Crit:2_ Development of a booklet

Following the previous post on the Crit…. I took it upon me to develop somekind of manuscript or guidance manual for the crit. This will include the various topics which might be related to the crit.

This came after coming across, The Crit An Architecture Student’s Handbook: Seriously Useful Guides (Architectural Students Handbooks). This book by  Charles Doidge (Author), Rachel Sara (Author), Rosie Parnell  (Author), Mark Parsons (Author) has some very insightful comments to those new to the process of training to become an architect or those who are familiar with the environment therein, pity I came across this book during my final academic year of architecture. 

Crit that has remained for many decades. The following notes will be a comment on a tradition that I see as resisting change and lack proressive vision and organisation.

This is the a booklet which I hope will be a gift to students at early stages of their career: Elements of the booklet will include

Crit Map: Using the layout of the Universities I attended and invited for th crit, we will place areas where the crit spaces are occurring in those environments. This is similar to most schools as the layout of many studios are ubiquitios.

Table of Contents

 

 

1. History of the crit (Where it all started)
2. Layout of the crit_ set up (communication of rigorous information/process to tutors) Studio Layouts
3. Varies depending on school or the time of the year (formal and informal)
4. Why crit? Assessment methods
5. Characters in the crit
6. Refer to pizza crit
7. Preparation for Crit_
8. It start with studio attendance and sharing of ideas
9. (Start Making lines-There more the lines the better)There’s no time to lose nor is the room for vacillation_ The time to be creative is now, multitude are waiting for your ideas to manifest
10. Sharing a meal with friends is always good idea
11. That time will not manage itself. All it knows is to go around
12. Get some sleep
13. Tidy yourself up_ To shower or not shower. Don’t be like me and wait for the rain to turn up 
14. Types of students, which one are you?
15. Presentations_ dress code_ please reflect a degree of professinalism or personality 
16. Presentation_ Work_ Don’t be intermidated by the questions 
17. The late night attitude? Why are you doing this to yourself 
18. Post crit (Some drink some cry the gloom and blooms of crits
19. Resting phase- Invite friends for social/ leisure activity 
20. Absorption of ideas and the criticism received
21. Development of Project Further_ architecture only stops when you we are tired of being creative or dead… 
22. Refining knowledge
23. Developing your character_ mental dexterity
24. Practice_ You are developing your practice method not relying on being employed 
25. Developing new professional values

You have the capacity to enhance the architectural profession with the knowledge we have accumulated thus far… and you will bringing new professional values…

 

 

 

 

 

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Crit:1

As the end of academic year approaches for most architecture students in the Northern Hemishphere, I would like to dedicate the next few weeks to writing about the infamous ‘crit’. Love it or hate, it seems like this perverse anthropological ritual is here to stay.

Many of us have stumbled until we finally got the hang of this so called the crit? The purpose of it and importance of it and the relevance of it i the architectural education. I am not or am I against this 200years old tradition of assessing student’s work, nay rather I would like to explore it further and hopefully to bring out what could be the relevance of it in the digital age.

There’s a lot of advice about preparation and what it entails, sites such as Portico, First in Architecture site, a jounal and a book called The Crit can be a good resource to those wishing to know more or have an alternative view about.

The Crit Contradiction

Who is benefitting from this presentation?