“To Think of architecture as a project and not simply a practice, is to have an architectural idea in the first place, one that is iterated and developed through the process of design, itself understood as a thought process in drawn and modeled form… The knowledge that is essential for a critical understanding of contemporary professional practice, - whether of technologies, economics, business practice, legal frameworks, or ethics- is fundamental to the calculation of a project that is not to be consumed by the routines of practice.” Anthony Vidler.
This idea of the “routines” of practice hindering the development of a unique and dynamic “project” is one that struck me as very important to remember, especially for recent graduates experiencing for the first time a project that takes longer than a semester to complete and holds the prerequisite of staying financially viable from a business standpoint. The challenge becomes how to operate in the “real world” (a world that does everything in it’s power to force you to play by its tried, tested, and sometimes broken rules) with a clear sense of purpose and without being blinded by how things have always been.
Another idea comes to mind from a lecture by Michael Speaks at the University of Michigan School of Architecture. In the lecture he explains the concept, first written about by Peter Rice in “An Engineer Imagines,” that true innovation is developed from within a given field by people who truly understand how things have always work then propose a thoughtful substitute or alteration to the tried and true method.
Two interesting ideas. First, not to let the routine of “practice” drown out the possibilities that may lie just outside the lines of traditional thinking. Second, that understanding this routine and how it came to be will give some incite into how to improve the process in the long term.
