Connecting

"I forgot" was the response when I asked my colleague what happened about a meeting we had arranged the previous evening. I can hardly believe someone can forget a meeting within a few hours. It was the same reason given by the college director immediately after avoiding a pre-arranged staff English language CPD session. One is tempted to feel offended, but there is a cultural issue here. The last couple of weeks have been difficult. Today I asked three students why they did not attend a meeting on the 12th, as confirmed in writing on the 10th. Being too busy, another appointment, etc were given as vague reasons.

Fourth year students are busy finishing studio projects today, (prematurely) inking their final plans for design projects. The lecture discussion last week - including my Wagga Wagga Civic Centre case study - about diagram analysis seem to have been in vain. Clearly, these students can produce drawings of buildings, but the design process is seen as entirely linear, and the sketches and site analysis (if any exist) seem to have been abandoned when 'drawing up'. Nothing new in Western schools. The opportunities to think laterally at a design stage about energy efficiency, accessibility, habitability, and design innovation have all been missed.

Meanwhile, a colour vinyl banner of about three by five metres (possibly 30000T or STG15 worth) has suddenly appeared in the college stairwell, promoting a competition to design a commemorative fountain for Mongolia. The site, judges and prizes are unspecified, but the A2 drawings are due on Monday. There will be a Christmas holiday on Tuesday and the following week for new year.