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Old June 13th, 2008   #5 (permalink)
jackb602
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 441

Name: Jack Bransfield


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Default Re: architct or cad monkey??

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy homeless guy View Post
I still stand strongly by my opinion that when you first learn design you need to steer clear of the digital world. You need to learn to see things with your brain, and see things with your hands. The digital world will come in time, but you need to learn the fundamentals now. Don't assume that you already now the fundamentals, and that others are simply working in a primitive way because they are not using the same tools as you.
I totally agree. In fact, it's precisely the "primitive" nature of a 6B pencil and a roll of trace that makes it such a valuable design tool. The tool itself becomes invisible and therefore lets you generate ideas very directly and quickly. There is also great value in building physical models. Buildings are inevitably physical, and there's no better way than a model to think about how things are put together.

Any software package, no matter how "intuitive" the interface, can be a huge obstacle to developing ideas. You are forced to think in the very specific language of the software.

I'm also reminded of a conversation I had with my brilliant and blunt professor in architecture school:

me: Can I do the next assignment on the computer?
prof.: Why would you want to do that?
me: So I can see things better in three dimensions.
prof.: If you need a computer to see things in three dimensions you're in the wrong profession!
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