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Coincidences?

June 12, 2006

"One coincidence may be worth a thousand appointments" is a saying that always reminds me of my undergraduate thesis advisor who, convinced that nothing actually happens by chance, often invoked it, and often with a tone of celebration, when something happened that could be shown as a conclusive proof of the statement. Following this saying, it probably wasn't by chance that my teaching practice at Berkeley began with a rather general class on architecture, one in which students are exposed to every possible way to see and act on the discipline, from the very artistic to the very technological, from the most ego-centered one to the more community-oriented one, from the vague utopias in design to the concrete facts of building.

What made this unique at a personal level was that it became my own opportunity to reflect on architecture and my place in the profession. It was important because, after having decided to leave "the field" to start a career in academia, I often think about my own future in this profession, and wonder about what type of architect I am trying to be. Is it possible to still keep a foot in the real world, doing "socially sustainable" building with Latin American communities, while pursuing the teaching career in the US? The class guests' presentations made me think about possibilities, about how wonderfully inclusive is this profession, how it accepts so many different ways to think and act on it, without losing the form of a distinctive discipline. The practice of architecture is, in the end, flexible and open enough as to allow you to propose your own way to engage in it, to be your own architect.

Also unique was how, out of those different "architecture skins" that were presented to the students, one that particularly thrilled them was that of architecture as the catalyst for social improvement, rather than as the conventional materialization of rhetorical discussions on formal purity. Their interest in the alternative practice made me feel optimistic about future architects as professionals who will be less self-referential, and more aware of the world they happen to affect with their work. However, one cannot say that what happens at Berkeley is necessarily a sign of what happens in the rest of the world. But I can still say that I am happy to be here...

See Spanish version of this article. Ver versión en Español.

About this article
A note about the first teaching experience at Berkeley.

Images of the CED (College of Environmental Design) at Berkeley.

Image

Shoot Date and Info

May 18, 2006	Code No. D06V18-07439

United States – California - Berkeley. Built Landscape: Wurster Hall, U.C. Berkeley. West façade.	Buy Rights

May 18, 2006	Code No. D06V18-07432e

United States – California - Berkeley. Built Landscape: Wurster Hall, U.C. Berkeley. Detail of roof.	Buy Rights

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