Everything to Say

It is sometimes easy to forget that architecture is the most primitive
and universal language. The primal need for shelter evolved into the
complex system of schools of thought, arguments in theory, and a
general audacity in our view of what architecture is and what we
create in this world.







"For if his architecture says nothing, them it has no audience to
serve" - George Baird "'La Dimension Amoureuse' in architecture"

Language has a profound effect on how we think and steps we take to
solving a problem. It's effects can be seen even in the sports we
play. International soccer (football) is full of different tactics and
styles of play. Each owing much to the influence and structure of the
languages the teams speak. The myriad of euphemisms for illicit
streetwares, and the cliched comment that Eskimos have hundreds of
words for snow shows that the cultural concerns we have can be found
through a analysis of the language we speak.

What does our architecture say about us? Surely, outside of language,
architecture is the think we interact with most in our lives. It's
influences are rarely a part of conscious thought, but I think it
wouldn't be presumptuous of me to say that every one of us is impacted
as much by the circumstance of spaces we occupy. Think of how the
spaces one occupies change from childhood to adulthood, and then
connect those to major events that occurred during this moments.
Between meeting my best childhood friends on the yard we played upon
together, to some of the most intelligent and close friends I've
amassed in college through studio space and dorm living, architecture
played a large role in shaping those interactions.

Yet, these roles played by architecture cannot be clearly explained.
Architecture is an interpreted language. While we all know how to
speak it, it means vastly different things to each of us. Through
architecture school, despite how a project begins, there will always
be some point where we address a programmatic requirement. Whether its
theaters for a film or floors of parking for a transportation center,
it gives us a sense of audience, of who we, through our creations, are
speaking to. However, the reality of our audience is vastly different
from the imaginary visitors dictated by words and numbers on the
assignment page. We are judged and critiqued by a panel of academics
whose concerns are not how enjoyable our spaces are in an imagined
reality, but what our drawings and models say. We are creating for
them, for it is they who hear the speech we written through our
drawings.

Of what I've seen in the world after graduation, the language and
audience is just as convoluted to interpret as ever. The moment
something is created, what it is saying is out of our hands. As much
as we can add or defend through explanation, the imagine reality of
who is listening is already formed through what they interpreted with
their eyes. All we can do is to close the gap between what we mean to
say and what our creations say.

All architecture has something to say. The crucial thing is how loud
it is saying it and whether there is something of value to be heard.
Our architecture will be interpreted by different people to say
different things despite how we believe we've defined our intentions
to be. I guess instead of asking if a piece of architecture says
anything, we should be asking what is it saying to who. Retain some
nuanced reminder that creations are a speech that once given, will be
reinterpreted and critiqued without our intervention.