Category Archives: Architectural Education

Interview about architecture

Architectural Education, Architecture
The good and the bad architect by Philibert de L'Orme and recent two Pritzker Prize Laureates
Image 1: Google Images -Philibert de l’Orme -allegory of the good architect (1567); Diébédo Francis Kéré: Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal; Philibert de l’Orme -allegory of the bad architect (1567)

Interview about architecture. The following interview was conducted over zoom on September 6, 2023, with Berk Oral, a former second-year student, and friend. He is currently studying in Boston as part of his fourth year off-campus semester and will return to campus to complete his year-long thesis during the Academic year 2024-25. The interview is part of a requirement at the CDR Payette OpenLab Boston Studio, where students choose to interview professionals for their Professional Practice course. Other courses during the semester are the integrative studio and fabrication. 

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Architecture thesis, Part 2

Architectural Education, Architecture

Architecture thesis, Part 2. Throughout countless thesis critiques with architecture students, I always end up somewhere in the discussion asking the same question: What is your thesis? Their answers (yes, plural) are often evasive and timid, and suggestive of their initial unfocused interests as they struggle through numerous topics that are in their own right promising and robust.  

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Hong Kong: Bauhaus style Central Market

Architectural Education, Architecture, Art & Design, Urbanism

Hong Kong: Bauhaus style Central Market. Previous research on the Central Market in Hong Kong, resulted in a blog describing the genesis of the market through 1850. After 1858, the building—originally called Canton Bazaar, thereafter Middle Bazaar—was rebuilt, and from there on was officially named Central Market. The 1903 map (Image 2, below) suggests the market was a rather large structure. 

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National Museum in Singapore, Part 2

Architectural Education, Art & Design, Travel

National Museum in Singapore, Part 2. Following my thoughts on the nature of the growth of museums, during a recent trip to Singapore, and, in particular, the National Museum of Singapore (NMS)—a place that I remembered for both its extensive galleries showcasing the history of Singapore and the temporary exhibitions on topics relevant to a more in-depth analysis of specific cultural dimensions—I was interested in the development of museum additions using this museum as an example. 

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Hong Kong: the history of Central Market

Architectural Education, Architecture, Art & Design, Travel, Urbanism
Hong Kong: the history of Central Market. Photograph of produce at the Boqueria in Barcelona

Hong Kong: the history of Central Market. Since ancient times, public markets—coined mercatus in Latin, which means trading, dealing or buying, as well as the physical place where those activities occur—have served as the identity and social lifeline for countless cities and towns. Food markets in particular have played a significant role as community-gathering places.

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Thoughts on architectural education. Part 2

Architectural Education, Architecture

Thoughts on architectural education. Part 2. Architectural schools have long been a vibrant place for innovative ideas and radical change. Today, at a time when contemporary modes of thinking are challenging the idea of change itself, architectural educators are discerning the outline of the future architect’s mind: one like ours, yet profoundly different, and not yet clearly defined. 

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Chipperfield’s Kunsthaus in Zurich

Architectural Education, Travel

Chipperfield’s Kunsthaus in Zurich. During a visit to the latest addition to the Kunsthaus in Zürich, Switzerland—an extension that opened October 2021 more than doubling the museum’s exhibition space and making it the largest cultural institution in Switzerland—I was first and foremost enthralled by the magnitude of the art collection.

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How to design a stair

Architectural Education

What gets us safely up or down a staircase is a matter of law and engineering, the architectural uses of the staircase are a different issue altogether and the one cannot be replaced by the other—both are necessary. [1]

How to design a stair. Even though I have taught architecture students for over three decades, I still enjoy presenting them with this task. Not simply because the project brief calls for a building with several stories, but because stairs are never easy to design, especially for students, who need to first understand basic principles in order to make a stair comfortable AND to code. Designing prerequisite fundamentals (the stair) seems a natural way to engage students in a creative endeavor that is deeply anchored in pragmatism. 

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