Prospective architecture students are warned about studio culture from the moment we start taking tours of college campuses during high school. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, we’re told that they call the architecture building “the lighthouse” because of how many people have late nights in studio, although I’ve never heard anyone call it by its nickname in earnest.
Many of us go into our studies knowing what we’re in for, and for some of us, the stereotypes are true. At my peak of being a studio rat, I was spending 12 hours in studio per day. I could get back to my on-campus dorm from studio in the exact amount of time it took to play Duran Duran’s “Notorious.”
I spent every single spare minute I had in studio. While it wasn’t the best for my sleep schedule, there were lots of upsides to being in a semi-public space to do all of my work, from homework collaboration and establishing myself as a hard worker to being around to offer medical assistance. Students’ work lined most of the desks and walls, turning RPI’s architecture building into nothing less than an immersive creative environment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the studio culture that many of us know into an imitation of its former self at best. Changes in the nature of the physical space were inevitable, and I actually commend how the staff and faculty at RPI were able to design spaces that met social distancing guidelines while still remaining true to their original function. I’m not so concerned about students like myself, who are already familiar with how to use a studio space, but rather, I fear that the pandemic has changed things for the worse.
The academic impact is perhaps the most obvious. For one thing, we can’t be in the actual studio as often as we would have been previously. While I’d like to say I’m envious of how much time new architecture student can spend in the comfort of their own rooms, I can’t. There's a lot of value in having a work space that's separate from your living space, and I believe that's an inherent benefit of the studio.
I could write a whole separate article about why I don’t agree with how studio courses have been taught virtually. My professors have done their best, but there is no way to emulate an architecture studio over WebEx. What used to be a solid amount of time to work, coordinate with other students, and meet with your professor one-on-one is now oftentimes a lecture, which is in no way a replacement. The method by which design is taught is at risk, and I’m not confident that new and future students will be receiving the same quality of education.
One of the many changes to how the students learn is that we’re at risk of losing the art of model making. At RPI, the fabrication shop was reduced to a minimum to create more social distanced studio space, so the previously available physical building resources have been reduce in scope. The other issue with less model making is that it’s a valuable learning method critical for students in their early years. Students get to learn about materials as well as how to be precise and patient. Building a model is also a good way to get a new understanding of your project with the context of scale. I don’t know what not building models will do for new cohorts of architecture students, but I think that constraining one’s self to designing through digital mediums restricts a designer’s creativity, no matter what medium they work with.
The social impact of the pandemic on studio culture is already tangible. The 2020 cohort of freshman architecture students haven’t been able to see each other as often since enrollment. Because I’m not among them, I have no idea what it’s been like to be an architecture student who’s never been in a classroom with all of their classmates. It took me a bit of time to learn the names of all of my classmates, but I could attach faces to names with enough time. My cohort even has a chat in GroupMe that we use for mass correspondence. Do the students from last year know each other yet, or have they only met the students in their 13-person studio section?
I also think that the pandemic may make it more difficult for students to get accustomed to working with each other. Not only do they know their classmates, but they don’t get the same understanding of what it’s like to work with certain people, and can’t hold collaborators accountable. In my opinion, the easiest people to work with are the ones that you can find. I personally think that it’s a testament to how hard people are willing to work, but it’s also easier to work with people who can’t avoid you forever.
What’s perhaps the most upsetting is that the “culture” part of studio culture may disappear. I started to feel it this past year, and I wasn’t even a new student. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions in the architecture building, I couldn’t enter any room other than my own studio. I was the only person in my section who used the studio space on a regular basis. The days of when I could walk around the building on the weekends to see what other students had been working on are over, and there exists no capacity for social spaces.
I know that I’m nostalgic about the experiences I’ve had with my own classmates, but I know that current and future students won’t feel the same as I do now. When I was in my early years, I watched some of my classmates drop out with an almost morbid curiosity, as if trapped in a game of Survivor. Now, I imagine that losing someone, who you may barely even know, can feel extremely lonely.
When I think about how the architecture of the future will change because of the pandemic’s effect on our education, I am left with more questions than answers. Will new cohorts of students be able to work well with others? Will they be more equipped to take on the design challenges that we’ll be facing after the pandemic? What will students be inspired by going forward? Is COVID-19 going to limit the way the architects of tomorrow learn to be designers?
I have no way of answering any of these questions. I’m generally not an optimistic person, but perhaps I place too high a value on the in-person studio space. Maybe the kids really will be alright without having the same college experience as I had, and I suppose that the practice of architecture will have to change eventually.
My fear for new students is that having no experience with a studio culture in college will leave the architects of the future ill-prepared for a studio culture in the professional environment. Those of us who participated in studio culture beforehand may be able to return to it. What I worry about is how well those who haven’t will be able to adapt and integrate once the Plexiglas dividers come down, bur for all I know, this is too quick a judgement. If the impact of the pandemic really has been permanent, we may be the ones who have to change.