I am in 4th year, doing architecture. Of all good courses available on earth, I chose to study architecture. No, it was not that I knew about it, but it was because I felt it was great among other choices. And now I am here living the constant pressure of being an architecture student. Day and night, there’s little left for me to understand the time through which other people on earth live by. My time has totally become f**ked up. It’s screwed. And I am a clown. World is out there waiting for me to perform and appease their long for the show. The piece out of me is getting drained every night and day. Never thought it will be so strenuous to actually do architecture. It kills, and but sometimes thrills, though.
When everyone on earth sleeps, perhaps in architecture college, the people begin their work- the works that they don’t have any idea when it will finish. Night time and the time have just begun. There are no direct answers. It has to come out from the inner side of the students. Sometimes a fluke bluffing does wonder. But it goes on and on. Sun rises and I am still awake trying to hold the model which I have been constructing throughout the night. I had more empty coffee cups at my doorsteps. My room is messed up. There are all pieces of papers, and glues thrown everywhere. I don’t have any idea when I changed my playlist for the last time. Eyes have its eye lids darkened. And there is a plot which I need to take out before I make myself in front of my faculties. Oh there, yeah-FACULTIES!!!! One group of people who make you do architecture hell lot than you can ever imagine. They take a shit out of you. Of course, architecture is learnt through doing it, but then critiquing is what everyone is perfect at in architecture.And I believe its through critiqing one learn to become a better architect. You can bet that its worth getting to understand one’s flaw in design and at the same time one is fed with new ideas of others. But then among ourselves by ourselves, I am more familiar with words like “...getting f**ked by that faculty by not completing the submission....” ”oh here! He comes to screw us....” ”come on ass***e, you had enough of our ass” “...do something sexy” We get marked, and having worked whole night to complete the submission, I hardly get good marks enough for me to pass the submission. People roam in campus with toothpaste in bag. They don’t realise when they took the last shower. And all that they care is when is the next damn class which starts from morning 8.30 and ends around 5.00 pm with a break at 1.pm for lunch. Some courses take very less hours like two hours a day. And we get astonished to even think that we have only two subjects a day but we need to study those whole days. Googling has become so important part of the course. Endless research, endless re-dos of the submission, and endless frustration over not being able to convince faculties of the quality of the work I submit, I am perfectly under the heavy burden of architecture. Architecture...architecture....architecture....it comes out of nowhere, and we are made to see architecture in everything we see. “What is your Big Idea about the House design?” “Where is the concept of your Office Building Design?” “The Scheme that you Propose for Housing Design is not working” “This is the outdated Detail and the Scale that you drew up in doesn’t show any good view of Materials”. I wish I can do hell with these things. That I can do hell with concepts, ideas, thinking beyond boxes, materials, dimensions, and lot more things. But then you can only wish that if you are not doing architecture. And deep inside i was doing architecture to become an architect. Weekends are also most of the time occupied with works. Except for Friday nights where we sleep till the next midday, we don’t get a better sleep. And having worked whole Sunday night without sleeping, we sleep in a day in canteen, library, or anywhere in open lawn while faculties mark our works. It’s the pressure sometimes that most of the students don’t get full submission either due to late completion or because of plotter. Computer getting crashed is another curse of being architecture student. Working so hard, and finally before taking print outs, something wrong in the world happens with your computer. You are doomed---all that F**ked, Screwed, Busted ..comes along swiftly throughout the day.
At every speech from any species known to us as an architect or would be architect, there is always a talk about drawings being tool to express one’s idea. And the drawing would mean that it includes so many other stuffs; perfect philosophy behind the form, and shape, a new big innovative idea behind the design, sustainability of materials, line thickness and dimensions, and the flawless anthropometrics. There we are in the presentation. The slides which of course are directly transported from Wikipedia and of course mugged up whole night are now in front of the whole bunch of curious people who wants to ask many questions. Some know answers, yet they ask questions. More people act like they know about it. We are taught to present with confidence and behave in the class with confidence. It’s the worst part. People actually screw each other.
Money is another one-dimensional usage. It all goes into plotter shop. The bunch of sheets would mean that we pay about few hundred bucks every time we take print out. And we take out prints so many times in a week. Final submissions would mean that you need more money than you required for two months or more. The sheets should be bought not only for plots, but also for making models. And making model costs more money than anything.
No wonder people end up with words like Archinnovative, archidesign, AND ARCHITORTURE.
But then architecture is one perfect course which would certainly make you the man out there who can perform and who can actually perform consistently to the perfection of the need of the circumstances. Architects get trained as creative individuals. We are taught to live by reasons and logic. And architecture continues to flow. It is endless.
Architecture would mean creating new things which i could stand beside by and say the world, i didn't mind the whole pressure and toiling i had had through in college, but now i am here with NEXT SEXY THING!
Photo courtesy: http://architexe.design.officelive.com