PML Essay Final

8/9/2019 PML Essay Final

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Architectural education requires graduates to invest heavily in the profession from an early

stage. As qualified architects we are faced with diminishing authority in the achievement of

our goals yet the liabilities that attach to our professional work remain undiminished and

disproportionate. What skills should we as architects require of our system of education that

might better equip us to respond to the challenges of practice and the role of the architect in

society in the 21stcentury?


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Young people go to university with the aim of becoming architects, of finding out if they

have what it takes. What is the first thing we should teach them?

- Peter Zumthor


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It is a very interesting time to graduating from architecture. It is estimated thatthis summer in the UK close to 3000 Part I students will be graduating along withanother 1500 Part 2 and 1000 Part 1 whilst a!!ro"imately #000 new studentswill be embar$ing on their architectural education1. %ualifying architects areentering an industry dramatically changed by the economic crisis and are facedwith a loss of control within the construction !rocess and a !oor !ublic!erce!tion of modern architecture. &ith the cost of architectural education in theUK dramatically increasing with in the !ast 2 years how can schools ofarchitecture !re!are students to ta$e on the role of the architect in the 21st'entury.

In this essay I will com!are architecture students( !ersonal investment in the!rofession with their diminishing authority and will e"amine architecturaleducation in the UK and as$ what architects should re)uire of their educationsystem.

*he title of architect comes with considerable investment. +,I-*/ *,

/',I*'*U/4 U'*I67 *o become fully )uali8ed a student must gain a!lace on an undergraduate Part 1 course. *his ty!ically runs for three years withstudio design !ro9ects at the core of the curriculum and lectures in sub9ects suchas structures and history of architecture alongside it. nce com!leted theundergraduate does a year(s !ractical e"!erience a throwbac$ to the !u!illagesystem. *his is followed by a two year di!loma course again ty!ically basedaround studio !ro9ects culminating in a thesis !ro9ect of the student(s choice in areal world site. fter this one must com!lete a minimum of one years( !racticale"!erience until they can sit the /I: Part 3 e"amination and become registeredas an architect.2&ith the fee increase in 2012 a student starting this summerwill have invested four years around ;2 with anaverage starting salary of ;1?@#1 one of the lowest average graduate startingsalaries below orestry and griculture merican -tudies and ,istory of rt.3:ythe time they have their Part 2 their total education fees will be around +;#2000chec$7 and they will @ years older. nce fully )uali8ed they will have invested aminimum of seven years of their lives and around +;#5000 chec$7 in educationalfeesA an enormous commitment. I believe this investment of time is necessary asit is a !rofession that re)uires e"!erience. I do not believe most architects gointo the !rofession driven by money but a desire to design however this is beingmade more and more diBcult.

rchitects are e"!eriencing dwindling authority within the construction industrywith greater inCuence over !ro9ects being given to the contractor. *his is mostevident within the !ublic sector which now em!loys less than DE of architects

1 /I: ducation e!artment ducation -tatistics 2012F2013 2012 !.12

2 'ha!!ell and &illis *he rchitect in Practice 1DD2 !1?

3 *he 'om!lete University Guide *able of verage starting salaries for graduates 2013htt!Hwww.thecom!leteuniversityguide.co.u$careerswhatFdoFgraduatesFdowhatFdoF

graduatesFearn
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com!ared with 50E in the 1D


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ig 1

Perha!s the decreasing authority of the architect and the increasing liability are!art of the reason why around half Part 1 architecture students do not continuetheir education further Nsee 8g 1O. *he gra!h also begs the )uestion how do you!re!are students at any stage of their education to succeed in such a demandingindustry.

*o gain an overview of how students are currently !re!ared to become architectsin the UK I will com!are *he University of :ath and the :artlett NU'4O twoschools of architecture commonly ran$ed in the to! three in the country. :roadlys!ea$ing architectural education can be bro$en down into two schools ofthought. *heory driven as I believe the :artlett is or Practice driven as I believe:ath is. *his is most evident in the structure of their undergraduate courses. tthe :artlett you s!end the 8rst three years ta$ing !art in !ro9ects with anem!hasis on training the student in architectural theory followed by a year inindustry where the student learns about !ractising architecture through

!ractising architecture. :ath runs a sandwich course dividing the year inindustry between the 2ndand 3rdyears with the em!hasis of teaching being toteach the student to !ractice architecture. I do not believe that either wayimbues the student with more s$ills that =better equip them to respond to thechallenges of practice and the role of the architect in society in the 21stcentury.,owever I do believe they do share a common aim that should be at the heart ofall architectural educationA the develo!ment of the individual.

*he challenge of architectural education lies in establishing what as!ects of theindividual should be nurtured to aid them to become a good architect. *he /I:states that all registered architects must =com!ly> to these three !rinci!lesHIntegrity 'om!etence and /elationshi!s. I don(t thin$ these !rinci!les are

architect should have =com!ly> to. *hese should be the cornerstones ofarchitectural education.

/elationshi!s. It is the 9ob of to !ractice the student(s ability to communicateand form strong relationshi!s. If the architecture student goes into any design!rofession be it architect or gra!hic designer !aramount to the success of theirdesign is the strength of the relationshi! between them and the client. /arely willthe architect be in charge of all as!ects of a design and more com!rehensive andcom!le" 9obs re)uire a multiFdisci!linary team. single building may involvecollaboration between multi!le architects clients contractors structuralengineers building services engineers )uantity surveyors !lanners 8nancial

advisers and many more subcontractors and s!ecialists in many varyingcombinations. *he architect must be able to communicate well and form theserelationshi!s.

'om!etence. n architect must be com!etent in s!atial organisation humanneeds and the relationshi! between the two.


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com!etent in their !rofessionM It is therefore the 9ob of to teach studentsabout these matters to test them and to demand an e"tremely high standard.

Integrity. *his is something that cannot necessarily be taught but I believe it tobe the most im!ortant !rinci!le an architect must have. It is 9ob of toem!hasise its im!ortance. It is integrity that lets good design !revail against thedemands Cuctuations and diBculty of the industry. It guides the architect andallows them to admit when they might have made mista$es so they can berecti8ed and not harm the built environment.

I fear that a conCict e"ists between develo!ment of the individual and how theyare evaluated academically. -tudents are !ushed to !roduce !ro9ects that willgive them high mar$s with the aim of achieving a irst 'lass or 2H1 degreeinstead of !roducing !ro9ects that reCect their attitudes and beliefs about thebuilt environment. It seems biarre to me that !ro9ects are given numeric valuesof worth as it not a useful form of constructive feedbac$. Grades in architecturefeel slightly irrelevant and a much better evaluation of the student already e"ists

in the form of their architectural !ortfolio. must !rioritise the studentsdevelo!ing a !ortfolio that best describes them and what they do well. I do notbelieve graded evaluations of the student should be made $nown to them.cademic evaluation should be used as a means to ensure each student is readyto !rogress to the ne"t stage in their architectural education rather than whatthe student aims for and to evaluate the education system.

ur current academic system has been created and managed by academics andunsur!risingly has a !reoccu!ation with academic tic$ing of bo"es and not thedevelo!ment of the individual?. *his could be down to as ve ru! !uts it =aninferiority com!le" !roduced !erha!s by uncertainty about the future>D. I by nomeans want this to sound li$e a !etty student attac$ against his teachers who I

have the u!most res!ect and admiration or against the /I:. ,owever I feel that-tudent *eacher and Governing :oard all share a common fear over de8ning thefuture role of the architect.

f all the descri!tions that e"ist of the role of the architectA master builder!olicy ma$er design leader I believe one stands as most a!!ro!riate for the!resent. rchitect F decision ma$er10. It is the role of architectural education is tonurture the develo!ment of the individualA their ability to form relationshi!stheir com!etency as a designer and their integrity so they can ta$e decision onthe role as an architect in society in the 21st'entury.

? Ken 4ivingstone * *al$ L ,ow -chools Kill 'reativity

D ve ru! ducation of rchitects !#0

10 le" &right


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Private wor$ stayed largely the same and is !redicted to stay li$e that with

?DE of small !ractices wor$load from the !rivate sector. *he main changeis in the !ublic sector.

&ith changes and uncertainty in any !rofession comes changes and uncertaintyin de8ning the role of the !rofessional guarding it. *a$e for e"am!le the recent6,- reforms that have left ,ealth Industry in a state of confusion and the role ofthe !rofessionals within it being diluted as something between business managerand medical !ractitioner. *he construction industry is constantly in Cu" and thede8nition of the architect has had many !ermutations from Qaster :uilder to!olicy ma$er &illiam llen Nneeds footnoteO.

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PML Essay Final