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(Not an Essay But a Story)
MA Research Architecture - Goldsmiths University, London (2011/12)
A Little Journey Through the Architectural Labyrinth
‘What you dream originates in the soul and why not realise it,’ was her first motto at university. They were words her maths teacher gave her for the road when she left school and she kept them as her most treasured possession for the coming years. The value was not only the words themselves but also that it was her maths teacher who had said them. He knew that she was able to find a solution to any question but for him solutions had nothing to do with just pure rational mathematics. As one of the few teachers who have the ability to read in between the lines he had recognised that she was unhappy with the expectations others had for her. She didn’t want to be one of those nerds exploited by the system. She was looking for something of value to channel her energy and challenge her mind and soul.
Nevertheless, after studying architecture for four and a half years she often felt to be the perfectly educated ‘design pig’, ready to be exploited by the competition market.
Next to university there was the well-known studio scene of Braunschweig. Students live in there own world and often don’t know the city even after years of studying. The weekly - often still delicately folded - newspaper Die Zeit on their studio kitchen table epitomised the fact that there was hardly any time for reading left. She meditated on the following, “Architects build space for society but actually don’t have a lot of time to talk or read about society… and I am one of them. If this is already a fact while studying how does this look like in real life?” There was frustration when she looked at the German architecture scene. She missed poetry, beauty and the playfulness of space. She longed for a critical voice in the quality-orientated, perfectly organised German world.
Contemplating
Chapter 1 - Vienna I: Hope
The idea was to escape her Germanness, to escape herself (or at least what she thought she had to be), and to find an environment and a way of thinking she could identify with. She had this urge to see the world of the young architect before finishing her studies. She was also questioning whether it had all been worth it. Something was missing.
To come across the young group feld72 in Vienna and to have the chance to be part of their team had a tremendous influence on her in the coming years. It was the time feld72 was still in the process of its own formation and the platform seemed to have something highly organised and yet completely chaotic, words that could be used to describe the different members. Certainly, there was never a dull moment. Later she would question whether this was an illusion or reality. Nevertheless, she kept it in her mind as an idea of how you can do architecture.
During this time she became aware that she had forgotten to live while studying. A contagious virus architects seem to get infected by at an early stage of their life. For some it is incurable.
Student life is well-known as the time one has complete freedom: no economic responsibility, no clients, no fancy chair. But is one really free? And if not – why not? Is it ourselves who chooses the recipe of our education or is it the market which dictates what we should know, in order that we carry enough value on the market after studies?
Urbanism for sale - feld72
Austrian contribution to the 7th International Biennial for Architecture Sao Paulo
Chapter 2 – Moscow: Going East
Was it Chernikov’s prophecies (1) which made her curious about what was behind the Eastern frontier? In the early 20th century there seemed to be just one world of ideas, without borders. What was left of the inventive spirit in the avant-garde architecture of Russia? Had it yet risen from the dead after the collapse of the Soviet ideal? Or was it a Sleeping Beauty? What was there to be discovered in the relicts? Maybe it was just the lure of Russia itself which motivated her to go.
In contrast to Vienna relatively little exchange and discussion had taken place in Moscow because everybody is drowned in work or exhausted from the frenzied metropolis. Yet despite the struggles and difficulties she encountered a gathering of interesting personalities, such as those at BuroMoscow, who were dedicated to their profession.
Moscow was full of encounters and she submerged herself in the physical, political and social space. She realised she was not the only one seeking intellectual exchange. Her flat mate was a passionate journalist. However, Big Brother was always watching them so they had to exchange in whispers.
Working in Moscow increased her perception of the cultural and economic conflicts ever-present in modern cities. She learnt that the development environment in Moscow is dominated by private residential schemes aimed at maximum profit and that the fast pace of development often results in direct commissions, and therefore, an absence of competition. Consequently, she felt the quality of the architecture was often diminished. The year in Moscow was a challenging experience and she took a lot of time and effort to understand Muscovite culture, the Russian language and the political situation.
Moscow
Chapter 3 – Hamburg: Too Young to Stay
She tried. She was born here. But she was too young to stay. The problem with beautiful cities is that their inhabitants never leave. She craved discovery. Moscow had made her far too curious to settle down.
Childhood Memories
(Image based on original photo by mail maeder)
Chapter 4 – Rotterdam: After the Party
It was a difficult step for her. She had had no intention of going there. She had heard too many stories of the old days. Once it was the architectural movement, the avant-garde, but as with all things it could either die or join the mainstream. Obviously, it didn’t die. Was it really the place to go? She couldn’t decide if being invited to OMA was a great compliment or another example of exploiting a young architect. Well, she thought she might as well find out. She promised herself two years and no more. There are too many books to read which she had already put aside while studying and she had a feeling there wouldn’t be much time to read them in Rotterdam.
It was during an interview that for the first time in her life she was confronted with a huge dilemma; whether to work research based or design orientated, for AMO or OMA. She was told her portfolio suited both. Luckily she had the opportunity to work on a project combining both approaches.
It is said that, “OMA produces as many world-famous architects as it does world-famous buildings” (2). We are in chicken and egg territory here, she thought, because after all didn’t OMA just cherry pick the most talented architects? However, is that necessarily a bad thing? As an educational platform the place had an incredibly motivating atmosphere full of ideas. She didn’t regret it.
And there is always a question of size: S,M,L,XL? Debates have limits. Within an expanding office it was inevitable that a bureaucratic system would drown collective freedom of expression. In the constant reinterpretation of Rem’s words many thoughts and ideas were lost. The beast had grown too large and was beginning to drain its own soul.
Reduced hierarchy equates to a stronger team and better results. She had always questioned if an office should be managed top down or collectively. Yet, she never doubted a good architect with a keen mind should, if they are not satisfied, one day just open their own studio.
She preferred the stories of the old days, the atmosphere of the common workshops with Rem or the person who takes the final decision. She found her own little platform there, but it was also a time when it was rare to find people with a common approach to design and an equally passionate appetite for critical thinking. But in her opinion such skills are the base of not only good design, but also projects capable of making a statement in architecture.
Before knowing she would become another victim of the financial crisis, she had considered departing in order to contribute to the quality of OMA. She would help to keep the think tank small enough to be fit for purpose.
Life moves on and it is good to leave on a high. It was an excellent education but having the time to read is far more seductive in the long term.
Hiding in Doha: Never ending dance (2008). The immortalisation of team spirit in the core of the model for the Sheikha of Qatar.
Chapter 5 – Vienna II: Enlightenment
Back to the avant-garde: an environment which once had a strong influence on her. But here too life had moved on. It was for her similar to the feeling one has when they go back to a place of childhood. A new reality is laid over the memories. feld72 was beginning to metamorphose into an office environment.
She had more responsibilities and they were as varied as ever. Finally, she had escaped once again the tendency of specialisation, and was asked here to utilise all she had learnt. Research had to be done as always with feld72, their approach was based on “theory through practise”.
Her main project responsibility brought her back to Germany. She experienced that one can learn more about politicians and their election pledges in a meeting with a given department than following the news. One could call it masterplanning through election pledges. It was like math - a complicated equation with various multipliers and variables – but with only one possible solution. Unfortunately, the solution turned out to have little in common with the recommendations of a team of various professions related to spatial thinking.
In every story we find heroes. Everybody has their own heroes. In her story read feld72.
Urbanism for sale - feld72
Austrian contribution to the 7thnternational Biennial for Architecture Sao Paulo
Chapter 6 – London: Escaping the Labyrinth
There is not so much to say. She needed a job. And time to think. From day one she knew this office didn’t represent her way of thinking. She felt uptight. Thankfully, a close friend once advised her not always to take work too seriously.
Her knowledge and rebellious character was secretly well-respected and appreciated. Nevertheless, Waiting for Godot seemed the policy of her superior and there was no escape from him and his thinking.
The client’s mantra was quite simple: money = m2. Whilst working on one of the biggest development in the UK it was difficult for her to hold her tongue. In the midst of designing in the belly of the beast she was told in confidence that her conscience contradicted the client’s mantra. It was suggested she rethink her profession, her role as an architect and the nature of architecture in the 21st century.
And quietly she had begun her own readings at home, non-project related. In fact, they couldn’t be further from the development. Literature was opening a new way of thinking beyond the office, the mantra and the celebrity architects. After all she now has her own mantra, “I am not in the business of worshiping celebrity architects.”
London 2010
Conclusion: Back to the Drawing Board
Going through various chapters of practical experience she has consistently questioned what ‘architecture’ means. She has arrived at a point where she is contemplating what it means to be an architect, what her responsibilities as an architect are and how practising architecture relates to architectural theory.
After leaving university the Architect is suddenly confronted with additional factors: the client, the site and the market. The site becomes a real physical and social space. Beside the physical space one is also confronted with a political space, often differing from the lived in environment. Here she felt she lacked knowledge and therefore it was difficult to act and to contribute.
After exiting the labyrinth she read Gombrich’s Little History of the World to gather all the bits and pieces of history together which she had come across over the past six years. History makes sense of things. She hopes that discussions with her peers and tutors will help her through the jumble of thoughts which have manifest during a decade in architecture. It seems she now has more questions than when she first set out. “(More to Follow)” (3).
Erare humanum est. - “(Umher)irren ist menschlich”(4).
Bunch, Ulrich Hundsdörfer (2005)