Reading 7
indistinction: This reading clarified the distinction between professional and academic architecture, then showed how they should really rely on each other. In the end, it asserted that it is most beneficial to combine the two and find a happy medium, or at least a happy intersection.
uncertainty: There is clearly a discrepency between the views of the different academics, as demonstrated by Julia Robinson's opposing views in this article. They can't seem to decide where academic architecture should fit in, and there is no clear answer.
Questions: Does side research enrich your education, or can too much of it burn out a potentially great designer? How much value should we place on research this early in our education? Are we equipped with the knowledge possible to gain new knowledge for the field?
Reading 8
encouragement: This was obviously written by someone who is very familiar with how design school works. As a probably survivor of it, the writer offered words of encouragement to a current design student. Most of it was sort of obvious, but it's not a bad thing to hear it again. Sometimes we forget how important it is to give it our all in school.
realism: This reading didn't glorify design school. It told us how it really is, and how hard we will have to work if we want to excel at it. Most academic architects admit that architecture school is demanding, but they rarely acknowledge all the extra work we will have to do if we want to be the best.
Questions: The reading doesn't account for those of us that have other academic priorities, say a minor in another subject. Will those other commitments be worth it in the end? Will they help/hurt us in architecture school? It also doesn't address having a personal life outside of design school. How much do they expect us to put into it? Won't we be better designers if we spend significant amounts of time outside of the design world?