Does anyone today know how you learn to be an Architect?

Fritz Lang, behind the set of “Metropolis”, 1925-1926. Source unknown.

Does anyone today know how you learn to be an architect?  Would any of the students at the different schools that grant degrees in architecture be able to give a credible description of what he or she was taught?  The answer, interestingly, would not be immediate, on the part of either the student, the teaching professional, or even the self-respecting school deeming itself worthy of teaching something. Paradoxically, this is not a scandal because in practice learning actually does take place.¹

Traditionally an architectural “calling” was considered to be the driver of the architect’s learning. Today, being an architecture fan or lover may be merely a necessary impulse, but it does not suffice.² In fact, this motivation may not be the only one driving students to embark on a course of study that will not enable those who complete it to live comfortably. In fact, even a vacillating “calling” does not satisfactorily account for the very high level of preparation, flexibility and energy that our country’s architecture students have when they go out into the world.

Overall, the fact is that students are learning more and more “their way.”

The curriculum is the basis for gradually and effectively accumulating the experiences that make learning possible. Specifically, the malleability of this intangible underpinning offered by schools is the basis on which students today are being offered overlapping and ever-more technical learning. Added to this is access to information that is increasingly immediate, enriched and higher resolution.³

The early specialization owe are witnessing of architecture students today right before our eyes, even before finishing their degrees, their ability to analyse their own capabilities and seek out their specific niche of knowledge, is a challenge incumbent on both schools and professors to rise to.

However, while learning is individual, it takes place in the context of an ever-broadening, horizontal community. Thanks, among other things, to social media, the gradual, invisible transformation of these teaching “centres” into communities for learning architecture is imminent. Providing reinforcing feedback to the enthusiasm brought about by the feeling of belonging to a community is a new challenge and an added responsibility for schools.

Perhaps this overlapping, simultaneous learning will be compatible with some of the resources traditionally used to train architects. The acquisition of knowledge through a “project” system will surely continue to be something specific and fertile in the future, referring not so much to the course “projects”, but rather to being able to weave diverse teachings into project-based learning. Interestingly, this system is gaining ground thanks to the fact that educators at the forefront half the world over are placing their trust in the extraordinary knowledge-integrating effectiveness of projects.

We have taken a brief look at the challenges confronting today’s students: overlapping learning structures, the new digital media, early specialization and learning in a community. Added to this is the mandatory ability to communicate one’s work to society. These are challenges that professors and schools need face, or their future will be bleak.

Text translated by Beth Gelb