From Crit to Pitch

The crit (the critique session within the art & design school environment) can be considered a highly vocational exercise. In the creative industry it can be translated to mean the pitch. In this context students are exposed to scrutiny from their peers or tutors as they formally evaluate their artwork or designs. In response to feedback they must develop their own voice, rationalise and communicate ideas clearly and defend their position – this happens all the time in professional practice. The ability to communicate ideas is one of the most important attributes that employers look for when recruiting a recent graduate.

Driver for design

"You must have an idea to drive a design. - Le Corbusier always had an idea; and so did Louis Kahn. - I agree with Ludwig Wittgenstein [who] said that ideas are like ladders: they get us to a platform, and when we arrive there, we kick the ladder away." Steven Holl, architect, interviewed in The Architectural Review, March 2013.

Making culture

The role of making in design is emphasised by Bruce Nussbaum, Professor at Parsons the New School for Design: "The making culture is key. You learn by making, you learn by doing, and I want to really pull us back toward that making culture, toward the materiality of tangibility, which I think has always been key to design."

Material inspiration

Louis Kahn, the architect, used to tell his students: if you are ever stuck for inspiration, ask your materials for advice. "You say to a brick, 'What do you want, brick?' And brick says to you, 'I like an arch.' And you say to brick, 'Look, I want one, too, but arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel.' And then you say: 'What do you think of that, brick?' Brick says: 'I like an arch.'"