Aug 3, 2020
Architecture School: Part 2 — Thresholds
This article is part of a series discussing and reminiscing my years in Architecture academia. These stories are substantially extracted from facts but which are also filtered with my perspective and opinion. Therefore, not everyone that went through the same process will echo my sentiments. Still, similarities will undoubtedly arise, for there is a kinship among participants who go through the same gauntlet. The first article in the series can be read here.
One definition for a threshold would be: a strip of wood or stone forming the bottom of a doorway and crossed in entering a house or room. Familiar in its way, the other definition would be the magnitude or intensity that must exceed a specific reaction, phenomenon, result, or condition to occur or manifest. The latter interpretation being forceful, more poetic, in a sense.
Definitions are made in terms of expectations and indications of what to come next.
First-year architecture school, as with any degree in higher education, is an introduction. The school heads outline expectations and definitions in terms of grades, performance indicators and other miscellaneous items.
This first year is the time for the basics. Thinking that I already knew what is entailed to being an Architect was a lie. There’s so much more to it than just construction. Although, as a profession, construction acts as a simple proof of concept for our skills. What we draw needs to be, at a certain point in time, built.
The other purpose of the first year, for this particular school of Architecture (Victoria University of Wellington), is an entry to the second year of the school and onwards.
I previously mentioned in the first part (see here) that entry to the school was “open” so long as you have the minimum university entrance after completing high school in New Zealand. This entry procedure produces a more substantial than regular student numbers in the first year, so, therefore, a practice of “thinning the herd” needs to be done.
Only 80 students with the highest marks will go through the second year. There were 250 (I think) students in my first-year class. If nothing stokes competitiveness than that, then I do not know what will.
Side story, there was a rumour that about 14 or so students decided to drop off Architecture school and decided to pursue other degrees. This drop-off was within the first two weeks, which was nuts to me.
So for the better part of the year (10+ months), we slaved away in our shared studios. Often into the late evenings. Often over some takeaway Chinese food procured around the corner. It is incredible what five dollars can get you if you are not picky and do not have any dietary restrictions. It was a slog.
The skills thought introduced at this stage was not only the analogue (i.e. drawing and sketching, model making) but also the digital. Digital tools and methodologies have changed a few things in the last decade or so when CAD (or computer-aided design) is implemented within the profession.
Digital tools have now expedited the process of taking the vision of a concept from the Architect’s minds-eye into something presentable. Sure sketches and hand drafting still have its place, but then I find the process more rewarding and its impact more instant.
It was a revelation. It was fun. It was exciting and gruelling all at the same time. There was a lot to learn and admittedly a lot I need to catch up on compared to my other colleagues. This purpose of academia is one that I think people underestimate about this process. You need to learn how to learn.
Most of the time, I love the work, and sometimes I question why we were doing it in the first place. But all in all, I took it in and absorbed it. Moving to a different country makes and forces you to do that. Adaptability and learning to learn is one major thing that anyone will learn from higher education regardless of the degree they chose to pursue.
Alas, I did not make it to the cut. Even though I had some notable projects that made my peers pay attention to my work, it was not enough. There were certain areas that I needed improvement, mainly in technology and scholarly research. Writing as a skill was a hit and miss for me in school, and it seems to continue to higher education.
The head of school has counselled me that the grades were final. My pathway now is to take on other papers in the meantime, not in the direct stream of Architecture. I chose Interior Architecture, instead of Building Science which in hindsight was the more logical choice.
But this setback was a knock to my confidence. It sounded crazy. I felt that it was a waste of time.
But alas, I did take the course, and I adapted and learned new things along the way — namely, the value of resiliency. Doubt in yourself is like rocks in your pocket, sinking you in a quicksand of depression. It stops your momentum. You just need to think, stay calm and slowly work your way out of it.
And I had that momentum at that point.
The next part will narrate the experiences of the alternative path and onto exploring foreign lands — yet another perspective to add.
