Inhabitat » LIVING SUSTAINABLY AS A DESIGN STUDENT

September 8, 2007

LIVING SUSTAINABLY AS A DESIGN STUDENT

Architorture, Architecture School Torture

We talk a lot about sustainability and design here at Inhabitat, but something we’ve never talked about before is the sustainability of life as a design student. Design school is intense and competitive, not to mention full of noxious chemicals - and it can often be trying to lead a sustainable, balanced and healthy life while in design school.

Core77 recently put together a great “Hack2School Special” — full of tips and tricks for getting through design school. Because my focus is sustainable design, I decided to contribute my thoughts on how to make the design school lifestyle more sustainable. Here’s what I wrote…

I’m currently an architecture grad student, and despite my sincere passion for being in school, I can tell you that I’ve never seen a more unhealthy, more unsustainable environment than that of architecture school. Do any of you out there recognize this picture: students routinely spending 10-15 hours per day sitting in one place, glued to flickering computer screens, while toxic chemicals are mixed and handled all around them. I’ve often found myself in this exact position: eyes straining, back sore, trying to finish a project at 4am, under flickering fluorescent lights, while someone next to me melts acrylic with a cancer-causing chemical, the person on the other side of me hacking up toxic blue foam with a small saw, and the person behind me snoring in a sleeping bag underneath their desk. I know its completely unhealthy, yet there’s this pressure and this feeling that if one doesn’t keep up with the grueling life of the students around you, you’ll never make it through school. Its hard to walk out of studio at 10pm to go home when every other student is still dilligently working, coffee in hand, clearly planning to be at their desks until the morning…

Architorture, Archtecture School Torture, Design studio torture

Why do we pay tens of thousands of dollars to subject ourselves to this kind of life, when most other professional schools (including law and medicine) seem to have evolved out to a more reasonable understanding of live/work balance? Even medical schools, which used to be famous for torturing their students with grueling hours and unreasonable deadlines, have wised-up to the fact that red-eyed, sleep-deprived, pill-popping students can’t learn effectively or make smart decisions. I posted a similar article to this on Archinect.com - and the answers from other students are pretty interesting…

We do it because it’s the culture of design school – this is what is expected of us, and what everyone around us seems to accept as ‘the way things are”. This type of uber-competitive, insanely unhealthy atmosphere will only change when we decide to stop putting up with it, so the change has to start with you.

Design-students, here are 5 steps I composed for taking back your life, and demanding a sustainable, healthy and productive experience as a design student: (I’m trying very hard to take my own advice these days…)

1. LEARN HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR TIME
A healthy lifestyle starts with you. The biggest cause of all-nighters is procrastination; so getting a jump on your work ahead of time will enable you to balance your life more effectively. I’ve found that setting internal goals and deadlines in a calendar can really help fight the creep of procrastination. My favorite procrastination fighting tool - Google Calendar.

2. SEEK OUT HEALTHIER MATERIALS
It seems to be expected that design students will happily live in a pile of blue foam and off-gassing plastics - but why subject yourself to that, when there are plenty of natural model making materials that are healthier and cheaper too. The next time you start to reach for blue foam, try balsa wood or corn-based foams instead. Cardboard and chipboard are plentiful cheap and healthy alternatives to plastic and foam-core. Stay away from the “Zap-a-gap” and nasty super-glues and try hot glue guns instead. (But be careful not to burn your fingers!) Finally, on those days when you just can’t find an alternative to clear acrylic, open the window or go outside.

3. TAKE BREAKS & GET OUTSIDE
You may think that all you need to know can be found within the confines of your studio (or even your computer monitor) – but this is simply not true. Most often the best ideas, intuitions and breakthroughs will come to you you’re your mind is relaxed and open – when are walking down the street, jogging or even sleeping. Good designers have lives. They go see movies, have lunch with friends and find inspiration in the world around them. You will never find inspiration in a computer screen. It is imperative to both creativity and your sanity to take breaks.

4. CREATE A PRODUCTIVE WORK SPACE
Its difficult to concentrate and work effectively when you are uncomfortable or distracted. Keep your desk clean and uncluttered, invest in a good LED desk lamp (they are energy efficient and don’t heat up), and adjust your chair and desk to ergonomically appropriate heights so you can sit (or stand!) in an upright and alert position. (I prefer to working standing up). Its also crucial to keep a refillable bottle of water on hand at all times as well as an mp3 player and a pair of headphones, so you can tune out the world around you.

5. KNOW WHEN TO EAT, EXERCISE AND SLEEP
Its hard to be mentally alert and productive when you are hungry, sleep-deprived or tired. Your body needs sleep, food and exercise to stay on its game. Get into a regular exercise routine (like jogging or karate classes), stock up healthy snacks to keep at your desk (fruit and nuts are a good bet), and know when to call it a night. Believe me, that idea you came up with at 5am after 5 cups of coffee won’t hold up in the light of day, and your project really will be that much better after you’ve had a full night’s sleep.

6. LEARN HOW TO SAY ‘NO’
A healthy lifestyle starts and ends with you. Learn how to stand up for yourself and don’t succumb to the pressure of unhealthy attitudes around you. You are smart - you made it to design school, and you are smart enough to know deep down what is and what isn’t good for you. Your teachers may pressure you and your fellow students may compete to see who can go the most hours without sleep, so ignore them. Being a sheep won’t get you anywhere in real life. Look for support in your friends and in more enlightened faculty-members. It is only when enough people in design school realize that there is a better alternative that things will actually begin to change. Until then, hang in there and take responsibility for making the most out of your time in design school.

Sleepy studio at Colubmia GSAPP

22 Responses to “LIVING SUSTAINABLY AS A DESIGN STUDENT”

Nick Simpson Says:

September 8th, 2007 at 2:36 pm

Recognise it? Yup… I’m going into third year in a fortnight with an equal mix of excitement and dread…

Malin Says:

September 8th, 2007 at 4:22 pm

It’s very interesting reading this article since I’ve just started an undergraduate program in architecture here in sweden.
While I can’t say how it will be like for me in the future at least the teachers have been very clear that we’re expected to work ‘office hours’ (meaning 8-17). They expect us to manage our time so that we won’t need to do graveyard shifts. There is also a lot of emphasis on safety, we’re not allowed to use certain chemicals and all models and projects I’ve seen so far have been made out of wood, metal, paper or common household plastic bags. Glue guns are a part of the required materials list.
All 5 steps will still help me manage my studies better. Thanks for posting them and bringing this up.

jac7890 Says:

September 8th, 2007 at 5:57 pm

Great advice. I wish someone had told me all that in first year. . .
First year, term 1: tried holding down one shift a week at work, my body revolted and I got mono for the holidays.
Second year: we got smarter and built beds under our desks, but lived off red bull and trail mix
Third year: bought university gym passes solely for the purpose of using the showers in the morning

Ali_C Says:

September 8th, 2007 at 9:03 pm

I thought your point about opening a window was very interesting. In the last two years my university has opened a new school of architecture building, designed by John Wardle + Hassels. This building is aesthetically pleasing, and a much nicer building to work in, however not one studio has operable windows! There is nothing that can be opened on the whole of the top floor (studios, galleries and the model workshop). Untold number of students have left classes with headaches and migraines. It has got to the point where the school has now banned all use of solvents, spray glues and adhesives on the whole campus (not just our building). So now our very expensive new building is practically useless to work in.
You would think that architects would know of the needs of architecture students and design appropriately.

stephanie esposito Says:

September 8th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

Jill-
thanks for the tips ! not only good advice- but you made me feel proud to be a design student ! not many english majors know the joy of someone bringing a tub of rainbow sherbet in at 3 am, and sharing it with classmates on the air mattress you all took turns sleeping on.

i have a habit of saving every little scrap ( for its resource and monetary value ) ive even taken things out of the trash. this drawyer of random bits often inspires me more than the assignments. i cut up the green pieces from a 7-11 danish wrapper and made it look like grass once.

anyways- good luck with the beginning of your semester, and . .
cant wait to see you at neo-con !!

stephanie

Amy K Says:

September 8th, 2007 at 10:07 pm

It is nice to see that there are other design students who see the importance in maintaining health and balance. I’ve “quit” all-nighters many times, only to be sucked back into the workaholic culture of school. I think students sometimes forget that sleep is reparative and critical for brain health. Here’s hoping professors will take the hint…

Rex Says:

September 9th, 2007 at 12:28 am

Thanks for the advice, especially for the Core77 link which was interesting. Actually, I can’t wait to go to Design School now!
Cheers!

racheblue Says:

September 9th, 2007 at 4:32 am

Excellent tips and not just for students - we can all learn from them - thanks!

Binksy Says:

September 9th, 2007 at 5:42 am

I just left Uni feeling rather guilty that it was only 7pm. Now I’m home & have just read this post & I’m feeling great! It made my day. I totally love the field I am studying (architecture) yet totally disagree with the competitive and outrageously unhealthy and unsustainable environment that we create for ourselves. It’s time we took and stand to improve our experiences at design school so that we can sustain ourselves and our industries.

Jill Says:

September 9th, 2007 at 12:32 pm

Thanks guys-

I really appreciate your comments! Its nice to know that other people feel similarily - sometimes I feel that I’m alone at Columbia with these opinions. I feel like even if other students feel the same way, people don’t really ever about it, because it feels like “laziness” or “complaining”, or generally not being tough, to want to quit work and go to sleep at 12am. Anyways, nice to know I’m not alone.. Good luck with the start of the school year and take the time to be sane and healthy!

Best wishes-
Jill

lisa Says:

September 9th, 2007 at 10:35 pm

Great Advice! I agree with Jill above and I’m glad to see that other people share the same concerns. As a future architecture grad student, I will be sure to keep these tips in mind and work on my procrastination habit! I definitly learned early on (1st year of undergrad) that my health came first and everything came second after suffering a condition called Bell’s Palsy from all the stress I was suffering. So please, to all students who read this, it is extremely important that you get your sleep and eat appropriatly so that health stays up to par. Good luck with your studies!

perez Says:

September 10th, 2007 at 8:37 am

i think excercise did me ALOT of good during school..i always felt like i had enough time to work on my projects, excercise,hang out with friends, work on other class assigments and sleep…excercising gave me that energy….but i think one thing unique about my experience at school was the commeraderie that was created with the other students at my level. we did everything together, even created a softball team, and that went a long way in unspoken support for each other during the long nights and tough assigments…mya advice for future and current students, the one peice of advice or knowledge i have to share is to make the most of your time in school, becuase real world architecture is not the same. its a culture shock..if you can work, get an internship at a local firm. find out what its really like….

karl Says:

September 10th, 2007 at 10:54 am

After I graduated from school and started going to job interviews, it became clear to me that much of the torture we put ourselves through is simply a form of hazing that serves to create a basis of shared experiences with other people in our field. At a few interviews, sharing stories about the crazy hours spent on projects and counting the number of all-nighters became a way of establishing a bond and topic of conversation with the interviewers. It is a shame that we to put ourselves through the wringer in order to have this.

Wondershock Record » Living Sustainably as a Design Student Says:

September 10th, 2007 at 3:26 pm

[…] Living Sustainably as a Design Student […]

cheryl Says:

September 12th, 2007 at 3:26 pm

well, i hate to be the bearer of bad news…
but this unfortunately does not end with school
architecture is not a sustainable profession
when i finished graduate school 15 years ago, there were no jobs
when i finally did get a job as a vastly underpaid, overworked intern, i was made to feel that i should be grateful to have it, many of my classmates found themselves working for free
putting in my time to get to then put myself through the grueling licensing exams, and trying to pay off the immense debt from graduate school
from beginning to end, i slaved in other people’s offices for over 10 years trying to eek out a living under intolerable conditions
two years ago, my husband (his experience similar to my own) and i started our own architecture firm, committed to more balanced business model
the hard reality is that two years into it, we are working harder than ever & see no end in sight
the fact is that architects are not trained in business, in fact, design schools prepare you for nothing useful in practice - now don’t over react and argue about the importance of design - i’m a designer - design is important - it just has nothing to do with what you do in school
here’s the thing - the economics of it just don’t work
we are the most underpaid and overworked professionals in the world
you will be hard pressed to find a single architecture office that does not violate at least several labor laws
for the level of education & training we must receive and then the risk and liability that we assume with our work, we are not even close to being sufficiently compensated
the reasons are too many & too complicated to address here (economic, political, cultural…), but the fact is that architecture is not a sustainable profession and the entire profession needs an overhaul at least on the same scale that construction practices do to become sustainable
i would even go farther and say that the architectural profession is so broken that the only reason it has managed to limp along this far is because regulatory agencies mandate that owners & builders hire us
ok, so before someone asks: ‘why do it, why continue to do it?’ and herein lies the heart of the problem, because we love it, it’s sick but true, it is like an unhealthy relationship that you know you should have left a long time ago
here’s an amazing reality that architects can’t seem to grasp: many people love what they do AND they get paid to do it
this will not happen in architecture until we take action to make it happen
we need to advocate for ourselves, as business owners, employers and employees
we need an advocacy organization to defend and promote our interests, don’t get me started on the AIA (which i am a member of only to not get gouged for liability insurance)
my advice, unless you’re up for the enormous challenge of revamping this very broken profession, switch to art school - you’ll have more fun and make more money

kyle Says:

October 1st, 2007 at 8:52 pm

I totally agree with the principals presented in this article. I’ve found I’ve been much more happy and productive since I’ve decided to stop pulling all nighters. I got ulcers my third year due to over work over stress and bad eating/sleeping habits. It’s just not worth it. I’d rather enjoy life than kill myself over my work.

Coulda Shoulda Woulda « Finding Form Says:

October 17th, 2007 at 12:55 am

[…] folks over at Inhabitate have created a list for Living Sustainable. Find more tips for surviving design school here at Core77, and for tips on general productivity […]

Jean Says:

October 29th, 2007 at 1:22 pm

Yeah Everything is this article cool and everything but when ur doing an all-nighter and ur project is due the other day dont come and talk to me about proper eating and exercising habits. The fact is that we have all chose a major that just demands our all, all the time. We just have to try to stay sane thoughout this experience

Laura Says:

November 17th, 2007 at 4:36 pm

It does change! although coming back to uni after my placement year to do my post grad is an absolute nightmare! I did my degree with only working 4 very late/all niters and i held down a part time job - just so you know my friends think im absolutely crazy (and i agree - id love to have a day off where i can relax and not feel pressured) I will say this though - i had a life - i did things and had friends outside uni. My lecturers hated it and I was even told I would fail the course four weeks from the end - I didn’t and got a 2:1 (uk grading - 1st, 2:1, 2:2 and a 3rd then you fail)Just believe in yourself !
ps. we have no openable windows either and we are protesting like crazy!

alyani Says:

December 27th, 2007 at 12:48 am

For some1 who doesnt conform 2 status co & not so a robot, it took me a year of failing twice in design to realize all by myself that what u’ve said is the solution. People dun tell u that but ur very nice 2 take d time 2 care & advice other people. Plus i recommend dat u guys check out this great book ;

“Time Management For Architects & Designers Challenges & Remedies”
by Thorbjoern Mann.

Good luck! im trying 2hang on too by feeling numb.

Phil Says:

January 12th, 2008 at 10:09 pm

Jill made some great points about how sustainability is a part of design and a better change for humanity, but obviously this doesn’t count for architects and their working environment. How ironic?

I’m not in grad school yet, so I don’t know the experience of having all-nighters and that stress, but I’ve been told that this and more “horrible” situations will happen. I’m very hyped about this, in positive and negative ways. I’m physically handicapped, having some body limitations. I’m pretty good in front of computers, pretty fast when it comes to using software using ACAD and the like, but when it comes to model building, I have a difficult time cutting, nailing, and gluing materials. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but it usually requires extra time, depending on my design structure–what and how it’s going to be built like–and the deadline for it.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this, my architect classes were demanding, but everyone understood and didn’t treat me any differently. We were all like family, it was a small class of 9 or 10 students. I hope grad school will be like this, or tad close to it.