A WORD FROM OUR ARCHITECTS

AGEING ARCHITECTS – Don’t Be Scared.

By Derek Thomas

It must be a worldwide conundrum that faces us older architects, the new lost generation.

Back when we graduated, we created designs on the then cutting edge of technology, that museum piece personified in a thing called A Drawing Board. Most of us were Whizzes at drafting, and could speak knowledgeably about different set squares, parallel or angle-poised rules and a myriad of stencils.

Add to that the variables of pencil hardness and thickness, mix in the wonders of Rotring Pens, and the esoterics of tracing paper thickness and grammage – well, we were lauded by society.

When we printed drawings, we became addicted to the smell of ammonia as our drawings rolled through an ultra-violet haze.

And then along came computers.

We knew we had to go there, to become literate in an unknown field. But I daresay some of us felt pangs of terror. But, stiff upper lip, we ploughed on, secretly practicing our hand drawings just in case computers didn’t catch on.

Occasionally, there would be one of us who was streaks ahead, embracing the opportunities offered by 35Kb computers, floppy drives, and digitised input boards. Those guys led the rest of us.

Slowly, we learnt basic drafting programmes, which transmuted from our hand drawing skill, learning new terms like Copy/Paste along the way. We created Patterns of plans or components, and in truth architecture lost its way as we became shackled to the limits of the new technology. I think many of us wondered where our careers were going, as architecture was ultimately going to become something that one just pressed a button for.

There followed a plethora of competing CAD programmes - Computer Aided Drafting, which changed to Computer Aided Design which was much more elitist sounding. Oracle, Caddie, and then Autocad started making monopoly inroads.

Sketchup came along as the first hint of what was to come, with real time form and rotational modelling. Developed by a bunch of techno nerds, just for the love of it, it quickly transmorphed into an industry leader in its own right.

By then, most of us were into middle age, and absorbed in the intricacies of architectural practice. And we found it easier to employ a younger generation that completely embraced the new technology. Like our children – they now carried the legacy.

As computer power increased, the 3D modelling became increasingly powerful – if you could think it, you could model it, and you could build it. But us older guys, who ushered in the monster, were now being eaten by it.

So, where was our value anymore?

Actually, it was always, and still is, there, in a thing called Experience. We are now the leaders. And it’s been the same for every generation as it gets eclipsed by the new.

We, the Elders, still know how to design buildings, and understand complexity. But now to support us we have the extraordinary gift of unlimited Possibility. We are still the visionaries, and can push the boundaries of design, riding on the shoulders of the Computer Generation.

But there is no harm in getting a bit more learning, even if only for a little extra self-confidence.

How do we do that? Well, we ask our staff to teach us the basics, just so we keep in touch with what can be achieved on the horizon. And I bet the humility we display in asking for that assistance will do enormous good in bridging the gap between the two creative generations.