How We Learn

The decisions that make up the code are less visible at the later stages once they are built into physical form. It requires careful analysis to reverse engineer the building to discover its code.

Imitation and Originality in Architecture

Superficial levels of understanding cannot produce adapted buildings because if we only have a superficial understanding, we have to copy the example without understanding its principles. We end up with fake-looking buildings that aren’t adapted to context. At the deepest level of understanding, copying and learning are the same thing. The rules are defined and explained, so we copy and use them like we copy and use rules of grammar. The rules of grammar don’t limit what we can do, they free us for what we can do. We don’t need to copy things superficially because we have the actual principles. We have the knowledge for any context.

Every architectural solution is an original solution since every problem is unique. The uniqueness of every situation requires that we have a lot of knowledge so we can consider the unique circumstances of the situation and come up with an original solution. The original solution might look similar to other solutions, and that tends to occur, because there are common solutions that work for most situations.

Architecture students have to copy basic elements, such as a door, because we don't understand it. Only after imitating it and applying it correctly, do we understand it. Then we can modify it, or use it the same, but with understanding. Until then, we have to copy it superficially because that's the best we can do at that level of understanding. We have to do something we don’t fully understand, but that's always the case. It's the first stage in learning. We can always know something better, and it isn't dishonest to do something without knowing all of the reasons for it. There are an infinite number of reasons for doing anything, and when we copy something, at least we have the reason that it exists, so it must have some value.

The Learning Cycle

The learning cycle consists of recognizing beauty, imitating beauty, and then generating beauty, where the last step improves the first step because we're better able to recognize beauty, which completes the cycle. The recognition of beauty is the vision that guides us through conscious study or imitation. We have to study to achieve it because without mastering the knowledge side, our feelings aren’t able to recreate it. When we generate beauty, we have mastered the knowledge side and achieved the vision consciously, so we look to the next level.

Visions and Knowledge

We need to study architectural principles so we can guide our visions. Visions often fade before we can piece them together because we don’t have the conscious knowledge to support them, so they fold into what we know, which isn't enough. Feelings are the best way to design because it means we have intuited the information. We don’t have to struggle with decisions at every stage because we know how to achieve our vision. This only comes from experience, so it isn't right to say trust your feelings only. We trust our feelings when we have enough information to guide us. Design improves over time with practice, like painting, but general principles can be formulated and studied.

Computer vs. Hand-drawing

Hand-drawing is like conceiving the building in our head. Since there are no additional technical requirements to hand-drawing, there are no addition impediments to our vision. When we work on a computer, it favors a particular method, which limits us. We don’t make the right decision because the right decision requires extra effort. Even hand-drawing an idea before it is sufficiently realized adds a layer of precision that isn’t helpful. As the design progresses, it can be more precisely modeled on the computer.

Learning by Doing

The learning process is active instead of passive. When we do an endeavor ourselves, we become conscious of the considerations that are involved. We ask ourselves questions that we didn't previously consider. “Doing construction" is useful for learning about design, but it's also valuable to "do design". I can look at a floor plan and think I understand it because everything makes sense, but when I try to recreate it, I realize I don’t really know. I need to do it myself before I can master it. 

• We don't need to construct the plans afterwards to know whether it works or not. Artists don't need to recreate their paintings in real life to know whether it's beautiful.

Self-Directed Learning

Our different levels of knowledge affect how we take in information. When we don't understand a subject, new information has nothing to connect to, so we forget it. The word “Baroque” only means something to us if we know that it comes after Renaissance and before Neoclassical. In that case, we have a reaction to the word because we can place it conceptually. We have enough information to start the learning process. Relevant material appears naturally to us in the form of observations and questions, based on our interests and according to our level of understanding. Without the recognition phase of the learning process, we don’t actively participate in the study phase because we feel removed from it, even if it's hands-on work. It might be too advanced or too big of a jump for us. We ask, “Why do we need to learn this?” With self-directed learning, we can’t make excuses because we study what is most relevant to us based on what we already know. 

As we acquire more knowledge, we find better ways to understand previous knowledge. We go back and clarify it without invalidating the original information. Learning gives us a higher-resolution image, not a never-ending journey. The infinite amount of knowledge left to learn has to fit into our existing knowledge, or our existing knowledge would be useless.

Infinite knowledge fits into our existing knowledge to clarify it and strengthen it. If new knowledge is as valuable as our existing knowledge, we would never know anything relative to what's left to know.

Great Questions

Great questions relate to requirements in the world. When our interests are not structured by a shared framework, we don’t know where to start. Great questions are normative questions like what is the best way to build a house? We study the same goals as everyone else in a way that unifies the discipline so it is useful to others. Great questions form the basic subjects that categorize information.