ARCH 1121 An Introduction to Architecture…Spring 2016 Mishara Toggle navigation

Assignment 1

I'm not if this is where I'm supposed to post my essay, nor how exactly to do it, but here it is.

Brandon Havens

Professor Mishara - 1121

Assignment 1

Part A: “Why do you want to be an architect? What skills do you have?”

While I didn’t always know exactly what architecture was, ever since I was born I’ve had a sense for designing things. I’ve always thought everyone has a different imagination, and everyone can see the world differently. I was only 4 years old when I decided to become an architect, I was playing with legos one day and I thought it’d be a good idea to build a skyscraper like the ones in Manhattan. Then, halfway through the project, my grandpa took me with him to Brooklyn, and as we drove, I saw the Manhattan skyline. I told him, “Hey Pop? Can I have my own building like that? I wanna make one.” He told me to become an architect, and told me if I did, I could build anything I wanted. It seemed like the best idea in the world, and from that moment I was sold. I’ve wanted to be an architect since that day. I’ve always had the capability of somehow designing something I visualize in my head. If I can picture it, usually, I can figure out how to make it.

Part B: “How would you explain what architecture is?”

To me, architecture exists in everything that has a physical or perceptual structure. If you can see the design, or layout, or styling of an object, it has a structure and therefore has an architecture to it. I personally find it very difficult to describe. It is, in a way, the organization of everything, how things run, how things exist, how it’s created, and how it works. Architecture can be seen very differently, very easily. An unlabeled 3-dimensional cube drawn on a 2-dimensional grid can be seen in limitless ways, because there’s no beginning and no end. While someone might see one face of the cube as the front, another could see it as the left face. Not only is architecture everywhere, but it can be debated too, and these are two of the many reasons as to why architecture is so complex.