Graduation send-off

Univ. of Oregon students setup final presentations at the Yale Union Contemporary Art Center. Brian Schmidt presents to Mark Perepelitza, Lin Sealy, Craig Davis & Tobin Weaver. Audrey Snyder presents to Robert Liberty, William Robert Taylor in foreground. Photos by Suenn Ho

Today, I gave a brief tribute to our graduating M.Arch. and B.Arch. students.  Teachers and students alike are relieved to see the great results of their efforts. (Final projects will be posted on my studio’s blog , lighting projects are buried in the online spool.) Here is my advice for the students…

Starting a new project mean facing a blank sheet of paper.  Placing the first mark sets up what else can happen, as every mark drawn changes what the designer sees.  Through building up these marks, the designer creates a world of possibilities.

In school, teachers guide this mark-making through design challenges of increasing complexity. By the final year, our architecture students help define the inquiry. They decide what matters, where the first mark goes.  Upstairs, we can see you did a great job in filling those blank sheets of paper.

At graduation, you are given a big new sheet of paper, the mother of all blank pieces of paper.

To fill this paper, look around you.  Paul Polak, who Designs for the Other 90%, says architects and designers just need to Ask.  Every community knows its problems.  By asking, he found the need for water in third world countries and invented by low-cost irrigation and filtration systems.  If you can find a problem and a means to address it, then you can create yourself a job.  Even better, a meaningful question can drive a series of projects in which you build expertise to share.

So to fill the new sheet of paper, look to your community.  This circle of family and friends can be a well-spring for creative challenges.  AND they can provide a wealth of collaborative expertise.  Your ideal partner loves to do what you hate to do. Through partnering, you can leverage your vision.

In this networked world, your success depends on the success of others.  A friend of mine says, you succeed by making your boss look good.  So today, you have succeeded by making your teachers and your parents look good.  We are basking in the reflected glory of your success.