On Graduate Design of Students From Feng-Chia University, Year 2018
Date : 2018-06-30
Author: Hui-Yu Kuan (關惠尤), Architect and part-time lecturer at Chung Yuan Christian University
Abridged Translation:
Perhaps thanks to the impact of heated discussion on the internet and social media, these years, in terms of the topic of graduate design, I see more and more topics that involve environmental issue and social issue. For instance, topics that you may heard of--elderly housing, immigrant workers, ecological restoration, and old city regeneration. These issues do not only concern space. Problems that are much complicated and bigger than you thought--such as social resources, race, and political culture-- often lurk behind. I always admire the courage of students who choose such topics, and their instructor who have to accompany them and guide them.
From what I see, among them, capable students can elaborate observations and interpret facts with clear picture and films; whereas less capable students utilize lots of pictures to make a collage of their opinion. However, in the end, there are only very few of them can propose a clear and specific question and execute an appropriate design. Some are just too big in scale that are unable to go deeper; some build their designs on sites that are too demanding (such as on the sea or on a sandbar), thus making their design unreal; and some fail to deal with social issues that are beyond the frame of architecture, and leave us with murmur and operation in terms of form. This is such a pity.
Abridged Translation:
Perhaps thanks to the impact of heated discussion on the internet and social media, these years, in terms of the topic of graduate design, I see more and more topics that involve environmental issue and social issue. For instance, topics that you may heard of--elderly housing, immigrant workers, ecological restoration, and old city regeneration. These issues do not only concern space. Problems that are much complicated and bigger than you thought--such as social resources, race, and political culture-- often lurk behind. I always admire the courage of students who choose such topics, and their instructor who have to accompany them and guide them.
From what I see, among them, capable students can elaborate observations and interpret facts with clear picture and films; whereas less capable students utilize lots of pictures to make a collage of their opinion. However, in the end, there are only very few of them can propose a clear and specific question and execute an appropriate design. Some are just too big in scale that are unable to go deeper; some build their designs on sites that are too demanding (such as on the sea or on a sandbar), thus making their design unreal; and some fail to deal with social issues that are beyond the frame of architecture, and leave us with murmur and operation in terms of form. This is such a pity.