The headless architecture student and her realisations.

The video depicts a headless architecture student coming to the realisation that the only way to design spaces is to get out of the studio and connect with society the client, the context. Only when she makes this conclusion her confidence is gained to remove the mask that academics has placed over the self referential field of architecture.

Theory behind the film.

There we are, architecture students, between the four walls of studio; slaving away, doing the architecture dance with the perception that we can change the world with a building. It is true; people use buildings for recreation, for rest and for earning a living. But is our approach not deluded? Are we striving for academic perfection, or are we determined to develop insight. Is it not people we aim to please, aim to comfort and aim to empower? We must not fool ourselves, we must be determined to understand the context we are designing for not simply to force a romantically fabricated concept driven by aesthetics or ego. Only then will we achieve justified design. Making minimal contact with civilisation beyond our peers. We can memorise a limited amount of pattern languages from our lecturers and textbooks. But to experience a pattern, to partake in the inception or establishment of a pattern is the true understanding of it. We must socialise in order to feel emotion. We must make contact with others to understand opinions. We must experience spaces with company to ensure democratic and fair analysis thereof. And we must do this often to understand psychological variety that comes with investigating a pattern. A pattern is used by designers to make the right choices. Patterns are rules derived from years of trial and error. A pattern can evoke emotion. The use of a pattern can predetermine a reaction.

With this I emphasise the importance of society's participation in the creation of spaces.

short film by nadia lloyd-lister

videography by nicole lloyd-lister & nadia lloyd-lister

music by Hawkword (Zain Ebrahim & Juan Levin)

Song title: Purplesandpiper.