A LETTER TO TEACHERS OF ARCHITECTURE Professor Harry Merritt If you are a teacher, or a potential teacher, of architecture, there are several things that I think you should know. One of the most important things you must understand is that teaching is a calling and not something that you choose to do for monetary reasons. Your reward will not be a large financial gain, but a strong sense of pride in the future success of your students. If you find this too naïve for today’s “me first” value system; don’t teach! You also must be a good architect and active in your profession, and thus know first hand the agonies and the ecstasies of making a good building. You must be enthusiastic about your work, and the work of your students, as enthusiasm is contagious and your enthusiasm will become invested into your students. You cannot fake enthusiasm, as architectural students will always “find you out.” You must have wisdom. Many people think that wisdom comes with age, but I do not believe this is necessarily true. I believe that true wisdom in architecture comes from trying to design a good building and if failing to do so, try again. Even if you lose money on the project, never give your client a building that you are not proud of. I know many older architects that lack real sagacity. They were not proud of their works done for commercial gain, and wisdom never favored them. Grade your students fairly. Do not give your students higher grades than they deserve. Some incompetent teachers do so just to be liked by their students, but actually they are hurting their students, as students who are doing poorly in their design projects may be able to excel in another path of life. I have had students that I have failed that have excelled in studies other than architecture, and have come to me later and thanked me for encouraging them to seek a new vocation. The ability to be a good designer does not only come from intelligence, but from a gift of an innate talent that cannot, in my opinion, be taught. Einstein, as brilliant as he was, may not have had the talent to become a good architect! You must not only teach your students, but you must learn from them; learning from your students, means listening to your students. When I was a young teacher I thought that it was better to do most of the talking as I thought what I had to say was more important than what my students had to say. I was wrong in this belief; I soon learned that listening my your students is the key to giving good criticism as each student is different and your advice to individual students should be unique to their project, especially architectural design students. You, as a teacher, cannot give fruitful criticism to a student’s project unless you listen carefully to their design concept. Walter Gropius was the best listener I have ever known. He would listen to a student for half an hour and then give the student his advice in five minutes. Sessions with Gropius were prized by all of his students and always a valuable part of their maturation as fledging architects. There are great rewards to being a teacher of architecture. You will learn more from your students than you will ever teach them. You will learn from their questions that you cannot answer and when you don’t know the answer you must tell them that you do not know, and then tell them that we will try to find the answer together. It is from the quest for the answers to their questions that you will learn. Most of the answers to physical questions are easy and you probably already know the answers, and the ones you do not know are easily retrievable. It is the answers to the metaphysical questions that are difficult; the questions that deal with conceptual thinking that are the most evasive. Your dedicated students will be the ones who ask such questions; they will be your teachers, listen to them! Most important; do not make personal friends with students in your class; friendship can come after they graduate. What you need at this time is their respect, and you must earn their respect. Harry Merritt – Architect Professor Emeritus University of Florida 11012015
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 06:26:48 +0000
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