petition for building resources of all kinds is becoming more intense and building techniques are becoming more complex.
New sophisticated management techniques are being evolved to obtain and sustain optimum productivity. New tendering methods and contrac- tual procedures are being introduced to suit the changing conditions. It is therefore necessary that the architect of the future should be acquainted with these changes and should under- stand the principles governing them.
It has long been accepted that the architect is an impossible amalgam
of artist, engineer, administrator, and a host of other skills, but of all the parts the architect has to play the role of cost controller is perhaps the most unreasonable. The story of Lutyens showing a prospective client out because the fellow had the grace- less temerity to ask about the cost of his building is probably apocryphal, but its very existence is indicative of the impassible gulf which society ac- cepts as lying between the artist and the businessman.
While it is recognised that a gulf exists, the architect has to use his creative talents within the economic
framework of our society, and it would be wrong if the School of Architecture were to nurture its stu- dents in an atmosphere devoid of the hard economic facts of the construc- tion industry.
Therefore the student of architec- ture is made aware that building costs money; that architecture does not end with a nice perspective drawing, but that the exciting endeavour of build- ing is only started at that stage, and that steel and concrete and human sweat (which can all be measured in dollars) must be expended before the perspective becomes a building.
practice
Can architecture be taught to students?
A
PART from some brief excursions
into ethics, schools of architect- ure have in the past tended to omit the subject of professional practice, or rather leave it to the profession to teach during the period of practical experience required before the profes- sional practice examination. theory was that the student would be able to see architectural practice in action in the place where it was all centred.
The
or
In practice, except in a minority of offices, the graduate architect never got near a contract, contractor client during his first year or so in an office, and after that he gradually picked up his training from experi- ence and by "keeping his eyes and ears open". He also learnt some- thing presumably from the last minute swatting undertaken when the professional practice examination was. due.
Schools of architecture were and are equally hard put to provide practical experience, but on the other hand they can give some formal teaching in the subject to provide at least a theoretical background. This is the endeavour of the Hong Kong school.
Five phases
The subject runs through the five years of the course and is dealt with in five phases. In the first year the student is introduced to the profes- sion and its position and role in so- ciety. He is made to feel part of a corporate professional body with com- mon aims and he is introduced to techniques by which he can organise himself and his work.
In the second year the course covers the architect/client relationship, in-
32
by Professor W. G. Gregory
cluding the conditions of engagement, and finishes with a study of the pro- cess by which the "brief" is written.
The third year is concerned with the architect/contractor relationship, with building contracts, tendering proce- dures, architect/clerk of works/con- tractor relationships and job manage-
ment.
The fourth year is concerned with the architects relationships with speci- alists and public authorities and hence covers such matters as cost planning, estimating, specification, network an- alysis and other communication tech- niques and with building and plan- ning law.
The fifth year phase of the course has two titles: "The Architect and his Office" and "The Architect and Ar- chitect". The first is covered by a course in management and the second by a general course including such topics as code of professional prac- tice, arbitration and copyright.
It would be naive to consider that a student leaving the school has all this material at his finger-tips, or is ready to sit the professional examina- tion in the subject. But he will have had his first contact with a wide range of professional subjects.
For instance, in Hong Kong, he will have been right through the Buildings Ordinance and Regulations, looking at the principles involved without paying too much attention to the minimum widths and heights laid down for treads and risers.
The idea is that he will be aware of the kind of matter dealt with, so that when cases crop up he will re- cognize their significance in terms of building law which he can then look
up.
To give another example, applying to contracts: It has been said that
the part about bankruptcy cannot be understood until a person has had to deal with one. How much better it is at least, to have had the oppor- tunity of studying the general prin- ciples involved at comparative leisure beforehand, so that the event, should it come, does not cause panic.
Site visits
This is not to say that the student studies this subject in a vacuum. He is brought into contact with the prac- tical side of building through organis- ed site visits and through work study projects, but again not too much em- phasis can be laid on the value of such operations. It is only the ex- perienced architect who knows what to look for or what to look at when visiting a building site.
A good technique, which it is hop- ed to develop, is to involve students in maintaining a continuous observation of a project from its inception to completion. This must not be casual, but organized in conjunction with the architects and contractors concerned, the student keeping a continuous re- cord of activity, progress and, it is hoped, criticism under the supervision of a member of staff.
Some practical experience of a kind can be gained by simulating as realis- tically as possible, situations with which the student has to deal. This exercises him in the use of his refer- ence media and in making decisions on evidence presented to him.
The architectural student is rather like a soldier in peace-time who is taught to fight, without having an en- emy to practise on. In both cases methods can be devised by which he will not get shot the first time he goes to war,
Far East BUILDER, June 1968.