How Happy Is Architecture?

how happy is architecture?

andre ford

ma architecture_2012
7057 words

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
3-10
PROBLEMS WITH THE INDIVIDUAL
11-17
PROBLEMS WITH EDUCATION
18-23
SEAN MCALISTER INTERVIEW EXCERPT.
24-26
CONCLUSION
27-32
BIBLIOGRAPHY
33-36

IMAGES
Fig 1. RIBA Pt1 Entries and Pt3 Passes 1996-2009. http://learningarchitecture.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/statistics-the-numbers-behind-uk-architectural-education/ Fig 2. Howard Roark, the protagonist of The Fountainhead http://culturecrusader.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/howard_roark15.jpg Fig 3. The Belbin team roles for architects’.
Irena Bauman, How to be a Happy Architect (London UK: Black Dog Publishing, 2008) p.72.

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them that they didn’t understand life.”

- John Lennon.

INTRODUCTION

To say anything definitive about the subject of architecture is preposterous. To write 10,000 words on the subject is to devise an insomniac’s panacea. That said, this dissertation aims to be a critique of the current state of the architectural profession and education in the UK. I hope that potential students of architecture might read this before signing up for architecture school, or any degree at all for that matter. I hope these potential students might recognize the insanity of the situation and react accordingly.

I believe that the higher education system in this country is not set up in favour of the individual student, and that politicians and the system at large have sold students a lie. I maintain there needs to be radical re-think of how and why we are educating students in the UK. The current system is absurd and immoral and is contributing to the downfall of many professions – architecture being the one with which I am particularly

Bibliography: FILMS All watched over by machines of loving grace, dir: Adam Curtis, 2011. The Perfect Home, dir: Alain de Botton, 2010. Bauman, Irena. How to be a Happy Architect. London, UK. Black Dog Publishing, 2008. Botton, Alain de. The Architecture of Happiness. Worldwide. Hamish Hilton Ltd, 2006 Chappell, David and Willis, Andrew Lewis, Roger K. Architect? A candid guide to the profession. Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press, 1998. McCormack, Lee. Designers are Wankers. Worldwide. About Face Publishing, 2007. Patterson, David W. Getting a Job in Architecture and Design. Worldwide. W. W. Norton and Company, 2008. Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. London and New York. Bobbs-Merrill, 1943. Waldrep, Lee W. Becoming an Architect. London and New York. J. Wiley and Sons, 2008. Hopkirk, Elizabeth. “Architects predict slight rise in work - but fall in jobs” BD online (25 September 2012) http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/architects-predict-slight-rise-in-work-but-fall-in-jobs/5043225.article (accessed 1 October 2012) Hopkirk, Elizabeth. “Fees hike fails to put off students” BD online (23 August 2012) http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/fees-hike-fails-to-put-off-students/5041509.article (1 October 2012) Lazell, Marguerite (accessed 1 October 2012) Pallister, James. “Pavilion of Protest at the RIBA” Architects Journal (4 November 2011) http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/culture/pavilion-of-protest-at-the-riba/8622142.article (accessed 12 September 2012) WEB RESOURCES Will Self Vs Tessa Jowell (BBC Newsnight - London Olympics) – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6Kzg_JjX6o (accessed 2 January 2012) PsychoGeography #55: The sound of the suburbs - Will Self - Columnists - The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/will-self/psychogeography-55-the-sound-of-the-suburbs-543568.html (accessed 2 January 2012) Gray 's Anatomy: Thoughts on Politics, Religion and the Meaning of life – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9B-v4dgcPY&feature=relmfu (accessed 2 January 2012) Will Self: The Internet is a false friend – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqDoBqeV6Lc&feature=fvwp (accessed 6 January 2012) London +10 exhibition at the AA - Will Self http://will-self.com/2010/03/18/london-10-exhibition-at-the-aa/ (accessed 10 January 2012) Will Self reviews ‘Militant Modernism’ by Owen Hatherley and ‘A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain’ by Owen Hatherley · LRB 8 March 2012 http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n05/will-self/it-hits-in-the-gut (accessed 10 January 2012) RIBA – Royal Institute of British Architects Talks http://www.gleeds.tv/index.cfm?category=38 (accessed 18 January 2012) IQ2: David Eagleman in conversation with Will Self (Taster) – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQjHxLWy9yE (accessed 18 January 2012) How happy are architecture students? | archsoc.com http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/happystudents.html (accessed 18 January 2012) The Crisis of Global Capitalism: ten years on – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCdfXBD_z9o&feature=related (accessed 6 February 2012) Podcast- Jonathan Meades - Building Futures http://www.buildingfutures.org.uk/projects/building-futures/debate-series-2008/this-house-believes-there-should-be-more-sex-in-architecture/podcast-jonathan-meades (accessed 11 February 2012) Will Self reviews ‘Militant Modernism’ by Owen Hatherley and ‘A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain’ by Owen Hatherley · LRB 8 March 2012 http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n05/will-self/it-hits-in-the-gut (accessed 11 February 2012) The Crisis of Global Capitalism: ten years on – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCdfXBD_z9o&feature=related (accessed 11 February 2012) Architecture in the Age of Globalisation - videolectures.net http://videolectures.net/projectarchitecture09_frampton_aag/ (accessed 16 February 2012) BBC - Podcasts - Start the Week with Andrew Marr http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/stw (accessed 21 February 2012) Shifting Ground: Peter Zumthor and the Urbanization of the Alps – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TNhlKCBPdA (accessed 1 March 2012) Why Beauty Matters - Full Version - BBC & Roger Scruton – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlzUP_M83W4 (accessed 1 March 2012) Status Anxiety - Part 1 – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKkdFSqAxV8 (accessed 22 March 2012) Authors@Google: Will Self – YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVEgOiB7Bo8 (accessed 22 March 2012)