We did it! We were invited to Brisbane, Australia to attend the super-prestigious AASA/ACSA International Conference and we presented our paper on the interdisciplinary aspect of the DIP method and how valuable it can be to the pedagogical goals of an architecture program.
FYI, in case you didn’t know, online architecture programs are incredibly rare, and RIT has one. Second: the employment rate for graduates of architecture is surprisingly low, but for our students, it’s up in the high 90s.
So, we traveled from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, and made our presentation in one of the funkiest buildings I’ve ever been in. It is gorgeous, and befitting a school of architecture!
As an animator swimming in architectural seas, this entire conference was so powerful to attend. I engaged in great conversations with researchers on AI; its impact on pedagogy and on the industry as a whole, and learning about the huge variety of perspectives on it.
This conference brought together researchers from literally all over the world. Not just in presenters, but also attendees from Australia (of course), the US, Sweden, China, Iran, Dubai, India, and I suspect a few other European countries. The exchange of ideas was powerful.
I had a number of takeaways from this conference. First, as an educator, the challenges we face are extraordinarily similar around the world, the differences stem from the ecosystems in which we exist. It was easy to tell which countries and universities empower their educators to exercise their judgement in the implementation of technology and which ones lack forums for open communication and guidance. The social attitudes towards people and life was also very evident in the various discussions that took place. It was wonderful to hear how universal everyone’s goals can be, and how much everyone cares, about their students, the profession, and the state of the world.
Second, as an animator/artist, I couldn’t help but notice and relate to the angst surrounding support for the arts. It never occurred to me that people might want to subsidize architects by simply allowing contractors or engineers to slap a few features together, and yet, as I write this, I realize I love watching all of those HGTV reno shows…
But, back to the point, the idea of replacing the work of an artist with a machine or a pre-developed algorithm is something I find ridiculous, but to do it in a field that must cater to humans exclusively feels like we’re preparing for some long-term consequences.
Finally, I loved hearing a group of professionals wax poetic about the higher calling of their field. It felt inspiring and comforting being immersed in a space of wonder. After attending so many professional events over the years, it was refreshing to not be dropped into a frenzy of networking and hasty conversations. Food for thought.
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