University of Houston Architecture Students

[H-Town Man]

Ref: http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...showtopic=20165

If you could describe UH architecture students in two words, what would they be?

My choice: "jaded" and "predictable"

[UrbaNerd]

Sad but true....

Ignorant AND Uninformed

(I've seen this firsthand even; many of them don't seem that "into it". However, rest assured; there are a couple who are. Perhaps I should start linking some of my fellow students to HAIF.

[crunchtastic]

The "if you could only use xx number of words" game is one that is played best by language people, not spatial people. Go ask the creative writing department and you'll get much better answers to the question.

Why so harsh? Nothing any of those kids said was untrue. In fact, if you did a random sample of the city's population at large, you would hear these same words again and again. The fact that they're architecture students isn't going to make them more informed or more eloquent about the nature of a city-- they're a bunch of kids learning how to design buildings. And like most people, they probably have inadequate understanding of historical context, even within their own field of study. You'd find this in any college department. I am surprised the HAIF is not a given for arch students at UH, though. You'd think more would be plugged in.

[TheNiche]

The fact that they're architecture students isn't going to make them more informed or more eloquent about the nature of a city-- they're a bunch of kids learning how to design buildings. And like most people, they probably have inadequate understanding of historical context, even within their own field of study. You'd find this in any college department.

You'd think so, but the architecture profession is drifting waywardly into urban planning and sociology. They call it "landscape architecture" and there are degrees in it. It's basically a fine arts degree in the spatial possibilities of the urban form, but that glosses over any kind of economic, fiscal, or political realities.

...and you're right, they aren't word-savvy people. You should see some of the convoluted paragraphs that they can put together when they're trying to sound educated.

[MaggieMay]

During my checkered career at U of H, I interacted a bit with architecture students. Two 2-word phrases come to mind:

South Coast & Ant Farm

Kids these days--they just don't know how to have fun! (Well, I bet some of them do.)

[N Judah]

"busy" and "tired" would describe architecture students in general.

[PapillionWyngs]

Snobbish and ignorant

I know one, unfortunately.

Now they weren't like that in that 70's. I dated one.

[names]

You'd think so, but the architecture profession is drifting waywardly into urban planning and sociology. They call it "landscape architecture" and there are degrees in it. It's basically a fine arts degree in the spatial possibilities of the urban form, but that glosses over any kind of economic, fiscal, or political realities....and you're right, they aren't word-savvy people. You should see some of the convoluted paragraphs that they can put together when they're trying to sound educated.

Hey, I resent that! Actually the degree is "environmental design" it's a B.S. not a B.A.

Granted, we are not the most word savvy of folks but you have to admit that there are just as if not more important elements at play in notions like urban form than economics,politics, or other ephemeral affairs. Like the memory of a great song, that marginal dwelling dream is for some, an immortal desire and to experience such is to have lived. We live to dream big.

My 2 words,

Oppurtunist & Monkey

[TheNiche]

Hey, I resent that! Actually the degree is "environmental design" it's a B.S. not a B.A.

Different universities call it different things, but yeah, same stuff.

Granted, we are not the most word savvy of folks but you have to admit that there are just as if not more important elements at play in notions like urban form than economics,politics, or other ephemeral affairs.

Form follows function. Perhaps the function of architecture is to dream dreams, but the function of a city is to serve as a seat of government and enable the agglomeration of firms.

[names]

Form follows function. Perhaps the function of architecture is to dream dreams, but the function of a city is to serve as a seat of government and enable the agglomeration of firms.

Did you just crack that copy of Reyner Banham?

Simply put, functions constantly change but the image remains. Why would be people have any attachment what-so-ever to old abandoned buildings? Sociology and urban form are 2 birds to aim for in the eyes of a good architect. Proper architecture has been outsourced by the number crunchers since the advent of the telegraph and then industrial mass production, yet people are lined up around the block for starchitects to give them the nod. Take for instance the number of prominent buildings in downtown built during the boom era, if form truly followed function those skyscrapers would simply not be as tall as they are or skinned with the materials they are adorned with considering the growing pains of the bust era. Ego and desire have always played important roles in the existence of architecture; utility is for the forgotten. Now I understand that may sound aloof but my life's work is too valuable to waste time with clients only interested in their own egos or conversely their own pocketbooks, both are unacceptable extremes.