A Semester of Architecture

I signed up for fall classes recently and had to make a few changes. As it turns out, my fall schedule will be filled with architecture, architectural history and urban geography classes at the UO. I am very excited by the possibility of immersing myself in the epicenter of exactly what I want to do in life. I'm hoping that this is the recharge to the batteries that I need to finish my undergraduate degree and get going on the master's of architecture (after a slight detour into photography, of course. But the way I see it, that can only help me in my career with new skills, not hurt it). It's no secret that I've been struggling this past year with classes. Today is the first day that I find myself truly excited about a new semester, not just relieved to forget the old one in the dust. Perhaps one of my problems has been that I've lost myself on a temporary track of something I'm not entirely passionate about. I don't hate the PPPM program (planning, public policy and management). In fact, if anything, I think it is helping me to refine my interests and exposing me to new ideas. I hope that it allows me to go into the architecture program with a slightly different perspective- one that is a bit more relaxed and more willing to take into account the wishes of the community and neighborhoods that surround new architecture, versus the sometimes self-centered designs of some architects that ignore basic practicality and human comfort. It is my hope that if I do become an architect that I build for people, not for myself. I want a design to work for a person, a family, and a community- I could care less what it would look like on the pages of some glossy magazine where architects tend to forget who they are or should be designing their art for. The PPPM program has kept me slightly sidetracked and a little mopey this year. My heart knows when it’s in the wrong direction; the sadness tends finds a way out in some form. I remember the stint into interior design quite well. I didn’t belong in a design firm picking out pillows and curtain rods and I don’t belong in a firm that only deals with the bureaucratic issues of planning and design. I belong in a place where I am interacting with clients, making mockups of design solutions, and where the nameplate on the desk has AIA next to my name (american institute of architects). That way, I know it's where I am supposed to be.