Activity 1.4 - Open Architectural Studio

The task was to watch a video by John Seely Brown, in which he talked about the concept of an architectural studio and then how technology can be use to create an open studio as a place to create pieces of work. Here are some of the main points I took from his talk.

The best way to learn something is to teach it. (I like this!)

Tinkering - you build something and then ask questions about it. Does it work? Does it do what I was expecting it to do? Could it work better?

We are entering a different world now, in terms of learning. Criticism is central to learning. We must learn to accept and embrace critiques from our peers, teachers, the master.

Witnessing the struggle - in an open studio, all works in progress are made public. Rather than working shoulder-to-shoulder, like in a physical studio, with other students, we work avatar-to-avatar.

The tools of technology are powerful for building, sharing, tinkering, receiving and giving criticism.

Identity is now based on what I have created and what others have built on it. It's more about networking.

Personal experience of learning through witnessing the struggle of others

Clearing the plot of trees. Temp = -20C

From 2010 to 2012, we built our own house in Oulu, Finland. It was never intended that we should actually build. We couldn't even assemble Ikea furniture without cutting ourselves and fighting with both the item and each other. However, for various reasons, we ended up having to do it ourselves. Actually though, we weren't doing it alone because it was a new estate. Everybody was building their house. It was like a giant architectural studio!

Some of our neighbours were experts at this. A lot of professional builders were building. Some, like us, were complete beginners. Two other families, with whom we were close friends, came into this category. We were largely working side-by-side on our own houses, but within shouting distance. Every so often, we had to drop everything to comfort and encourage whoever was despairing that they could possibly continue. We would share suggestions, demonstrate techniques we had recently learnt and decide what to take back to 'the master'. The master was our independent inspector, Juha. Without his help and guidance, we would certainly not have succeeded. He is in the pictures above, giving Neil tips on how to build a brick wall. 

Thinking about critique, we did this as well. Sometimes it had to be very soft and gentle. Stress levels were such that heavy criticism could have led to abandonment of the project. It became a kind of art form and it worked. Look what we built!!!

Finished house