What IS Our Better Future | Forum 1

| March 15th, 2010

This first Open Forum was Wednesday March 17th 12 [Noon] on the Bridge with surprisingly good attendance- about 10 students and 15 faculty. The discussion hit on many topics including, student collectivity in general, design build, cross disciplinary studies between schools, centennial charette revival, the new body of undergraduates + graduates + and post graduates under the SoA, the search for a new chair, the lecture series next semester, and much more…     the first 35 min are captured below for your listening pleasures.  We hope to host another, more pointed, discussion again soon. please come and support your college. And / or comment below on what you think we need to be talking about.

After numerous conversations held with peers, faculty, and professionals alike, a few of us students felt the need, and want, for the creation of a vehicle for communication amongst the members of our college.   This process is to organize a forum in which we might distill the thoughts and ideas that have been hanging in the air around the COA, especailly in regards to the new School of Architecture and its current search for new faculty and chair.  We have a great appreciation for all the efforts put forth by the current faculty and administration and this forum is not meant to degrade or degenerate any of their efforts.  It is meant to expand and progress their accomplishments and to help the School of Architecture continue to evolve.

A few questions come to mind:  We are a great institution but are we where we want to be?  What might we do to make our COA a college that can and will compete with top tier institutions? What are the dangers of specialization when architecture seems to succeed when it encompasses a broader spectrum of ideas and influences? Is it the future of GaTech COA to try and compete with those institutions?  If so in what regards?  An old addage comes to mind “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”. This idiom purports that you are the one who is being strained and acted upon by external forces…but what if the chain is pushing back?  If we are the force that exerts itself outwards then we can be as strong as our collective unit.

It is the hope of this forum that we (all constituents, including studnets) can put the preceeding weeks into perspective to find and define the goals and ambitions of our School of Architecture – that we may use as our voice to bellow out as a force into an ever evolving world.

What is our collective voice?

Hear the first 35 min of the discussion below:

SOA Forum 1 from graymatters on Vimeo.


[ , , , , , ]

2 Comments on “What IS Our Better Future | Forum 1”



  1. 1 Ann Gerondelis  | 9:11 am | March 19th, 2010 //

    Thanks for uploading some of Wed’s dialogue (was busy with cfy midterm). Great to hear shared discourse of challenges and opportunities.
    If I was with you, I might have interjected to share some things we are learning with the first years, regarding the building of an engaging design culture – looking specifically at the role that the design studio can play. Most of all, I believe that it helps when we model, facilitate and make time for, students and instructors to see and experience the pleasures that an engaging studio culture affords. Specifically, it helps when we model, facilitate, and build time for
    - the pleasures of the intimate act of making
    - the pleasures of engaging intelligent conversation
    - the pleasures of pure, innocent curiosity
    - the pleasures of discursive, collaborative design
    - the pleasures of full engagement in creative pursuits, where time flies
    - the pleasures of healthy competition
    - the pleasures of discovering one’s significance in the big issues of the day
    It helps when these pleasures are woven into both the small and large scale fabric of the studio: the studio calendar, the studio briefs, the studio reviews, student reflections, project presentations, student grade reports, instructor meetings, the intro of new projects, studio lectures, the archiving system, etc. We are, of course, better at this at certain times and in certain ways more than others. But I have seen some truly great moments of full engagement.
    Some students and instructors may not have seen or benefitted from the pleasures of an engaging studio culture. Often, once they see it, and benefit from its pleasures, they only want it more, and fully engage to make that happen.



  2. 2 may  | 12:17 am | March 21st, 2010 //

    ann- i totally agree. what sort of thing / exercises/ structure would you specifically suggest for the college?



Leave a Reply