FALL 2021 Research Thesis - A Reflection
The end of this semester marks a pivot in my architectural understanding, meaning that I’ve evaluated my priorities in my path of design. As I’m applying for my graduate-level ambitions, I am taking a step back to realize: what is important to me? What about architecture gives me the power to do good?
A year ago, I remember writing my first post on LinkedIn, publicizing my pride in how I passed the LEED Green Certification exam the night before my 19th birthday. At the time, I thought I was taking a step in the right direction— collecting trophies of understanding that demonstrate my “woke-ness” amongst my peers. Now, within a super fast year, I have so many criticisms of LEED regarding its adjacency to free-market neoliberalism and its lack of accessibility to implement effective environmental improvement within vulnerable areas. And, within that same time, I’ve done so many things that have about nothing to do with polishing my resume. At 19, I did everything I could to perform towards excellence through academics, resume titles, and formal beautification of projects. And now, at 20, I virtually threw all of those priorities away. Instead, I spend my time working and engaging with meaningful topics, instead of “studying” or “discussing” them.
This research thesis, for example, I took on knowing that I will need to pull off extra work to boost my academic portfolio. I took on this research knowing that I will be the outlier student amongst my class. I took on this research knowing that I will walk through studios, perhaps envious of the creative fun that my peers are experiencing. But, I knew that this research will transform my thinking. Instead of saying “living walls in my project will achieve biophilia, enhance urban biodiversity, and bring freshness to the architectural experience” in studio, I will say “living walls are beneficial, but they come with a price of social stigma and green gentrification.” This research just one of many imperative motives for me to truly understand my design choices and to challenge them with alternative cases.
This link forwards to a summary of my fall thesis development.
