The lone bus shelter that people scurry towards during a downpour, the courtyard of a childhood home, the bleak neighborhood hospital, the new tall office buildings, one’s first school…
These spaces which are so common in a neighborhood evoke an image in the mind’s eye, often accompanied by an emotion one can’t quite put into words. Yet at another time, at a different place, a memory resurfaces recalled to the present by the arrangement of windows or the color of paint or the mayhem around the place. To many, ordinary experiences like these can become the background of their daily routine, whereas, to the keen observer and design thinker, these everyday happenings play the protagonist in the story of their everyday life.
Architectural education and the perception of space
The keen sense of observation and the skill of reading the story behind the physical appearance of space are often cultivated by great patience, practice, and study during architectural education. In addition to this, a criticism of the existing state of things is developed and accompanied by a constant effort to make it better. The inner critic, accompanied by the examples of careful design that one learns in architecture school, creates an objective lens to view the mundane and the striking alike. This viewpoint breathes life into brick and metal and perceives each user’s experience as a conversation with architecture. It results in one having a large mental database of detailed spatial experiences.
A space designer often interprets an intervention relative to its context. For example, a playground can be the heart and soul of a neighborhood, while according to many it can turn out to be noisy and crowded. A community can celebrate an upcoming mall while a designer can read the impact it might have on the existing culture and ecosystem. A designer can identify with a city or town with its character as if it were a living being while a majority of the population seems to identify it with the amenities or unique issues it has.
In addition to this, an architect develops an aesthetic sense that is based on studies of human preferences of certain color schemes and proportions over others.
This zoomed-out, aesthetically informed approach is accompanied by its own set of cons. When one is trained to view a space objectively, the fascination that usually captures the masses fails to impress. Instead, a designer can be seen critiquing the proportion or the circulation of the marvel. This inner critic is prone to strive for perfection. Perfection in aesthetic preferences and their cost is a common, recurring opinion fork at which designers argue.
Architecture in the virtual space
The three-dimensional world that a designer is taught to perceive has a virtual counterpart. With the use of virtual reality and augmented reality in architecture, the traditional perception of space is fast gaining a new dimension. Client presentations and university submissions are transitioning into virtual reality tours. It is considered an efficient method of presentation that speeds up the design process. Augmented reality bridges the gap between traditional drawings and virtual reality using software that displays views upon scanning a 2D drawing. Art festivals like the Burning Man that are attended by a select few have made attempts to be more accessible to a larger population by moving into the virtual realm. The COVID-19 pandemic facilitated many such events to transition into a VR experience. One can now take a tour of renowned museums around the world online. Some universities have moved their exhibitions and competitions online, sometimes with virtual tours of the exhibition space.
Architectural education too saw a major shift to the virtual space during the past year due to the pandemic. The two-dimensional nature of video calls turned out to be limited compared to traditional studio learning. The characteristic studio atmosphere with its peer reviews and all-nighters was amiss and could not be replicated online. The experience of making physical models in a group, searching for materials, and learning new skills by observing trained craftsmen did not find an online alternative. Students in their initial years of education missed out on much-needed travel and exploration that constitutes the foundation of their architecture career. Gaining crucial exposure and discussions turned out to be a challenge to students at the finishing point in their course. In the virtual environment, architectural education was considered to be a one-dimensional experience.
On the other hand, architecture practices that have made an effective transition to remote working have reported increased efficiency and productivity. It has sped up the design process and increased energy levels in employees. Some practices have also found this mode more economical and have utilized this opportunity to collaborate with professionals worldwide. If done right, remote working can be introduced as a hybrid within the typical setup of a practice. The virtual dimension in the architecture field was uncharted waters that are slowly being utilized to its full potential.
The future of architecture
In addition to moving into the virtual space, architecture is steadily headed towards a sustainable realm. Adhering to green building regulations has become common practice in large-scale architecture and the ideas of net-zero, off-the-grid systems, are seen implemented in a wide variety of typologies. Concerns about the lifecycle of a building enabled ideas of circular economy to seep into architecture. Newer construction technologies, like Design for deconstruction, pre-plan the dismantling of a building after its life-cycle is complete. Materials like cross-laminated timber aim to have a positive impact on the environment and be circular.
The consciousness about the environmental impact of construction is yet to be commonplace in smaller-scale projects. Meanwhile, many large-scale projects have evolved to think of sustainability as an important aspect of planning. Though the progress might be slow, the future of architecture is turning green.
