Imagem: Joana Vieira, arquitetura.
Beginning this blog with a question, reminds me of the time I was studying architecture, where was asked "What is architecture?" and "What are architects for?".
When giving a short answer one can say that they are the ones that think about the space for a specific person in a particular place. As a cliché we ear that people are not the same and projects aren't thought to be in the moon... Well, at least for now. There are an infinite number os conditionings that will interfere in the space thinking and deciding.
What are architects for?
There will always be a need to explain a some people what your job is, what you do and what your value is, independently from the area you study or work. Architects are not the only who have to explain why they are needed, that they effectually will save you money and health (and sometimes will make you earn money!), that architecture projects aren't a luxury (specially now) and should be made by architects, and that drawings aren´t the only thing they do.
What is architecture today??
As a young architect struggling to get new clients, job searching is always a constant, both nationally and internationally. Normal these days... all areas are struggling with the recession... no need to panic. Is tought to get in the market, everyone knows, and what you need is to keep working ( competitions, improving your portfolio, your skills, etc). That is the life of lot of architects that went to architecture school....
HERE MY ANSWER BEGINS FOR... What is ARCHITECTURE TODAY???
Searching jobs and information led me to realise that the crisis in the architecture and construction sector generated an identity crisis for the term architecture. Architecture jobs are no longer for people who studied architecture and know how to project houses, architecture jobs are for informatics, the system architects, the new architects. They don't build houses, they are very specialised and required worldwide, because now we don't need houses, we need internet, computers and cellphones. We live in a non-place world, non-person world, where virtual enhances reality, where architects have nothing to deal with life, houses, cities and places in general.
The architects of our spaces are not the same, because we spend more time making the best of our time in front of a computer rather than looking for the houses we live in, rather than using spaces with the people we live, in the real spaces we need.
The digital world decides how we interact with people we like, like architecture...
Private properties are now domains...
And houses are servers and hostings. So if you want to make architecture for today, study INFORMATICS. :)
I am an architect who studied architecture, so feel free to judge my architecture/informatics terms!
