this past week in studio has been once again, an adventure. i have worked side by side with the majority of my colleagues and it has been an awesome experience. the bonds created will never be broken and i enjoyed feeling the energy and absorbing the creative energy that flowed through everyone. the biggest bust for me was the review session with the various professors. it appears to me sometimes that a person of higher learning and greater experience has a hard time relating to one who is just beginning to learn and who is maturing every day of his life. the projects were all great and expressive of the person who created them and who dreamed them up. i feel both the student and the reviewer (aka professor) have a lot of responsibility. it is our job to create a project that expresses the need of the site and to release our inner creativity. it is our job to use the tools given to us and to give it our best shot. we should do our best in the drawings, process and presentation. whether or not we did well in any of these is on our shoulders. the professor needs to drop the guard and relate to the student (the learner). i feel like the reviews were biased at times and did not attempt to grasp the overall intent of the project. if we, the learner, did a poor job of presenting, then it should be somewhat understandable as we are still learning. for instance, when a professor tells me that the scale of an art installation is scaled poorly and then proceeds to explain further, i feel a little annoyed. of course these issues are of extreme importance, but a space is more than just some pieces of art (although the pieces were an important piece). the building and the park itself are pieces of art. how about comment on the layout of a space and how it relates to the site as a whole. look into the details layed out in plan and attempt to realise the space in your mind. instead of the details about the skin of a building and bashing a young learner about the way it is represented how about you tell us how to make it better and attempt to experience the space as we have. it is about a picture, not the tube of paint used to create the picture. it is just very frustrating when you have spent an entire semester and someone cannot give you the respect you deserve, drop their inhibitions, release their educated and experienced guard, and attempt to appreciate the work a student has dedicated so much time to. we are not perfect, we do not know as much as the reviewer and we know this. being a candidate of the undergraduat landscape architecture program at clemson university, i feel a bit let down about the project. i have journeyed thousands of miles to learn with another profession. i have attempted to combine ideas and work with other professionals as i will do in the real world. what i would have liked to have had was a little more consideration for my background of learning and a little more respect for my profession. i wish i had a little more professional guidance and especially a little more attention to the work i had done in the review session. ten minutes is not a long and yes i do understand this, but somehow it is dissapointing. for me, this experience was an eye opener. it was a journey and i did in fact enjoy the majority of it. you make what you want out of an experience. in the airport in charlotte, north carolina, i wrote down my goals for this trip. i wanted to explore self, i wanted to explore another culture, and i wanted to learn. i feel like these goals have been met. i have learned a good bit (structures, bcn history) that i did not previously know and i enjoyed this. i have definitely experienced another culture and i have explored self every single day of this time. this blog is about people, it is about a shared experience, it is about exploring self to me. i feel at liberty to say the comments posted only because i am a human being like the rest of us. we are all maturing adults and we have our own opinions and judgements about certain areas of life. i do appreciate this expressive opportunity and i always feel that we shoud express our own ideas and reactions to life. we do not live long, so we should always be open to letting ourselves go and attempting to grasp the roots of existence.
And as he looks out over the city this is what he sees, but I wonder what he thinks...
I too was asked what I thought life meant. I remember i wrote, " its simple, the meaning of life is happiness." If you try to add to this statement you've done to much. Do less. In understanding the statement, the key to happiness i think is balance. Balance in everything you do. That is why architecture is so fulfilling for me. We are supposed to know a lot about a lot of different things and be interested in many areas and proficient in doing many things. I think my time here in Barcelona has made me a more balanced person. I don't know that I could live in a large city for any longer than I have been here but having done it has given me necessary knowledge and experience. I understand that there is no one right answer to happiness. While I may be much happier away from the city, I know that it is necessary for balance, variety, and the happiness of millions of others that occupy the planet.
