Closing Keynote - Daniel S Friedman

[Pete Evans, AIA]

Delivering a provocative closing keynote to the Changing Times Time for Change conference, Daniel Friedman Dean of the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington presented the state of architecture in education and the challenges inextricably shared with the profession today.

Noting that there have been efforts to move education forward to very little effect, Friedman noted that there were a couple bright spots where the curriculum (MINN & CINN were two examples) has moved forward enough to be actually be ahead of the curve. A clear message was also communicated that both the NAAB and AIA are not transformational institutions - the change will have to be at a smaller level and virally mutate.

Changing is everywhere:
- science has changed
- communication has changed
- social values have changed
- learning has changed
- climate has changed
- world has changed
- requirements for construction have changed
- the linguistic and symbolic stuctures of architecture have changed
...and yet our curriculum and and license requirements remain more or less the same

Computers are only the tip of the the iceberg
(while challenging it is still 20% technical / 80% psychological)

Assume BIM enters widespread adoption of integrated practice and project delivery protocols
- What would an integrative curriculum look like?
- Form and composition at the expense of accountability?
- How would preparation for an integrative curriculum occur?

So what's different about the 21 century?
Environment
Energy
Urbanization 19 20 21 wheelman… look it up
Health
Information

What new core principles replace old core principles? (what are some new terms…)

Complexity - bridges individual to collective
Ecology - distribution and abundance of living organism
Integration - combine one thing with another (in contrast to compartmentalization)

(now) vs (then)
event object (buildings as micro environments)
field ground
vector axis
flow line
grass tree
jazz classical
pistons lakers (star team vs team of stars)

What are the implications for pro education and practice? What are the constitutive elements of our profession?

Vocabulary addresses 3 essential elements:
IDENTITY - education plus internship
CONDUCT - william carpenter architect example
PRODUCTION - (awards not a good metric) misaligned with poetic intentions at lower echelons

The twin responsibilities:
commencement (indicates first things)
commandment (indicates final say)

"Architect" is at stake

Friedman presented real concern that schools are dangerously behind and that there is no turning back.

Ten propositions
1 treat the entire curriculum like studio - all studio all the time
2 use research to drive design (design as skill, design as an epistemology)
- type drove 19th
- program drove 20th
- research drives 21st
3 teach more building science (NAAB criteria should be ~ 50/50 in technical knowledge)
4 mandate teamwork (as Prusak said, fire those unwilling)
5 replace the jury system with studio rounds (like medical rounds / grand rounds for final reviews)
6 dissect abandoned buildings (access to building pathology…)
7 use case method to teach professional practice and ethics (courage to face uncertainty)
8 interdigitate research and internship
9 require internship for accreditation
10 quality interns for licensure at graduation