Architectural Education - Helena Jiskrová

> Introductory Lecture > Record of Discussion Opinions of the Discussants: > Yvette Vašourková > Jakub Kynčl > Ladislav Lábus > Emil Přikryl > František Sedláček > Aleš Student > Jiří Suchomel

Responses of Invited Personalities: > Mirko Baum > Karel Doležel > Helena Jiskrová > Ivan Koleček > Miroslav Masák > Alois Nový > Petr Pelčák > Marian Zervan

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I was unexpectedly invited by editor Koryčánek to respond to the texts from the June debate in Ostrava about Czech architectural education. One text was his stimulating introduction, as he presented at the start of the roundtable discussion, and the other was a (shortened) record of the live debate among participants.
Until now, I have not dealt with any comprehensive guidelines on "training"; I only have some experiences in the role of a teacher, so it is not easy for me to engage wit or coherently in the ongoing discussion in writing. This text is to be taken as evidence of my support for your discussion. Although the record of the discussion tempted me to make spontaneous remarks, for the sake of clarity, I eventually relied on the structure of Mr. Koryčánek's introductory text, "What to do with Czech architectural education?"

Do we have something to build on?

The Czech Republic is not in an easy situation, but it should not feel that it is in a bad position within the European framework. New norms of global compatibility in academic education have brought many unexpected problems in several developed European countries. National states, as we perceive them today, have a historically built offer of academic education arising from cultural and economic needs. State-subsidized schools have teaching methods shaped by historical needs for the creation, maintenance, development, or conquest (colonies) of administrative territories. Thus, in countries with significant development impulses, new needs for the education of specialists, new technologies, and new techniques have always emerged. Colonial powers have lost their global territories, but their cultural structure, including education, remains strong by European standards and ensures them a kind of superiority over others. This causes a so-called bad mood among small Europeans and fuels their exhausting efforts for worldliness.
But the large countries in Europe are quickly changing in their national composition, losing their national state character. How will the management of state infrastructures be organized when national cultural interests lose their driving and creative strength? Will European countries be managed by specialists trained nationally, or will they be invited global experts, perhaps from Asia? Who will be the good administrators and investors? Without good investors, there is no good architecture.
Large-scale development on all continents is now in the hands of multinational capital. It deals with infrastructure projects in politically lucrative locations (Olympics, oil policy, post-war construction, postcolonial incursions into Asian territories, etc.) intended for strategic control of the globe. Very capable individuals with a desire for the challenge of the unknown and exciting adventure will apply for such work. They are not at all bothered by what kind of students they were, or whether their professor was too old.
Common development in EU countries is increasingly divided into municipal interests (subject to national governance) and regional (multinational). However, these regions are managed by the EU behemoth, where most of the apparatus still operates according to systems originating in national economies. It can be assumed that nationally traditionally trained specialists with average degrees will still be needed.

Duplication of the Czech system.

In the Netherlands, the recent transformation of universities into two-cycle studies has created a problem of academic duplication in all technical fields as well as in many applied social sciences.
Here, HBO, higher vocational schools (BEng, bachelor's degree) – which ceased to exist during Czechoslovakia (for revival: Adolf Loos studied at the Higher Construction School in Liberec) – known in Germany as Fachhochschule, traditionally educated practitioners for the construction industry, primarily with knowledge of materials, execution, and project management. Even artistic academies in the Netherlands have bachelor's studies.
Now, when higher education institutions and technical universities have been mandated to implement bachelor's studies within the two-cycle system, there remains for the bachelor's schools to introduce master's studies in the fight for their own existence. Thus, they argue over who has the historical right to higher education and the issuance of engineering titles; in the Netherlands, it is "ir.", in Germany "Dipl. Ing".
Duplication is not an unknown problem; it arose with the introduction of system compatibility.
It is certainly no small task to establish a new school, but I do not see the problem of duplication itself as something that should prevent that. However, the financial aspect is another matter. If the budget for all schools is limited, it is necessary to use it as efficiently as possible. However, with the establishment of new schools, it may become evident that greater competition brings more enthusiasm for working with students, students will be dispersed across more regions of the country, and architects will find it easier to settle outside of Prague. It may also become clear over time that architecture cannot be effectively practiced in the Czech Republic, that all the water flows down to Prague or Brno. After all, the period of rationalism in architecture and design had several enclaves scattered across Central Europe outside the metropolises, like Dessau, Ulm, Silesia...

System or Teacher?

Both are important. It is less important what the school is called; what is more important is what it offers to students. Of course, when a school makes a name for itself, it is more likely to attract interesting teachers or interest from abroad, which seems to be the primary concern in the discussion. Various institutes are spoken of as if they were comparable in terms of the offered order of education, their economic essence, and their social need. However, the discussion mainly concerns basic engineering education, which allows graduates to perform the profession of architect.
The oldest technical school in the Netherlands has also not been called a Technical University for ten years, but Technical University Delft. Most of the famous architects from here completed their basic education at the Faculty of Architecture, which is the construction faculty. In Barcelona, for example, no one mind that it is only called construction. What they mainly like is that being in Delft they can also think of studying in Barcelona for a year. At this faculty, it is possible to study architecture, urban planning, but also housing management, construction materials, management, ecology, etc., even in combinations. Structures and transportation constructions have their own faculty. Each year, there are over three hundred students.
The size of the faculty is certainly a logistical problem, but with good economic policy, it is possible to equip the faculty more thoroughly and, according to many, offer more options to skilled and active students. Educational problems are alleviated by the occasional presence of stars and the tireless work of invisible selfless shepherds with five hooves, as such people are called here.

Craft or Creativity?

The biggest shortcoming of basic architectural education is, in my opinion, the training of graduates to a single type – the author, the lead designer, the independent master. I consider this an unfortunate result of the formal pseudo-artification of construction into architecture. Given the large number of students, a craft relationship between teacher and student is generally not possible. However, many students have the opportunity to be employed in architectural offices during their studies and learn a bit about the working process. It is important for the teacher to pull these experiences from the student and give them the opportunity to develop skills that will find application. Not only artistic but also organizational, communicational, or commercial talents are important for the realization of any artistic work.
Moreover, Vitruvius writes to César, the oldest known teacher of architecture:
"However, when I observe that uneducated and inexperienced people engage in such a great and important science, and those who have no knowledge of construction or even of crafts, I cannot praise the managers who confidently relied on expert writings, manage the construction themselves, and judge this way: if the construction is to be entrusted to inexperienced people, it is better that they expend their money according to their own will rather than at the will of another." Vitruvius: Ten Books on Architecture (translated by A. Otoupalík), Book Six, Preface.

What should a young architect know?

Again, from Vitruvius, Book One:
"1. The knowledge of the builder, whose judgment assesses the works created by other arts, is armed with a whole range of sciences and comprehensive education. This knowledge arises from practice (fabrica) and from theory (rationatio).
Practice is a continuous and common deliberation based on the acquired experiences that brings forth a work from any material to achieve the conceived plan.
Theory can then demonstrate the developed matters with ingenuity and scientific calculations.
2. Therefore, builders who dedicated themselves only to training in manual dexterity without a theoretical scientific education could not achieve full appreciation of their performances; those, on the other hand, who relied solely on theory and mere scientific education seem to pursue a shadow and not the thing itself. In contrast, those who have well mastered both achieve the intended goal more quickly with recognition, as if armed with all weapons."
3. And so on.
- that is, a constant problem that cannot be resolved.

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Helena Jiskrová is an architect living in the Netherlands. She served as a professor at RWTH Aachen and as an associate professor at TU Delft. In the Czech Republic, she participated in teaching at AVU in Prague as a professional assistant and at FA TU in Liberec as a visiting professor.