By: Ola Odukoya, NOMA Research Fellow at CRTKL
Allow me to transport you back to your senior year of college. Late nights at the library; schmoozy, intimidating job fairs; seemingly boundless opportunity laid bare in front of you. Unfortunately for the graduating class of 2020, our senior year looked quite different.
In January, we saw formerly bustling Chinese cities come to a screeching halt. By March, the same could be said for my current city of residence, Chicago, where I was finishing my Bachelor’s degree in Architecture with a minor in Urban Studies. Instead of state-of-the-art equipment and sprawling lecture halls, I now attended class in my basement apartment’s living room with two other roommates.
This type of global, social and economic unrest is completely unprecedented in modern history. Instead of throwing our caps in the air with our classmates at a commencement ceremony filled with the energy of the young and the free, our graduation was virtual. This isn’t an essay to simply complain about our plight, but to urge the AEC industry, at large, to understand how the outlook of 2020 Architecture graduates will change the future of architecture. How might we at every level– personally, within our firms, and as an industry— create an AEC landscape where our emerging professionals can thrive?
My view on design has broadened significantly in the past few months– especially the need for spaces to be flexible and adaptable to a variety of situations and scenarios. With the staggering amount of people working from home, exercising from home and more, our homes are playing a bigger role as an extension of ourselves. How our bedroom or living room can also serve as an office space and workout studio is a challenge we should be eager to tackle as designers.
Besides just physical challenges such as redesigning the purpose of the home, the byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic will reshape the very fabric of our cities. I was inspired to get a minor in Urban Studies because I believe Architecture spans into the urban fabric and the built environment. And I believe the surrounding environment can influence designing spaces. Getting a minor in Urban Studies gave me a deeper understanding of the planning and the history behind cities like Chicago. And in urban planning and design, we are designing for people’s well-being and designing with that human context in mind is so important.
I’m excited about the fact that we are approaching a paradigm shift in design. A lot of times, we never realize it’s a paradigm shift until well after it’s happened—but, now, we are experiencing it in real-time. This affects all the sectors of architecture: residential, commercial, healthcare and entertainment. As designers, what can we implement to ensure that, if we’re ever in a situation like this again, we are better prepared and more flexible to adapt?
Of course, not all the consequences of this pandemic are hopeful. Besides mass sickness, death and unemployment, I worry about how our industry will bounce back. Our profession is one that’s most directly impacted by the closure of public spaces, and my fear is that a whole generation of designers will branch out in non-design careers just to make ends meet. On the other hand, I do have hope that we are a resilient bunch and can find a way to hold our heads above water until the economy and job market improves.
I feel that my generation will change the face of design by trying to understand how design can help improve people’s quality of life. We have gone through the generations of form over function. I believe, as architects, we have to come back to the psychology of who we are designing for. I’m also hopeful that the profession is waking up to the importance of having a staff of diverse designers who actually reflect the makeup of the cities they’re designing for.
Through programs like the National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMA), minority students have more opportunities for mentorship, networking and portfolio work. I even became the president of our NOMA chapter at Illinois Institute of Technology because I believe in the importance of promoting equity and equality in architecture and design. If someone is originally from the Southside of Chicago, for example, they can design their own neighborhood with more insight than someone who has never lived there. For the profession to continue to thrive on the principle of responsible development, this should be the next paradigm shift.
At CallisonRTKL, there are also a variety of research initiatives that are inclusive and create a platform to share diverse perspectives. Besides mentorship and research grants programs, we’re also creating an internal competition called Our Block—a contest to re-design a city block in your own hometown. A wide range of diversity gives understanding to how those projects have a stake in their surrounding areas. We must focus on the social impact: how our projects will affect people demographically, economically and mentally. By understanding the humanity of a variety of emerging professionals, we can better create human-centric design. The ability for recent graduates to be innovators and entrepreneurs—thanks to expanded programs, like these– is great for our industry as a whole.