Posted Monday, June 16, 2008 at 8:25 AM
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BD is, quite rightly in my opinion, stirring-up a debate in advance of the forthcoming Oxford Conference on architectural education - read this [BD article] and the related articles. I strongly suspect that only a very small percentage of the current profession - and virtually none under the age of 50 - realise what a profound effect the 1958 Oxford Conference had on our education system. If the 2008 Conference is going to have a similar effect then we'd all better sit up, take notice, and make our views known before architectural education vanishes up its own backside. There are many, both practicing architects and students, who think that our education system is in crisis, but there seems to be zero consensus about the problems, let alone the solutions.The four pundits in the original [BD article] set out some interesting points, whilst skating-around the fundamental issues, but the hissy-fit responses from the four architectural school heads, in this [BD article], proved how far removed from reality they are. Such extraordinary comments as:
- "... maybe [education] is not different enough from the profession." Jeremy Till (Sheffield).
- "We need places where participants can set their own length, topic and form of study and participation ..." Brett Steele (AA).
- "I can think of at least four other [challenges] we must face up to: global health ...; intercultural interactions ...; general wellbeing; and quality of life." Iain Borden (Bartlett).
... just go to show that these guys live on another planet from those at the coal face. Borden's comments in particular reprise all the architects-can-change-the-world bollocks that so gets up the noses of the rest of the construction industry.
To this humble practitioner, there is one fundamental problem with our current education system:
Architects no longer know how to build the buildings they design.
And before I get the knee-jerk response from the one-man-band whingers, let me say that I believe this applies at all levels. Would you let a just-"qualified" Part 3 student loose on your house extension? Not bloody likely, unless I had a really reliable builder who promised to hold his/her hand through the whole process. The situation is probably even more acute in the larger practices where wet-behind-the-ears so-called "designers" are encouraged to produce eye-catching, competition-winning, CAD-generated schemes without a second thought as to whether they can actually be built to look anything like the design.
I believe that we need a fundamental readjustment in our education system - relinking architecture with the rest of the construction industry so that we can re-establish our position as the Team Leader, not be relegated to the lowly role of "design junkie" under the thumb of project management. So, Oxford Delegates, how about it?
