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From: Todd Sandrock <@bnr.ca>
Subject: architecture roundtable
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Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1993 17:42:10 GMT
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This is from the latest issue of Canadian Architect. This month's issue
was dedicated to education and how it relates to the practice. This is
the introduction. If I get more time--and don't blow out a thumb
typing--I will post other articles for your perusal.
Regards;
Todd Sandrock M.Arch
Northern Telecom Limited
Ottawa, Ontario
From Canadian Architect, January 1993
ARCHITECTS AND EDUCATION
The seeds of this theme issue on architectural education were
generated back in 1989 and 1990, when the jurors in both years' Canadian
Architect awards chose not to give an award of excellence in the student
category. The theses the jurors rejected were often intriguing
explorations into other fields of study such as philosophy or literature,
with difficult texts and extraordinary drawings, but they seemed worlds
away from the facts of real building. Were the architecture schools
drifting--or retreating--too far away from their role as a professional
training ground as they became absorbed in the intellectual labyrinths of
post-structuralism studies? There has always been a rift of some kind
between the profession and academia, but it seemed to be becoming almost
impassable.
To discuss these issues, we held a roundtable last October at the
University of British Columbia school of architecture with some recent
graduates and students. The school runs a three-year Bachelor of
Architecture program but is changing to a Master of Architecture program
in September. We also asked Mark Franklin, our editor-at-large, to
respond from the point of view of the practitioner employing students,
and John Archer, an NRC official, to give the industry perspective. From
the academic side writes Professor Eric Haldenby, director of the
Waterloo School of Architecture and chair of the Canadian Council of
University Schools of Architecture. Finally, Beth Kapusta talks to her
former teacher at Waterloo, Donald McKay. McKay is well-known for his
polemical views on education and the profession, and for the design of an
extraordinary house in Toronto.
What emerges from these discussions is that the pivot of crisis could
well be in the profession rather than the schools. Unsure and confused
about their role in the industry, even of their very survival, architects
are suffering a debilitating lack of confidence. To meet the new
complexities of the building industry, the role of the profession and the
education system that feeds it may have to be redefined, broadened and
simultaneously splintered. And within that spectrum, sadly, design could
be reduced to just one of many parts.
Bronwen Ledger
Newsgroups: alt.architecture
Path: psuvm!atlantis.psu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!spool.mu.edu!
yale.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!hermes.chpc.utexas.edu!news.utdallas.ed
u!corpgate!crchh327!news
From: Todd Sandrock <@bnr.ca>
Subject: architecture roundtable
Sender: news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (news server)
Message-ID: <C1vvuA.41F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d17
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1993 17:42:10 GMT
X-Xxdate: Wed, 3 Feb 93 12:48:57 GMT
Nntp-Posting-Host: 47.69.128.7
Organization: Northern Telecom
Lines: 50
This is from the latest issue of Canadian Architect. This month's issue
was dedicated to education and how it relates to the practice. This is
the introduction. If I get more time--and don't blow out a thumb
typing--I will post other articles for your perusal.
Regards;
Todd Sandrock M.Arch
Northern Telecom Limited
Ottawa, Ontario
From Canadian Architect, January 1993
ARCHITECTS AND EDUCATION
The seeds of this theme issue on architectural education were
generated back in 1989 and 1990, when the jurors in both years' Canadian
Architect awards chose not to give an award of excellence in the student
category. The theses the jurors rejected were often intriguing
explorations into other fields of study such as philosophy or literature,
with difficult texts and extraordinary drawings, but they seemed worlds
away from the facts of real building. Were the architecture schools
drifting--or retreating--too far away from their role as a professional
training ground as they became absorbed in the intellectual labyrinths of
post-structuralism studies? There has always been a rift of some kind
between the profession and academia, but it seemed to be becoming almost
impassable.
To discuss these issues, we held a roundtable last October at the
University of British Columbia school of architecture with some recent
graduates and students. The school runs a three-year Bachelor of
Architecture program but is changing to a Master of Architecture program
in September. We also asked Mark Franklin, our editor-at-large, to
respond from the point of view of the practitioner employing students,
and John Archer, an NRC official, to give the industry perspective. From
the academic side writes Professor Eric Haldenby, director of the
Waterloo School of Architecture and chair of the Canadian Council of
University Schools of Architecture. Finally, Beth Kapusta talks to her
former teacher at Waterloo, Donald McKay. McKay is well-known for his
polemical views on education and the profession, and for the design of an
extraordinary house in Toronto.
What emerges from these discussions is that the pivot of crisis could
well be in the profession rather than the schools. Unsure and confused
about their role in the industry, even of their very survival, architects
are suffering a debilitating lack of confidence. To meet the new
complexities of the building industry, the role of the profession and the
education system that feeds it may have to be redefined, broadened and
simultaneously splintered. And within that spectrum, sadly, design could
be reduced to just one of many parts.
Bronwen Ledger