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Courtesy of University of Washington Department of Architecture website, http://arch.be.washington.edu/
In a posthumous 1990 essay A Black Box: The Secret Profession of Architecture, Reyner
Banham warned of architectures corrosive trend toward insulating itself from discussions
outside of the discipline. Decades later, architecture finds itself in an even more dire state
of affairs. Despite a transformed global context, the same paternalistic model of studio
culture that has existed since the Beaux Arts remains in place. Studio culture, as
currently practiced, promotes an outdated and parochial understanding of how design
knowledge is produced, valuing expertise over synthesis and image over process and
practice.
It also affects the health and wellness of students. Over ten years ago, the AIAS
(American Institute of Architecture Students) and NAAB (National Architectural Accrediting
Board) created a new requirement for accreditation, requiring all schools to address these
precise concerns through a written policy on studio and learning culture. However, many
schools of architecture across the country still do not educate students about this policy
nor seem to follow it.
While there are certainly creative strengths and a generalized camaraderie fostered by
traditional studio models, they do not adequately prepare students for navigating the global
present. We believe there is an urgent need to reconfigure the institution of studio in order
to address the pressing academic and professional issues of our time. We are putting forth
what we feel are the guiding principles which must inform a progressive studio culture:
agency, balance, flexibility, diversity, interactivity, interdisciplinarity, and sustainability. It is
our hope these principles spur debate and much needed action for fundamentally
transforming studio culture.
Agency
Students are under tremendous social, economic, and cultural pressures in school.
Because of this, most do not realize they could have far greater agency in the formation of
their education. The default tendency is for students to uncritically accept the premises in a
given curriculum, syllabus, or studio problem, thus negating their stake. This acceptance
appears to be necessary in order to focus on the task at hand, much like the way a
subordinate in a professional office operates. This is in no way meant to be pejorative but
rather to highlight that these behaviors are so inculcated that students often do not realize
how little they are shaping or participating within them. This begs us to ask what role
faculty members can play in helping students to realize their agency and utilize it. The
studio contract (see flexibility) is one way to intervene in this relationship, but others are
needed in order to foster a culture of action that can translate into an engaged profession.
World
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Balance
A recent study on mental health in architecture school paints a bleak picture of the
experience of studio culture. The idea that all-nighters are a necessary part of any project
work schedule is an accepted and often expected practice. While few studio professors
believe this is a wise use of time, among students the practice of staying up all night,
sometimes multiple nights to meet deadlines, persists. That most architecture school
buildings maintain 24-hour accessibility doesnt help the matter. The NAAB Handbook is
quite clear in its support of a balanced life, however the advice is habitually ignored.
Architects from Virtruvius to Le Corbusier have claimed to hold the responsibility of
teaching society how to live productive, artful lives. But if architects cant maintain these
standards themselves, a great degree of hypocrisy persists. Maintaining a healthy,
balanced life is a critical component of 21
st
century studio culture.
Flexibility
While the architecture studio is still a site for a range of creative transactions, the ways in
which students work are often informed by inherited constraining habits. As educators, we
teach students to be nimble thinkers and designers, moving between various digital
platforms, modeling and mapping software, and honing their public presentation personas.
But what does it mean to be flexible when it comes to life-work balance? And more
importantly, how do students learn to be flexible?
Overturning ingrained practices can be incredibly difficult, but instituting a negotiated
contract is a promising method for catalyzing change. In a studio class led by this articles
co-author, Lori Brown, at Syracuse University last fall, Brown proposed a contract with her
second-year undergraduate architecture students. Openly negotiated with all of the
students, the basic tenets included banning all-nighters as well as texting and watching
videos during studio class time. Additionally, an agreed upon schedule was decided on,
enabling students to work and make it to their non-studio courses alert and well-rested.
Diversity
A 21
st
century studio culture must take on a more inclusive understanding of knowledge
practices if it is to serve a globalized community. The dominant studio model traces its
lineage back to Euro-American precedents like the Beaux Arts, the Bauhaus, and, in the
US, the Texas Rangers, but these are inadequate even in an American context, where a
large portion of architecture students identify themselves as international. Likewise, the
fact that these early studio models served primarily white male students should make us
question the assumptions and power structures embedded within studio culture.
Proponents of the disciplinarity of architecture praise the virtues of the canon. But why
should a student from China, for example, be heavily invested in the work of Andrea
Palladio or Peter Eisenman? These are certainly valid and well-supported models, but they
should be considered just a few among many. The need for diversity in studio culture goes
beyond merely accommodating demographic shifts. In a globalized world, it is no longer
possible to think simply in terms of the local. Learning to not only cope, but thrive within
diverse cultural and social contexts is fundamental to a renewed studio culture.
Interactivity
As discussed above, the studio is a site of tremendous creative energy. Unfortunately, the
ways in which this energy is channeled and the ways it is evaluated is incredibly
hierarchical and non-interactive. The jury model of reviewing work is a relic from another
era. Despite technological breakthroughs in recent decades encouraging unprecedented
levels of social interactivity and new forms of representation, the staid jury model has
remained the unquestioned centerpiece of architectural education. Creative work in the
21
st
century calls for ways of learning which encourage participation and dialogue rather
than judgment and discipline. This might be phrased as bottom-up versus top-down expert
form of teaching. Studio instead seems like a job with a boss rather than a place to play
and experiment with different modes of critique, discussion and learning environments.
Transforming this atmosphere is necessary for a reinvigorated studio culture.
Interdisciplinarity
What additional areas of education do architecture students need in the 21
st
century and
13
JUN
2014
by Lori Brown & Joseph Godlewski
Articles ArchitectureEducation
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6/14/2014 7 Ways to Transform Studio Culture & Bring It into the 21st Century | ArchDaily
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Cite:
Lori Brown & Joseph Godlewski. "7 Ways to Transform Studio Culture & Bring It into the 21st Century" 13
Jun 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed 13 Jun 2014. <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=515146>
how are we preparing them for the ever-evolving landscapes of practice? Interdisciplinary
educational models are imperative for the future of the profession. If architects are to
remain vital to the built environment, we must cross disciplinary boundaries in order to
broaden the disciplines role politically, socially, and materially. In the face of rapid
technological change, its imperative that architects learn to work collaboratively with a
widening expanse of experts in other fields. Retreating into a disciplinary bubble is not an
option.
Sustainability
While the need for sustainable built environments is certainly a pressing issue that
architects continue to grapple with, less talked about is the idea that the studio culture
which produces architects itself is premised on a wholly unsustainable model. Central to
this model is the fact that we are teaching students to undervalue their time. Students are
aware of the unspoken expectation that you must work however long it takes to finish their
work. This directly translates into undervalued professional practice, the norm of unpaid
internships, incredibly long hours, and dreadfully low wages in comparison to other
technical professions. What role does value play the value of our time, the value of our
work, and the value of our life? We are all complicit in the perpetuation of this
unsustainable cycle. As we are in part responsible for this, we must dramatically change it.
Architecture schools need to seriously reckon with this system and invent alternative
models - or we will continue to involute into a blacker box.
Sources
AIAS Studio Culture Task Force, 2002. The Redesign of Studio Culture A Report of
the AIAS Studio Culture Task Force, Washington D.C.: American Institute of
Architecture Students.
Architecture Lobby, http://architecture-lobby.org/.
Banham, Reyner. 1990. A Black Box: The Secret Profession of Architecture, New
Statesman & Society, October 12.
Brown, Lori A. 2011. Introduction, Feminist Practices: Interdisciplinary Approaches
to Women in Architecture. Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Caragonne, Alexander, 1995. The Texas Rangers: Notes from the Architectural
Underground. Cambridge MA and London: MIT Press,
Godlewski, Joseph. 2011. On the Persistence of Juried Architectural Reviews, Crit
72.
Linder, Mark. 2005. TRANSdisciplinarity Hunch #9.
NAAB Handbook 2009
Whelan, Jennifer. Mental Health in Architecture School: Can the Culture Change? 21
Apr 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed 05 May 2014. <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=498397>
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6/14/2014 7 Ways to Transform Studio Culture & Bring It into the 21st Century | ArchDaily
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