession, you should ask why you would want to 'become' or go into that field?

It is really easy to fall in love with the romance of being an architect. I have a little cousin that has told everyone he wants to be an architect since he could talk, but I think he is more into the romanticism of the architect. I keep getting pressured by his mother and my aunt to talk to him about how to go about getting into an architecture program, but I just won't. Why won't I help him out? Well.... the kid is fu**in' lazy and full of excuses, but that is another story. I won't help him out because I'll screw-up his life if I enable his fetish to be an architect. If I help him out and help him get into an architecture program, There is a huge chance he might not even enjoy the curriculum. Our graduating class (Including undergrad, graduates, industrial design and interior architecture) is just as big as our incoming freshman for the BArch which isn't that big to begin with. My first day of first-year the guy next to me dropped because he didn't think he would have enough time with his girlfriend. Granted, people have different priorities, but WTF?! We started the semester with twelve-ish students and ended with eight. Doesn't sound like a lot till you take in consideration the eight other freshman studios and the amount of students each studio has dropped by the end of the semester. Long story short: my cousin has to want it for himself. He has to put in the work and work on his grades and portfolio and push to get into a program. It is a totally different story if he came to me with a mentality of 'how do I make this better?' rather than 'how do I get in?'

There are people that stick it out and go the five-plus years through the professional degree because they feel they're too far in to just quit. That seems totally understandable. I've had friends come-up to me at the end of the semester and don't know if they want to come back because they're just burnt out. Ive also had guys I went through an architecture program in high school with graduate with their BArch and just don't want much to do with architecture because they fell out of love. If you aren't going to give architecture the time and discipline it demands, than just quit while you're ahead. If you feel uncomfortable and unhappy, then that is probably a sign that this probably isn't for you. I first knew I was alright when I first worked on a model for thirteen hours throughout the night and by the time I was finished I just had this great feeling. Being an architecture student isn't just studying for an exam. There is a huge amount of performance that needs to be done on top of the studying. So, on top of studying for that quantitative environmental systems final we also have to physically show what we have learned through models and graphics.

Architecture has thoroughly screwed me....forever. But, in a great kind of way. The program has given me much more than a set of design skills -- it has given me a toolbox full of tools that can be applied to much more than just architecture, but has integrated itself into my daily life.

I aint buyin' it!

I was in a programming class and the instructor started the lecture by telling us about the great architects around the world and their dedication to the profession. He also begins to talk about how your last year as a an architecture student will define your career and begin to define the rest of your profession. I think we all take him pretty serious (even though he loves to name drop and exaggerate). At the end of his little rant he throws out the; "Whatever you are doing two years after graduation, that is going to do for the rest of your professional career. If you're working for a home builder you're going to be stuck working within that section." I think it is safe to say that that shook the class. He then says; "OMA, Pelli, Foster (famous architects) -- They arent going to hire someone that has been designing Walmarts!" All of this made sense. I mean, why would any architectural firm that pushes the envelope of design give two seconds to an applicant that just places a big box of concrete on a site. Yeah, sure there is a decent level of design and research that goes into layout, lighting and other 'tabs' of design that go into how customers shop and what they are more willing to buy because of the design, but it is nothing that gives a soul to the architecture. It is just designed to persuade customers to stay in the building longer and purchase more items.

But, I have seen this before. I see it every semester with the number drop of students that work their way up at the job they've had to help pay for school. I see it within my circle of friends that have children and they have to drop out to help support their child. But I also see people finish and maintain their goal of graduating and getting a job at a place they enjoy working. It is so easy to take a job that you're just taking for the money. I get it, students are broke and need a job to help pay for tuition and supplies. I just don't buy that how society works is the way we have to go about our lives. It is too easy to get sucked into these 'traps' because time flies by. It starts off getting a job you don't like for quick money. Get in, get the money, get out. But, getting out was five years ago and now you've worked your way through a position that you don't like and can't go back to where you really wanted to go because you never developed experience. Now, you're just part of a machine. You're just playing your part and it is no longer about developing your individuality and expressing yourself. You got sidetracked into working in a container for corporations instead of investing your time bettering yourself and doing something you have a passion and something you give a damn about. Now, you've given away your life for what? A new car you couldn't afford or some outfit that probably looks stupid on you. It no longer becomes doing something that makes you happy and giving your soul a purpose, but about filling that void in your life with objects that make you feel better after you come home from work. Does any of that make sense? Shouldn't the work be just as fulfilling. You work the from eight-plus hours a day PLUS commuting only to come home to a box with filled objects to keep your mind off of a sh*t job.

The sad part is that most people don't understand they're in that 'trap'. I think most people think that it is a good job and they should be happy and appreciative for the opportunity. They bring home a decent pay, are able to support themselves, got dental... I think most people in the American society are afraid of failing at something. We all went through this education system that teaches us how to pass tests instead of learning the actual material. I think its fuc*king bonkers that there are classes in high school specially for passing the high school exit exams.

I digress. There is nothing wrong doing something short term that gets you to where you want to get. But you have to push yourself to get-in and get-out to do what you really want to do. Something that you genuinely enjoy doing and pushes you to improve yourself. There's nothing keeping anyone from bettering themselves. We all have twenty-four hours in a day and yeah some people have more resources than others, but you just have to work that much harder. It is all about discipline, being able to take a step back, assess the information and work ethic.

Studio Process: Future City_03_Interpreting the data

Houston

Over the past week we have been reading articles, collecting information and looking for interesting points we can base a project around. For myself, I started thinking about how we move, communicate, how technology will evolve and how all of these topics will come together. On the first day, I made about four different topics of interests. The topics included: how we build, how we move, how we interact and how we work.

How do we build?
The first topic dealt with Houston's history with flooding and a part of global warming. I think many of my peers remember how badly Houston kept flooding in the 90's. Or maybe it just seemed like a huge deal because I was so young, but looking back I just remember playing in my flooded backyard. I digress. Looking at maps that predicted where the flood line would be if our icecaps melted showed the Gulf of Mexico would be well into Texas and knocking at the door of our hill country. Texas being Texas, most of our coast is relatively flat. There wouldn't be much in the way to keep the gulf from coming inland. Anyway, I thought it would be cool if  there was a way for the city grid to float with the tide. As the water receded, the structures would stay in-place leaving room for more infrastructure. Next flood comes and lifts the city up, including the newer infrastructure, and the process would repeat itself. each city block would be independent from the rest of the grid as far as moving vertically. Well, that issue was quickly shot down after discussion. I realized that even if the block was independent from the rest of the blocks, they would all move at the same pace because.... Houston is flat.

How do we move?
I think most of us are aware that we're slowly moving towards having autonomous cars. We have the technology and we're executing on that technology. We can even go and purchase a car that can park itself with a press of a button. How do autonomous cars move? GPS. Last week I was driving home on an evening so rainy that I could barely see the lines on the road. I thought it would be cool if the 'dots' in the road could communicate with my car to keep me in my lane regardless of the weather conditions. I know there is a short stretch of highway that is completely filled with solar panels and other forms of technology. But, to do an entire highway or even a loop system would be insanely expensive. So, how about we shrink down from thinking about the entire road to thinking about those little 'traffic dots' that notify us when we're moving out of our lane. I figured the 'dots' could easily be integrating within the roadways, could communicate with each other, send data to the city, and can communicate with the vehicles. While this was really interesting and we are moving towards having 'smart' roads, this was shut down too because while very interesting perspective, these topics didn't create 'space' in the city.

I commute to school from quite a distance (30+ miles). I proposed an upgraded HOV lane that was able to have your autonomous car 'plug' into. Almost like a a hybrid of how we get onto a highway from the feeder and a train system. When you're commuting from a distance that takes more than twenty-minutes, you start to realize how much time you have wasted when you could have been working or doing something. I mean, how cool would it be to be able to write this blog from the comfort of my vehicle without having a worry? I'll continue with this topic later in this post.

How do we work?

Downtown Houston.

I think for anyone that has walked through downtown Houston, you might have noticed how many parking garages we have. About a third of downtown Houston is parking. What would happen to those parking garages if we no longer needed them? How would they change the city? Could we redesign those parking garages into livable or workable spaces? I think so! Why not? Then, I started integrating the 'ferry' system I mentioned above and what if I could design a system that takes the vehicles and was able to park or 'plug-in' into a spot in the work/living space. If you no longer need to drive your car, your car becomes an extension of your office. The car no longer becomes a vehicle, but a cell that takes on a completely different form. It would be able to enter the base of the structure and taken on a conveyor belt-like system that plugs into a small section of the workspace from x-amount of hours. Once you're finished you could unplug, ride the conveyor down and get on the rail to your next location. This would allow this 'parking space' to be used by another person for x-amount of hours. Meaning, that 'building' is continuously used. Normally, we all check out at 5-ish and the building stays empty from 5-8 the next day. Right now, just a thought.

How do we communicate?

Green: Parks, Pink: Parking garages (not showing parking lots), Red: Main St.

I think we all have dreams of a future city being highly dense. I listen to my classmates talk about high dense Singapore is or Hong Kong and how everyone is on their mobile device. Nobody pays attention to their world. They're more concerned with how many 'likes' they received or how a celebrity is living their life. I think with more of these technological opportunities, we become more and more unsocial. I mean, every time you step out of the door you see someone you have never seen before. And guess what? More likely than not is that you will never see that person again even if you live within a certain area. I proposed having an app that would silently collect data on each person you come within a certain amount of feet. You wouldn't get any notifications, but at the end of the day you could see how many people you have crossed paths with and if you have actually interacted with them before.

This app idea needed to manifest itself into a physical space to relate to the project. So, what if I proposed a certain area/s of downtown Houston to be free of technology. Like, once you enter this park, you are unable to use technology because you cannot get wifi or any other signals within this space. 


Conclusion
Out of these proposals; I have decided to integrate the physical park-like space without technology signals, the ferry-like transportation system that brings your 'cell' to the city and the redesign of the parking garage. The progress of the proposal consists of being able to ride this rail-like system to the city. Once downtown when you start approaching this 'technology free park space', you go underneath the park and are able to enter the parking building from the base of the building (Which is still underneath the park) and ride this conveyor system to your work/living space. Keep in mind the form of the 'car' will no longer resemble a car, but become a cell that once 'plugged-in' would become part of the aggregate that becomes the building. I hope that all made sense. It is still really early in concept and further development and decisions need to happen, but that's the beauty of the design. I want to keep main street as a tradition main street. I think that shouldn't change. Houston is desperately needing more of that traditional main street walkable environment. I am hopeful I can develop these parks that can aid to a more walkable main street.

I just wanted to show this is an image of a highway in Dallas that was sunk just so a park can be built above the highway. The Office of James Burnett

Studio Process: Future City_02_Falling in love with the city

Downtown Houston

The past week we have been documenting and collecting data about how we use our city. Houston is a commuter city. You (almost) have to have a car to get around this city because everything is so spread out. Sure, there are adequate means of transportation services within the city, but for a lot of us that live 'outside of the loop' [Loop 6-10] there isn't much of a choice other than to use a park and ride. The problem with a park and ride is it turns a thirty-minute car ride into a three-plus hour transportation waiting nightmare to get to a specific location.

Step one: Document our route home

Beginning route through downtown. A city for parking

Ending route home. Sorry about the uncleaned windshield

The first part was to document our route to or from the studio to our home with a series of photos. It felt like any other day. I was driving home seeing the same thing I always see. I usually take a route right through downtown, because I would rather get stuck in traffic watching people than on an overpass looking at other cars. I figure at least the people walking are getting somewhere. Yeah, it was a pretty normal day -- there wasn't much going on other than trying to figure out interesting points to document through photos while trying to drive.

So, an interesting point here is that I am documenting the process from inside a car. The environment inside my car is constant. Meaning, my comfort level is pretty much the same other than the stress from driving. I am able to control the conditioned air, my field of view isn't changing and I am experiencing the city from a specific point that doesn't move (car seat). It almost feels like I am watching TV.

But, I do get some value from the exercise. I usually am aware of my surroundings, but I never payed too much attention to the changes in density throughout the route. The urbanscape (urbanscape meaning everything but the traffic of cars and people. Like the buildings and developments) density starts high and tapers to less dense areas. Then, density gets less dense and more dense and less dense aaaannnnd a little more dense.

Step two: Visit and document the site

My focus is site 1

On the map above are the areas of Houston our studio is using for our project. We visited all three locations and walked the majority of each site. The difference between walking through an area and driving through an area are completely different. Walking is a much more dynamic activity than driving and you're able to be more aware of your surroundings. *Side note* Even though we walked through all three sites, I will mostly talk about site one.

Look at that section! Photo taken off of Main street in front of Greyhound bus station.

First off, It was a GORGEOUS day! It really was perfect weather for anything outdoors. When you're walking, you're actually there -- you're not in a car, you're on the sidewalk experiencing the sidewalk environment. Meaning, moving through different elevations, feeling different textures, smelling different scents, interacting on some level with different people and hearing much more sounds than just being in your car. It doesn't matter if any of that I described is enjoyable or not, because it is about the experience. Its like when I go to a bar. I hate the smell of people smoking, but I don't mind it at all when I am at a hole-in-the-wall bar. Why? Because that is just part of the experience that makes that place unique.

You're able to have a sense of being vulnerable. I think being able to have a sense of vulnerability or a sense of the fear of the unknown is like a shot of tequila! It just opens-up your awareness and gives you the most bang for your buck to take in your surroundings. You try walking through a group of some sketchy lookin folks with an exposed camera you've saved up for and don't think about holding that thing a little tighter #IJudge. But, that is the beauty of the environment! There is a mix of all different sorts of people. You interact with the homeless person next to the businessman next to the student running for the train to make their job. You see the faces of struggle trying to make it through the day from the pan handler and from the person with the $5 coffee that couldn't wait to get off of work. You see the mother with child taking the metro just wanting to get home. The small group people hanging outside a convenience store because they 'aint got no' place to go or just want to catch up with their buddies. You see a grungy-lookin' fella looking like he is having a bad day instantly smile like a kid on Christmas morning when he walks past a beautiful woman. All of this within a city block. To hell with reality TV, give me a highly dense urban block at 5 o'clock! You cant replicate that experience by driving through an area in the safety of your car. You need that slower, more 'in your bubble' experience to appreciate your city. As designers, we do much more than just design buildings. If you notice, I didn't describe much of any building. We design environments for a better society.

Granted, Houston being Houston, we still have a long way to go to have a decent downtown environment. Nearly a third of downtown is just parking, the underground tunnels close at 5-ish along with the rest of downtown, downtown isn't really designed for people to live and support the are and it isn't pleasurable walking next to hugely massive scaled buildings with nearly zero street interaction. But, there's a gem in there. You just have to walk around to find it.

Maker busy

Old workspace

It always happens. I lay down to sleep and right when I get all cozy I get a thought in my head that I cant get out. "That would be cool..." That is how it starts. Next thing I know is I am up and at my workstation sketching out and cutting materials to figure out how I build this object. It is a blessing and a curse. I'm one of those people that is most comfortable making things. Whenever I have some downtime I am always fiddling with something to keep busy. There is such a satisfying feeling walking out of the wood shop at four in the morning covered in sawdust. I suppose working with high revolution sharp metal isn't the wisest thing to do when you should be asleep.

I digress. Designing and making objects It is high addictive. I guess it is the equivalent to playing video games and trying to get to the next level. There is somethings so fulfilling and deeply meditative once you immerse yourself in a craft. You don't even realize how quickly time has passed. It is an instant gratification kind of thing. You get instant feedback if something is working out or if the item you're making matches what you have designed. Making stuff does not just limit itself to objects, but also everyday tasks like cooking and other things I cant think of at the moment because I am too sleepy. The second best thing about making something are the screw-ups. I know that sounds weird to say, but a screw-up is a direct result of what you did. Its better to have a result of something you made rather than no result because you didn't try. Studio professors always tell us, "The worst thing you can do is nothing at all."and "the more you have, the more we can discuss." Of course the best thing is when you have a finished, tangible object that you put in so much love and time. Something that has gone on a journey with you and has turned into a quality object with a great story. I guess at the end of the day we are all out to surround ourselves with the stories we made.

For now, I will take a little rest. I hope everyone has an eventful Monday and gets to work-in some time to do something that brings you joy.