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Is this the worst year to be an architecture graduate?
No, says Peter Murray, previous recessions have proved highly creative for architecture – a view which Jeremy Till considers elitist and not taking into account the far higher levels of student debt.
Yes (Jeremy Till)
In times of recession there is often talk of creativity being spurred by adversity, of burgeoning margins, of new architectures arising Phoenix-like, all of which might appear to favour the energy and hope of new graduates.
But this is a rather elitist view of the world, in which hairshirt endeavour is seen as a virtue rather than what it really is — an incredibly tough journey for the few.
It also overlooks the severity of the present condition, not just the economic crisis but that architecture students are graduating with debts of anywhere up to £50,000, whereas in the previous recession student grants were still in place and tuition fees nonexistent.
More than this, the reaction to an abyss created by a culture of reckless risk is of course to shut down risk, as anyone who has tried to get a business loan recently will know. Therefore the opportunities for graduates to exercise that energy and hope are inevitably curtailed just when we need such action more than ever to challenge the orthodoxy and ethical paucity of neo-liberal values.
There is a gallow humour in the studios as students prepare for their end-of-year shows; a pride in showing what they have done, but a barely disguised despair of what might come of their efforts.
That is why the profession needs to move more quickly to come up with ideas to cope with this crisis, and that is why in July, Westminster University will be launching a major project to provide support for unemployed built environment professionals.
No (Peter Murray)
I guess if your aim is to step effortlessly on to the treadmill of life there have been better times. But historically, periods of recession do give people a bit more time to think, develop strategies for dealing with work and allow creativity to blossom unhindered by the constraints of budgets, schedules and demanding clients.
In the recession in the seventies, I remember the growth of groups and individuals who developed the pattern of their future work out of the tough economic environment. There was Ant Farm, Street Farm, Chrysalis (the team that went on to design much of the Pompidou Centre); Ken Yeang cut his teeth on sustainability issues and there was a massive amount of research carried out on solar panels, trombe walls and recycling, which got lost when the economy picked up. Will Alsop hit the headlines as a member of the Multimatch Group, Alvin Boyarsky ran the Architectural Association on a shoestring (students even had to sweep out the building themselves) yet created a successful school with a hugely influential team of alumnae including Koolhaas, Hadid, Tschumi, Coates et al.
In the recession in the nineties Nigel Coates occupied run down offices in Clerkenwell at £4 a sq ft. The opportunity of cheap rents is not to be underestimated in assisting the growth of new businesses.
You can also volunteer — Article 25 is keen to recruit graduates who are willing to work overseas and help developing countries deliver better buildings.
Source: bdonline
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