Confessions of an Architect

We must all remember that one life’s incident, no matter how insignificant it seems at the time, may be a turning or starting point in one’s life.  When I was a sophomore in high school, I was given an assignment in English Class to research and write a term paper on the profession of Architecture.

I had known of the profession but never gave it much thought.  I did my research, spent time in the Public Library and enjoyed the research.  I found out that Architects were artists with materialistic skills and were creators of living and working spaces

I discovered that since I was picked out by my teachers to do artwork in the classroom and had no problem with the math courses I possessed some of the traits mentioned in my research.  As far as the creative ability goes I learned from my mother that I was creative.

I was given an erector set for my birthday.  It had lots of pieces and bolts and nuts and came with directions and illustrations of things to make by bolting the pieces together.

I didn’t follow any of the directions but made my own objects as I saw fit.  This bothered my mother who felt I had some disability not being able to follow the directions or illustrations.  When I wrote my term paper I discovered that I wasn’t disabled but only creative.

I received a good grade on my paper and from that time on I wanted to be an architect.  The important lesson I learned is that if one can establish his or her direction in life at a young age, it is easy to accomplish the goal by concentration of the direction and not being distracted by other influences which may be detrimental to the progress.  I feel that it is important for parents to view the skills of their children and expose them to fields of endeavor which suit their skills.  The child will make the decision of which field to enter but it will most likely be the field which involves the natural ability.  What comes easy is what one should follow in life because it will be the most joyful.

Along the way I learned other lessons which are important in any field or profession.  I learned the difference between sight and visions, hearing and listening and reading and understanding.  To fully understand the problem is the key to fining the solution.

In the middle of my career, I was appointed to the State Board of Architects.  This is the body that controls the practice of the profession and examines candidates for licensure.  We were concerned with Life, Safety and Welfare.

One of my assignments was to help compose the questions on the written examination.  There was a lot of technical stuff regarding life Safety and Building Codes and how to calculate the size of structural members.  But my favorite question was one in the Welfare category.  “Why is it important for an Architect to study the History of Architecture”?  The simple answer is that regardless of the era that buildings are designed they must always contain the same elements of building design which are the Social, Physical and Economical considerations.

The buildings which are built are the fossils of the society of the civilization which creates them.  This is true now as it has been in the past.  Today’s Architects must follow the same steps; solve the same problems as Architects in the past.  The building technology may change but the steps are the same.  Some of the elements may overlap but they are all part of the whole.

Social:  No building is ever designed or constructed if there is no need for it.  The Social make-up of the civilization determines the need for the Architecture.  This is true for the prehistoric civilizations as well as the Egyptian Pyramids, Round Amphitheaters, Gothic Churches and Contemporary Skyscrapers.

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Softcover

£10.99