The following is a short essay I must submit with my application to the RAIC Syllabus, which is the organization through which I plan to study to get my architectural diploma.
The notion of buildings that speak helps us to place at the very centre of our architectural conundrums the questions of the values we want to live by – rather than merely of how we want things to look. – Alain de Botton, "The Architecture of Happiness"
Every generation of designers and architects, regardless of whether being Neoclassical, Beaux Arts, Modernist, or from any other design era, are usually products of their generation. Despite best efforts, only a few gifted individuals in each generation have the true ability to design to their own preferences, rather than to the preferences of the society in which they live. This is not to say that there aren’t currently any talented or gifted architects, but few are the individuals that shun trends and create seemingly unique building types. This is not necessarily negative, although it can render architectural trends a bit predictable. Once a culture and its resident architects develop a preference for a certain style of building, they tend to run with it for a while until the next great free thinker is able to convince the current generation otherwise.
The next proliferative style that is about to manifest itself may be labeled under the now ubiquitous term “green.” These are buildings that are driven by the perceived need to reduce how much of an impact the building has on its surrounding environment, which, as we are already beginning to see, is impacting the aesthetic of the buildings. Within a generation from now in the northern hemisphere, you may be hard-pressed to see a building with any significant windows on its northern exposure. Is this going to be a style of building defined by well-known concept “form follows function?” Yet, despite the fact that new technologies threaten the aesthetic of buildings for the practicality of polluting less and making better use of resources, this cannot be used as an excuse for weak-minded design.
On the contrary, this may be one of those times in history when architecture is driven by more than aesthetic preference, but by the values of its society, which in this case is the environmental cause. Similar occurrences have happened many times throughout history, and as much as it was true then, it is equally true now that it is the current generation of architects’ responsibility to ensure that the values of their society are respected, if indeed they are judged to be sincere and well-founded, and to make sure that they still design aesthetically pleasing buildings. That is the responsibility I set out for my career as an architect.
I am the son of a carpenter, and the need to design and construct runs through the core of who I am. I am an architectural technologist, and that practical training will no doubt influence the type of architect I become, but this, as I have said, cannot be used as an excuse for weak-minded design. For me, studying architecture will be the process I must go through to learn how to synthesize the values I have judged to be important and want my buildings to speak to, with the aesthetic style that is appropriate and pleasing. Further, I must challenge myself to not be bound by the technologies of the day, or to the style preferences of the masses to create the status quo, but to be continually re-evaluating those same values and aesthetics so that each new building is true to who I am.
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