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I’ve got it in my head that architecture is what I want to do. So, whats that mean?
What is it? That is a question that must be answered by anyone before they can begin to learn or gain understanding of any area or field, be it science, cooking, cultural anthropology, or architecture. To know where its boundaries lie, and how far its concepts reach. I read a lot of things, and looked at a lot of photos and drawings. Here are some things I found.

Good ol’ Wikipedia says “Architecture(Latin “architectura”, from the Greek “arkitekton”, ὰρχιτεκτονική) is the art and science of designing buildings and other physical structures for human use and shelter.”

Thats great. Thats a pretty good, pretty broad definition and a really good starting point. It would seem as though the definition splits the field up into a few different branches. It is both an art and a science. It also deals with both buildings and other physical structures.

Ok, so its an art… and a science. Lets define those while we’re at it.

Art: the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.

Science: any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome.

So in the next couple posts, we’ll see what architecture means from a couple different points of view(as written by me(who knows nothing) and quotes from some other people):

What does architecture mean to architects?

What does architecture mean to engineers?

What does architecture mean to students?

What does architecture mean to the public?

What does architecture mean to artists?

What does architecture mean to the human race?

What does architecture mean to the Earth?

Seniors in engineering at Colorado School of Mines complete, for a graduation requirement, a “capstone” course called Senior Design. It’s an engineering design course in which students undertake a “real life” problem with a “client” who present them with said problem. Students work in “interdisciplinary teams” in order to arrive at a “real, live solution” to the problem they are presented with. There are certain requirements the team must meet, including reports, presentations, client meetings etc. At the end of the two semester course sequence, is a Senior Design Fair in which students present their “solutions” or “designs” to other teams, professors, clients, and the general public.
As a junior in engineering at Colorado School of Mines, I feel like the entire program sounds like a waste of 9 months of my time. I’ve heard both good and bad reviews of the course from both quality and poor students. Anyone in engineering at Mines will know what I mean when they hear the acronym EPICS (Engineering something something Course Sequence). EPICS, at CSM, is a well known and universally disliked duo of classes designed to teach students “how engineering works in real life.” Well, either every engineer ever hates their job (somebody should investigate that possibility) or EPICS is, like I feel about Senior Design (SD), a giant waste of time.
Anyway, as a junior in engineering at Colorado School of Mines, in the Civil Engineering department, I have a few options:

One: Suck it up, register for the course, get on a team, see what happens.

This plan of action has two possible outcomes:
One: It sucks.
Two: It’s OK.

Two: Steel Bridge Competition. The ASCE sponsored university competition. Run by the Civil Eng. department, and student chapter of ASCE. Can take the place of SD graduation requirement.

This plan of action also has a few possible outcomes, as I’ve heard mixed reviews on that course as well (anonymously of course).
One: It sucks.
Two: It’s OK.
Three: It’s awesome, because we win.

The third option, which I’m not really certain of, but would like to know more about, is an independent study option. From what I understand, the student, under guidance of a mentor works on a project of his/her interest, working towards a final design solution or furthering of the field of study. This seems similar to a thesis program at the graduate level.

So, if I’m correct in this, this option has approximately one possible outcome.

One: It’s awesome, because it’s designed that way, by the student.

(Technically, there is a fourth option, which would be not take a SD class and not graduate, but that doesn’t really seem appealing.)

So the first two options are toss ups, the third is a definite (if it exists). Sounds good to me, and sign me up. And that leaves me with finding a mentor, not to mention a topic of interest, or a problem to solve. I’d like to work on this over the summer, so it will be in full swing for when I start the course in August, so I’d need to come up with this idea, find a professor to support me, and get it approved before May. In the off chance that you’re reading this, this is me asking for suggestions, advice or whatever. If you know anyone at Mines working on something I might be remotely interested in, let me know, by all means. I’m a Civil student interested in architecture and structural design (not geotechnical). Call me, I’ll do their research for free, I’ll work on the stuff they don’t want to. Seriously.