âEvery child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.â â Pablo Picasso
âArchitecture in Schoolsâ is a beautiful yearly initiative organised and sponsored by Open City. It consists of a series of design workshops and site visits in partnership with different architectural practices and primary schools in London to inspire the students to become the next generation of architects and urban designers.
I have had the pleasure to participate in the programme in 2021 and now again in 2022 in collaboration with Gordon Primary School in Ilford. This year the theme was âRe-imagining London, 2066â, and our role as mentors was to design the brief and activities for Year 5 students to create their own city, and for them to draw and model their own architecture and landscape projects with our guidance. We focused on the topic of water and climate change and asked them to envision a future London in which our relationship with water will be more sustainable. We brought the awareness of water as an essential element for life, continuously flowing in our cities, in our buildings, and landscapes.
Working with 9-year-olds is so refreshing and inspiring. The âArchitecture in Schoolsâ programme focuses on the idea of sharing our knowledge and experiences as designers so that they to learn what being an architect and shaping the world entails. However, from my experience, I have strongly felt this scheme works both ways and we architects have also taken with us not only a great experience but many fundamental lessons. Thatâs one of the reasons I joined this programme again this year: I learn as much (or more) as I give.
I guess thatâs the beauty of teaching.
These fundamental lessons are not focused on design or technical skills - they speak about attitude and mindset toward creating. Skill is easy to improve, you must practice consistently. But attitude and mindset in the creative process require a different type of effort to master.
These are some of those big lessons these 9-year-olds continue to teach me every year:
Just do it
None of the children hesitated when it came to starting sketching. This was just incredible to notice. They all got on with it (there was a kid who instead of drawing wrote a description of the thing he had to draw. Heâll make a great writer!). They were so, so prolific.
Think about how we tend to approach any creative task as adults. We hesitate. We hold an idea of a perfect outcome in our minds. We take it seriously, instead of as play, which puts pressure on doing a good job. And then we fail to make the first move when the point is to start. Start by doing, thatâs the only way to learn. Thatâs actually the only way to improve any skill. Donât think about the outcome and engage with the process of doing it. Twyla Tharp writes about this in her book âThe Creative Habitâ:
âTo generate ideas, I had to move [sheâs a dancer and choreographer]. Itâs the same if youâre a painter: you canât imagine the work, you can only generate ideas when you put pencil to paper, brush to canvas - when you actually do something physical.â
Show your work!
During the site visit and workshops, the students had to do a set of activities that involved observation and drawing. Some (most) of them came to me âMiss, look!â and showed me what they have drawn with a proud smile on their faces. They were not afraid of making mistakes, and by showing their work (and me being a constructive critic) they learned more because I would offer them encouragement and suggestions: Thatâs lovely! Have you also noticed that? Have you thought about drawing this as well? What do you see in there, can you draw it?
Drop your impostor syndrome paranoia or your fear of failure and share what you create with others. Austin Kleon wrote a whole book (very much recommended) on this point, with the very same title:
âWhen you share your knowledge and your work with others, you receive an education in return.'
Be grateful
At the end of the session, some kids came to us to personally let us know how much fun they had and how they would like to be architects one day in the future. There were even some hugs involved đ.
A big lesson I took from this is to show appreciation and gratefulness to your mentors and peers from whom you learn every day. But not only at work, or for your career purposes - this is actually an attitude to life. Thank the people, friends, and relatives, that have helped you in one way or another and that have shared their love with you along the way. This will encourage them to keep doing it with others. Build bridges. Spread the love.
I find it always fascinating when I see kids drawing: they have an unbounded imagination. There are so many stories illustrated in these drawings, which, interestingly, were drawn in collaboration between 3 students. I believe this expanded even more their individual imagination.
Everything is possible on a piece of paper.
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Happy sketching!
Ana
Do you have experience teaching art or drawing to young students? It would be great to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your thoughts :)