Metaforms

Shawn Benson Interview

A Brief Interview with Shawn Benson: September 2008
Professional lifeguard, surfer, Pastor, and Student, NewSchool of Architecture and Design, San Diego, CA

What is your brief definition of architecture?
The shaping of solid and void to form space in a way that spurs both clearly communicated cerebral and visceral responses in human beings.

What are your feelings towards the current state of architecture?
A bit jaded at a lot of projects driven by bottom line development, yet still intrigued and excited when I see some people designing an enriching, life bettering architecture.

What is something that’s currently being done well?
Many architects are creating contextually sensitive architecture, but it isn’t happening enough in the USA. A lot of design build firms and some bigger names are making a beneficial impact culturally.

What is currently receiving too much attention?
SUSTAINABILITY : To much is caught up in the technology of the solar blanket. Stick solar panels on it they say? Vernacular responses in structures have to first take on good daylighting/ solar gain/ cross ventilation principles. All the free bees that nature gives us in passive systems is often overlooked. Instead, developers have tacked on a motif (tuscan, spanish, ect) to a non site specific response and then throw solar on it to make up for energy costs of heaters and A/C when if designed correctly never would have needed active mechanical systems in the first place.

Too little attention?
The benefits of allowing architects to design. Europe knows.

How else would you change “the industry”?
Somehow teach the populous that social gains morally are more important than greenback gains…

What are your thoughts on theoretical vs. practical studies in arch programs?
I think the two come together when the populous catches up. Most of the time practicality takes a moral precedent while theoretical is at times very experimental.

At Newschool i would say that there is more exploration in practicality than theoretically based process. However, I think a firm grasp in the theoretical history and movement is hands down the most important tool to thought process when approaching design. For example, knowledge of theory and some good metathinking can both quell the desire to be infatuated with “your signature architecture” and to allow for those stuck in practical notions of development to reach out and find loopholes in code and municipalities to create something better for people in reguards to a social economy.

What about the use of form-rendering software being taught in architecture schools?
Great tools, but the manual aspect always forms a deeper thinking mind.

There are programs out there that almost build for you in 3D, however I have only seen it in send home programs for the public. I think that we have to view all these programs as excellent tools, while not allowing them to smother a humans way of processing through a challenging design proposal.

And “classic” technology?
Architecture is by nature multifaceted and manually driven. The classic nature is found in model making and hand rendering and should never exit both the practice and institution of education.

It is being taught early on, and then we are expected to continue our refinement of those skills. Benefits: Excellent tools of process or communication of certain ideas. I think less is being taught in schools, however, our 2 quarters was void of computer assistance except for layaout. NO BIM

What are the names of a few architects/form designers that you admire?
Danile Libeskin, Tado Ando, Peter Eisenman, Peter Zumthor