Having watched Citizen Architect I would like to comment on the man known only as Music Man. A poverty stricken stereo obsessed man who taught himself to read through comic books and also happens to be the main client of the Rural Studio portrayed in the documentary Citizen architect. Music Man's previous home was a dark and cramped trailer filled to the brim with stereo equipment and other objects collected from who knows where. So one might expect a house designed by a team of architectural students to promote a change or forcibly alter Music Man's clutter filled life. However this is not the case and I must say that I was surpirsed and impressed that Music Man did not change his way of living, that the house designed by Rural studio did not impose any rules on him. I think that makes for great architecture, and conflicts with many a modernist/postmodernist view that the architect decides how people live. Compare and contrast Sambo with the negatively painted Peter Eisenman who thinks that the architect knows people better then they do themselves. How about Jean Nouvel who had it written in contract that residents of his social housing development Nemausus one could not paint or wallpaper over the bare concrete walls, can you imagine how he'd react to Music Man...
I think what's essential in these types of projects is a great understanding of the clients, and a belief that architecture's role is not to enforce change, but to accommodate living. The Rural Studio did an excellent job in addressing this for Music Man, the high ceilings provided a great deal of unoccupied space that allowed for greater air circulation and lighting possibilities that the low hung ceiling of his trailer could not provide. In this manner when Music Man filled his house with his collections there was still ample light and ventilation.
So too in the "The Tsunami Box" where author Gerald Melling identifies the ridiculousness of a modern indoor kitchen for the refugees. He realizes that people will not be able to afford the usage of gas and eventually end up making fires and cooking outside anyways as was done traditionally. Quite comically I believe he is able to sell the outdoor cooking area to the rich American Philantropist by calling it an outside barbeque or something cute like that.
In "Architecture for the Poor" Hasan Fathy argues that slums are in fact the most practical response for the people that occupy them, being that they are built and designed by the people and as such their economic and pragmatic needs are generally taken care of. He argues instead that money should be spent on infrastructure such as clean water sources, waste disposal, before any money is to be spent on housing. And if housing is needed that the people should have easy access(economically) to materials and build for themselves. If any maintenance were needed they would more then likely need to understand how to repair and thus build themselves.
I am not familiar with what was discussed in the meeting, but if we are heading down the humanitarian route we must toss the ego and notions of fame and fortune out the window. We must be willing unlike Peter Eisenman to live with out clients, to understand their behavior and needs and limits. Through that I think we'd best understand how to provide for them and gain the richest educational experience as well. What do you guys think?
A discussion forum for the students at the school of Architecture and Design of VUW.
I think one of the things that I found most inspiring was that all the students were living together, IN the community, throughout the project.
ReplyDeleteHad they just been coming out from the cities on weekends to do working bees (like I've seen with some design build projects) then the outcome would have been much less reflective of the area.
I also loved 'Peanut' at the end 'I really cannot fault them... Well except they haven't built me a house yet.' What a smart ass.
Yea I agree that it seems especially important that the students live and engage with the community.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scene with Peanut is at the beginning when he is saying that Rural Studio has done nothing for the town, to which the guy from Rural Studio studio replies something along the lines of "Well, you(Peanut) and I are talking isn't that something"
To which Peanut laughs and nods his head.
If Victoria were to run a course similar to the Rural Studio, how do you think it would go about engaging with the community? Also do you think the Rural Studio is something that could translate to an urban context?
Fantastic doco.. Really inspiring.
ReplyDeleteMan Peter Eisenman did NOT come out looking good, huh!
'...90% of architects should build my background...'
Funny to hear that about Jean Nouvel too!
The doco opened my eyes to just how fundamental the 'live-in' element of rural studio is. It's significant that they travel away from their Uni, and immerse themselves. Having said that,
I do think a tweaked version of the Rural Studio model could translate well into Wellington's urban context.
Imagine the paper - Wednesdays and Saturdays, say, devoted to whatever project is being worked on. Full days on sites doing anything from workshopping to building, or otherwise days spent in the 'studio' at school, coordinating and drawing. (space could be provided for with the common room switch?!)
Any offer of a totally designed and built intervention (of any scale) would be SO lapped up by SO many organisations, I'm sure.
There is little question that need is around us. EG:
Anyone walked up the stairways of the Arlington tower on Hopper St lately? One example of a very local need for some uplifting architectural intervention. There would be hundreds.
Do others think a more detached programme away from the school (more in line with the Rural Studio) would be better? There's obviously more magic in that...
In any case hearing the willingness of our school at the meeting last week via Guy was really encouraging.
In a book a skimmed through on The Rural Studio, I read that one of Sambo's wishes was for the Rural Studio model to spread globally. Lets do it?!
Though I think design build studios in Wellington would defiantly be cool, I feel like the most integral part of the projects in Hale County is that the students are removed from their 'comfort zone'.
ReplyDeleteHere in the city we often get forced into the perspective that high density urban living is a godsend and the only way to lead an environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Nowhere is this more present than in papers such as SARC 351 where the doctrine of intensification is pushed, not just by the lecturers, but by the institutions (including the students themselves) as a collective.
However one doesn't need to go much further than the Kapati Coast & Otaki (hell, even South Karori) to see that people are living very low impact, and indeed humble, lifestyles out there.
I know that it seems clichéd to take on this whole 'getting away from it all' mantra. But if there's one thing that Citizen Architect demonstrated to me, its that the built environment exists well outside the bounds of the city, even if our aspirations for society don't.
I think that a coarse which allowed students to gain an understanding of peri-urban and rural lifestyles would not only be helpful for an appropriate community, but also beneficial to the institution from which it originated.
I defiantly think that it warrants more discussion and I'm looking forward to hearing what the rest of you think :)
Yeah, Eisenman - what a douche.
ReplyDeleteNot directly quoting here but he said things along the lines of 'I think architecture should create problems', and 'architecture should challenge our notions of comfort'.
If he stepped foot outside of his ivy league world of 'cultural icons', he would realise that reality has problems enough, and that living in substandard housing challenges your notion of comfort more effectively than any deconstructivist facade ever could. I do wonder how he allowed himself to be painted in such a villainous light, or whether it was some crafty baiting and editing on the director's part.
Anyway.
I do think that the live-in part of Rural Studio contributed to its strength and success. However, I really don't think that we need go far in order to be removed from our comfort zone. In Wellington that could mean living for a while in a council housing block in Newtown or Mt Cook - I have always been extremely curious what those places are like on the inside.
As much as I think we should be ambitious about this, I think we should start relatively small, and try and develop something sustainable (in the true sense of the word, not necessarily 'green'). I worry that massive projects on the scale of Solar Decathlon will become exhausting for the school - which is not to say it's not a fantastic project, but if we did something similar we could be competing for financial and academic resources (eg the use of people such as guy and simon). If what we start is successful, then we can continue reap the benefits by tutoring and developing the programme.
Ha, yes Nick, you had ulterior motives all along with that common room redesign eh!
We're thinking about having another meeting to chat about stuff next week, come one come all..... will keep you posted.
I certainly got the impression that one of Sambo's primary motives was to take those white middle class kids out of their comfort zone and in to the homes of poor black America. Not because of white guilt but in the belief that that would truly benefit them and the future of architecture, an 'art' he obvioulsy felt incredibly passionate about. To capture that world changing idealism/community spirit, locking it away within those students to be released at a later date. If the reality is, that upon graduation, and the beginnings of our professional careers that spirit becomes diluted or disappears completely as we become embroiled in a world of wealthy clients and unfulfilling architecture. Perhaps we need a tangible memory of that idealism.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't architecture schools have a practice within them? Sure there are practicing architects as lecturers/tutors etc but how does a school of architecture teach construction if it isn't doing it?
Guy has mentioned that it was Diane Brand's intention upon hiring him and Simon Twose that this happen. It we can assist in that any way then I think we should.
Is it about getting on site, stuck in to the business of construction. John Mills in his lecture this morning suggested that chatting to builders/tradies, sharing a beer and a sausage with them, getting to know 80% of what they know is a big part of where it is at.
I have been in contact with Alison Cadman, the Director of the Wellington Housing Trust and she has agreed to a meeting so if any one would really like to attend such a meeting shout out. Step 1 might just be about putting it out there, in Wellington or the wider environs that this is something we want and see what happens/who bites...
Might look at a meeting for this Thursday at 12.40 in VS2.21 again. If advertising becomes item 1 on the agenda, are there any other suggestions?
I often wonder why architecture schools aren't run like a practice. It reminds me of this discussion recently on the daily dish about the internet and what they call a cognitive surplus. In that you have such a grand population with such an ample resource that is the internet, and as such you get user developed experiences such as wikipedia. In design school we have such a grand colleciton of creative minds why not make use of it. Unlike practicing architects who are out there to make a profit we are students. Why not make use of us for projects that won't turn a monetary profit.
ReplyDeleteExploit us for the good of all people.
I'd be keen for the meeting though I highly suggest a better awareness campaign. I myself was unaware of the first meeting and having bumped into numerous students who were unaware of the meeting and despite being quite passionate about receiving a more design/build education along the lines of Rural Studio. I would assume more fliers around school would be beneficial, perhaps even setting up a table and getting a petition going, or at least a survey of who's interested in the school.
Also having not attended the last meeting I would appreciate it if someone could summarize what was discussed. You mention that Guy and Simon are here to lead a more construction based curriculum, pretty interesting, would like to know what else was learned.
At this point I think it's a bit early to 'advertise'.. we really need to figure out which direction to take before we can move forward. There's no point approaching the housing trust for instance if we end up focusing on things other than dwellings, or local council if we want to go elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteHow about a little homework first - say, we all choose one approach, e.g. peri-urban-rural-studio-esque, or urban competition based, or offshore humanitarian, or practice within a school, and do a brief report on how we would go about things, just a bit of research into precedents, feasibility, pros and cons and a general sketch framework or plan of how it could be adapted to our school.
That way we can sit around and do a bit of comparative analysis (arguing) until we come to some kind agreed-upon conclusion. I know everyone's got quite a bit on their plates but it'd be nice to consolidate our ideas a bit and we can go from there...
Going back to what was previously posted about Citizen Architect and Rural Studio's take on design, I found the contrast between their view and Peter Eisenman's view raised the question how much of our design aesthetic should we impose on the client and how much should they influence our design? From the movie you would assume that Peter Eisenman has taken the stance that the architect knows whats best for the client and that you should ignore their wants/needs. Rural studio pretty much the opposite. When should you ignore these wants/needs and when should you abide by them?
ReplyDeleteI think that having the opportunity to do something along the lines of what the students involved with Rural Studio were able to do would be awesome! The chapel with the tyres was incredible.
I too missed the last meeting. Is it same time and place next week?
@Amanda
ReplyDeleteperhaps advertising was the wrong word. Perhaps 'awareness' is more appropiate. Making 'people' aware of our intentions. Ok so we don't know exactly what our intentions are yet, like we are a charity looking for a specific cause. What do we have to lose from spreading our net, trying to find out who wants to work with us to 'solve' their cause? As you point out we should aim to develop something which is sustainable, which means developing relationships with stakeholders. Agreed the Solar Decathlon is too big, it's really high profile, so there must be pressure on the school to do a good job.
So how about on Thursday we brainstorm precedents, approaches and ideas?
@Alex & Eric
At the meeting last week we had a presentation from Henry on relief aid architectural projects. Precedents. Well intentioned but inappropiate or insensitivie. Possible issues with red tape. Perhaps he could make the ppt available? Insight from Guy about his and Simon's hiring and desire from head of school to set up inhouse 'practice'. Solar Decathlon came out of design assignment a couple of years back. What did people want and why?
@Eric
Re awareness. Not sure what the best approach for that is? Sure we could put some flyers up and something on the screens in the studio but that might get a bit tedious. Perhaps the best approach is that we just start getting each other talking about it, in err, real life or failing that on here and bump up the readership. Advertise Critters? How about an announcement at the beginning of 212 studio? Facebook is evil but the admin side of the where and when coould be handled by events in Facebook. That means more fans of the Critters page.
On the Rural Studio's approach to Musicman, I wonder how much he actually courted their intervention or if he was nominated to receive their services. I got the impression he could have gone on living in his previous structures till he died. Was he aware that they were probably reducing his life expectancy? There's a fine line between knowing what's best, imposing a design aesthetic on him with an awareness of his wants and needs and providing an architectural response to that. What if he had said I don't want a space above my head for ventilation and I don't much care for your fancy roof framing? Do you give him a 2.4m plasterbaord ceiling? In that sense they did know what was best for him in a way that was sensistive to the way he lived.
Extra Screening of Citizen Architect at 4:30 on Monday the Second at the Paramount, can someone post an announcement on Facebook.
ReplyDelete@Amanda at the moment I think there are far too few of us discussing on the blog, advertising or promoting more strongly through conversation or fliers would help to enrich the discusions. Also having a more diverse range of students expressing interest strengthens the argument for a change in the curriculum.
I like the idea of doing reports on precendts and the such. Perhaps we could run a weekly discussion devoted to each potential route. Also how about running mock briefs/projects on the blog where we discuss in order to practice problem spotting and resolving for these sort of projects.
@ Spencer I like the idea of making some sort of announcement before studio or even lectures. Also I think we should be reaching out to other degrees/years as well. Shameless self promotion might be in our benefit.
I never argued that an architect doesn't know best. I like to think that our degree's enable us to provide good responses. However I don't think we can be taught how to correctly respond. I reckon some architects would have looked at MusicMan and seen an issue of storage space. Instead of seeing the hoarding and collecting as part of MusicMan's identity they would have addressed it as a problem. You are dead right that there is a fine line between imposing and providing responses. I like to think that good a good client/architect relationship through communication and trust will provide such responses though.
I've been at trans-tasmans in Auck this week so unfortunately did not catch the film, but interesting to read these comments.
ReplyDeleteYo Spence, not sure if i'm reading you here correctly, but re my presentation, inefficiency and failure to engage local capacity referred to broader trends and problems within aid and development - not the architectural responses to humanitarian problems. I thought all the precedents I showed were pretty well intentioned and sensitive to local context, and represented a variety of scales, and budgets, as well as representing different responses
If we all want to do something humanitarian I think the best idea is to focus on a problem, or a site, or both, lock that in first, and then do something on a really small scale. Otherwise it just becomes a lot of good intention and wasted ambition. What Nick suggests about the stairwells is perhaps a good idea. The reality with any humanitarian response is that it is inherently limited - the demand will almost always outweigh the supply. So better to pick something specific and run with it.
I'll chuck the pdf up in a folder on the temp drive if anyone is interested.
Sorry, my rather punchy minutes of the meeting wasn't meant to be a summary of Henry's ppt, more what I came away with from what was discussed after it.
ReplyDeleteI am intending to pronounce the architect (me) knows best otherwise I feel I am devaluing 5 years studying to be one, alone with all 120 weeks + after graduating + practice + life. I'm not going to get in to a fight with a client (not my style) but not back down on things which I see as important, but build a solid argument for them. Of course in my romantic view of the client/architect relationship they are paying for my knowledge and opinion.
@Eric. Certainly you can't be taught how to feel about someone like MusicMan. If all you see is a poor black man who should stop collecting junk and tidy up you're missing the point. It wouldn't matter how much storage you provided him, he would just collect things he valued. The key was providing him a healthier environment.
So announcement at the beginning of 212 tomorrow? Who wants to do it?
Advertise Critters with fylers. I don't mind knocking them up.
What ya wanna say?
Just echo the "about us" text...
"A forum for discussion for the students at the school of Architecture and Design of VUW.
This blog is everyone's blog, so if you'd like to post entries, email archcritters@gmail.com and you can be hooked up with permission"
Spencer, I'm also confused re what you said about Henry's presentation. What makes you say inappropriate or insensitive? Or are you referring to aid efforts as a whole, rather than the particular examples which he showed?
ReplyDeleteEric, I think week-long discussions could get too drawn out, personally I'd rather do some 5-10 minute presentations at a meeting, just so we can lay it all down on the table at once and cross-compare rather than go through every single thing blow by blow.
And in terms of general awareness... yeah, we can advertise to the masses, tell them that we want to do something, anything.. but that doesn't sound like a particularly effective marketing strategy to me. And when you're after money, it is marketing. I think defining what we want to do then targeting specific organisations will be way more fruitful.
As a general plan of attack for these initial stages, this is what I would suggest....
1) Lay down as many precedents, ideas, local/global problems etc as possible, involving as many people of all levels to get a broad response
2) Discuss at length til we find the best 3 or so
3) Prepare detailed reports for the 3 paradigms (existing or new) for design/build programs and how they may be adapted to VUW
4) Present reports to Diane Brand
5) Depending on feedback, go from there....
@ Spencer, don't think we are at a disagreement with that point. That's exactly what I said in the original post.
ReplyDelete@ Amanda How does promoting the blog not fall under number 1 of your plan of attack?
Plan of attack sounds good.
I saw this organisation on an architecture website, obviously we're not engineers but they do community projects in their own countries and across the globe, integrating engineering schools and having students and professionals work side by side.
ReplyDeleteHave a squiz if you're interested.
http://www.ewb-usa.org/projects.php
And there's a New Zealand branch too:
http://www.ewb.org.nz/
Annnd check these out! An exhibition at the V&A in London which is currently on called 1:1 - Architects build small spaces. For an added bonus, the entries include one from our beloved Rural Studio.
ReplyDeleteThey're all a little more folly than useful but they're cool all the same. The time lapse videos are pretty sweet too.
How awesome would it be if we had something like this in and around the City Gallery? A mix of entries from NZ architects and students would be fantastic.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting design/build project with an eco-sensitive approach in North Carolina. Its part of a Landscape Architecture programme, but I'm sure it still has applications to those of the more Architectural persuasion.
ReplyDeletehttp://land8lounge.com/profiles/blogs/ncsu-students-complete
I think that if you were to get involved in something more urban (I hear my old school might be a possibility), then something along these lines might be suitable.
Great discussion on 1:1 generally and how to make it fly at Vic.
ReplyDeleteAgreed - 1:1 at City Gallery would be amazing. That made me think of another activity of this nature that happens in AKL -
http://www.trans-form-ers.blogspot.com/
http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/events/template/event_item.jsp?cid=200749
Spoke to a Uni of Auckland student at Superstudio over the weekend and there are apparently murmurings of crossing the three schools with this expensive yet tremendously awesome event/programme. At the moment it's just an Auckland thing.
Engineers without Borders (ewb.org.nz) are great and so open to collaboration - even with their arci counterparts! They were really active following the Samoan tsunami last year and wanted architecture student help... Didn't come to much (for us) unfortunately but they're all about just getting it done.
I may have missed a Thursday meeting by the sounds...
Count me in for a quick investigation into an aspect/example of design builds around the world. Keep us posted!
Apologies - I just found the other post about the meeting last Thursday.
ReplyDeleteA school - sweet! How involved is Diane Brand, or the school more generally, at this point?