building things, architecture and playful learnings

Recently, I've had unfettered interest in building things. Not sure why. Maybe this is to blame, or possibly because I've been mesmerized by this recently. Who knows.

Anyway, I've always been a big proponent of creating cool shit, so this new fascination doesn't seem to be a big surprise. But I'll take it in stride. I think there's something very insightful in store for all of us once we start creating things. Drudging up the creativity inside ourselves helps us understand our voice as people. I really do believe that.

I stumbled upon the book 101 Things I Learned in Archtecture School, by Matthew Frederick. Actually, it seemed to find me -- to be honest. During my Saturday afternoon wanderings in various bookstores around the city, this book was just staring at me. Every time. So, to give it the attention it deserved, I finally broke down and bought the damn thing.

And I'm glad I did. Really, really glad.

First off, it's a delightful coffeetable book. It just has that aura. It's small, has a cardboard cover, and contains one-item-per-page contents.

Secondly, it gives a very clear review of key themes that hold together the study of architecture. Written by a seasoned architect, it was written as a resource for architects and architecture students alike . . . sort of a continuous reflection of the field. After all, the first line of the preface reads: "Certainties for archtecture students are few."

How helpful of him! The architecture community should be pleased that Cliffs Notes finally got around to them.

But, arguably, so should the ad community. Here's why:

Architecture is very much like planning, and creative communication even. It's about understanding the how people are going to interact with something. Whereas engineering is actually being able to build complicated things (sorry to my engineering friends for the convenient oversimplification), architecture is about conceptualizing and designing them so that they better a human experience.

I highly recommend reading the whole thing, but I wanted to share a few of the points with you to give fodder to the discussion over the similarities architecture and advertising share. Here are 17 of the most insightful pages I tagged while I was reading -- again, as you read these, think of how we might be able to extend these truths to the brands we play with every day.

1. Sense of place - Genius loci literally means genius of place. It is used to describe places that are deeply memorable for their architectural and experimental qualities.
2. Parti (the big idea behind a piece of architecture) derives from understandings that are nonarchitectural and must be cultivated before architectural form can be born.
3. Reality may be engaged subjectively, by which one presumes a oneness with the objects of his concern, or objectively, by which a detachment is presumed.
4. "Science works with chunks and bits and pieces of things with the continuity presumed, and [the artist] works only with th continuities of things with the chunks and bits and pieces presumed." (from Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)
5. Being process-oriented, not product-driven, is the most important and difficult skill for a designer to develop.
6. The most effective, most creative problem solvers egage in a process of meta-thinking, or "thinking about the thinking."
7. There are 3 levels of knowing: (1) simplicity, (2) complexity, and (3) informed simplicity.
8. If you can't explain your ideas to your grandmother in terms that she understands, you don't know your subject well enough.
9. Beauty is due more to harmonious relationships among the elements of a composition than to the elements themselves.
10. A good building reveals different things about itself when viewed from different distances.
11. "Less is more." (Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe)
12. Properly gaining control of the design process tends to feel like one is losing control of the design process.
13. All design endeavors express the zeitgeist.
14. Manage your ego - Don't ask what YOU want the building to be; instead ask, "What does the BUILDING want to be?"
15. Limitations encourage creativity.
16. The chinese symbol for crissi is comprised of two characters: one indicating "danger" and the other, "opportunity."
17. Just do something.

Honestly, just reading this list won't do the book credit; there are wonderful sketches that illustrate points so well that sometimes you don't even need to read the text. Really great stuff.

Sorry I couldn't make it to 20, guys. But this even seems to be a bit much to throw out there.

Seriously, buy the book. It's totally worth it. (Remember what I said about the coffeetable-ness) Then let's chat about it.

Cheers.

wise words

"We have millions upon millions of human tapeworms thriving in the Western World, making love to their
Powerpoint presentations,
feasting on the creativity of others."

- Hugh MacLeod

Check out more of Hugh MacLeod's thoughts here.

where does all that creativity come from?

One of my greatest weaknesses, I'll admit, is that I assume everyone else wants to paint bigger pictures. Of course, there are times when details need to be considered -- however, my mind prefers to linger in the times when the only limit is the sky, the only deadline is ultimate satisfaction, and the only materials needed are human brains and time.

That sounds like an oversimplified recipe for disaster.

And it is. With groups of people, there needs to be a shared understanding of the goals for a project. Objectives. Whatever you want to call them. The finish line.

Establishing that picture is where things get tricky. It begs the question: If we're supposed to inspire new solutions, how do we set-up that sense of finality while also instilling an opportunity for unprecedented creativity?
This question pops into my mind everyday. Unfortunately, still don't have a solid answer. But here are some of my thoughts:

Leveraging creativity is key. At the end of the day, the end product is the measure of success. More often than not, it might be generally agreeable to think that any sort of creativity brought to the table is going to matter more than the source of the creativity. So long as an idea is creative and gets the job done (and vice versa), we can move onto the next discussion.

Ideas suck without self-efficacy. I guarantee it. If there is no solid belief in the final idea, might as well shut down shop. Not even worth forking over the idea. So, what implications does this have for intragroup motivation? I'd imagine it doesn't really matter if creative-type people are the only ones that feel positive about the project -- if someone doesn't feel quite right about what the group's doing, that's an issue. Leveraging self-efficacy is a precursor to creativity. Even for non-creative folk.

Creatively communicating thoughts inspires the first two things. Creativity is a fickle beast. That's for sure. It's sly as a fox. Hit or miss. Whatever cliche you chose to use, it's difficult to describe exactly what it is in only a few words. But it's important to gain a personal understanding of what it is and where it came come from. Incorporating creativity into every thought can lead to unbelievable outcomes . . . but only if the different forms of creativity can speak to each other. Designers, account people, verbal people, visual people, strategists, planners, clients. Everyone. Creativity at every stage of the game will always be important, but understanding how to communicate will make or break a great idea. Inspiration is a byproduct of this communciations.

So as my head is still in the clouds, I can rest assured that such levetation is fine. But everyone needs to find a way to get their head up high as well. It shouldn't be a game of Simon Says, but it most certainly should be a game of . . . well, a winning one, whatever it is.

Establishing the picture we're looking at is not something only a planner should be doing. Getting the picture right involves everyone.

But the planner should just be accounting for these necessary ingredients.