Barcelona is a great city to be trained but when the only people you know are your own colleagues from university you face two options, to continue collaborating with some studios or to shut myself with some partner for living the “wonderful” world of the architecture competitions.
It's well known that in our profession is basic to have acquaintances or family contacts to start having some projects and, in a way, to became known. Of course, until this moment, everything was this way...or that was what I was told. So I packed my things, put them in a car and I left to Mallorca.
The truth is, that even thought some promised project failed, as soon as I arrived I took advantage of the opportunity of a free position at the Urbanism department at the Architect's Board and there it begun my relationship with the urbanism world. World that to be perfectly honest, is totally unknown at the University.
During this period I alternated my work at the Architect's Board with some architecture offices. I also got some projects, but the love for tiles and balustrades of my clients and my fight against it, damaged these relationships so, “good bye houses”. In despite of that, I built my first project which, even it was for a family member, the satisfaction of being able to develop some ideas made up for the economic loses.
Then all the crisis talk arrived but I got my stroke of luck. An open position at the Urbanism department in a city hall. At some point my colleagues looked at me as a freak but as time goes by I realized, and so did they , that this was the best choice I could ever made.
This job brought out the opportunity of meeting a well known urbanism specialist architect from the island which whom I share a studio now. The most fulfilled thing about this relationship was something that very few times happens in our profession: an architect from an older generation, treating you as an equal, giving you the chance to learn and sharing his knowledge with you. Honestly, I've never understood how a colleague could have an other one working for him from morning till night poorly paid, far below from the profits he provides. This is other of the big hypocrisies that our neoliberalism system generates.
The perspectives for the future are not so good. I think we should take advantage of this moment to rethink the role of the architect in our society. Our profession must to stop its egocentrism, just as we have been doing until now, and we should realize that besides to open a new way for specialization we should be able to be present in other fields where other professionals already are ahead of us.
Personally I believe that the architect education should be reoriented in order to not generate so much frustration in the future. Architects should be trained to work in all the fields that the profession offers, from a little house rehabilitation to an interior design, from a construction site management to how to manage and administrate a small office.
Not everything are big museums, kilometrical buildings or TGV stations...at this point is when I truly believe on the Less is more thing.
TO BE CONTINUED... NEXT WEEK MORE!! > "GRAPH PAPER"
