"to create this world for ourselves".

last week, i drafted some email seeking advice from various senior figures i look up to. in them, i elaborated on my downtime and sudden dissatisfaction with architecture. without prior permission though, i'm reproducing their replies as i hope they'd help anyone else in my predicament grapple with similar issues, and maybe lend some insight for other people.

the first email published below i found particularly inspiring.

names changed to protect the innocent.

To: mark between thoughts
Subject: RE: seeking advice.
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 09:13:42 +0800

Hi D,

Of course I remember you!

Are you in Singapore at the moment or back in Melbourne? You've mentioned a lot in your email and it's tough for me to address in its entirety but here goes anyway...

IS your depression due to the circumstances or are you ill?

I think that studying Architecture in this day and age is quite tough. If you're an "artist", then at least you're always fighting for your own cause and interests wherever you go, live through pain, suffering, whatever necessary to achieve your goals and you'll have to be "happy" doing that.

I haven't been quite in touch with too many architecture schools around the world but it does seem to me that today, we're confronted with an intense contradictory position of being ourselves and having to conform to our societal standards (the triumph of the middle class globally). I myself find it very disheartening and disillusioned to practise in Singapore on the "middle scale" of clients. The respect for professionals' time and expertise by the general public has dwindled and everyone wants to design their own project. Many architects become mere facilitators to clients' desires.

This does not have to be of course and we have to put ourselves in a position to dictate things more while giving our clients what they want and need. This is a big learning process not taught in school.

But.....back to you.

What are your plans you think. Would you like to continue school somewhere? Ironically, NUS may be quite a good place to be if you want to finish and get a degree before moving on with your life and other interests even. You're home, and your life has more diversity than being driven primarily by schooling.

I have a friend who went away the same time as I did and suffered a similar predicament as you. However, her condition was also medical and she didn't have the emotional support while away. Finally, she came home, quit architecture and started doing different things including social work. However she also lost interest in Architecture although I always thought she was quite talented.

If you're really interested in learning architecture outside of its nominal mode, you really might want to go to an art school. However I do think that you've gone quite far already towards your first degree and if you can somehow define your work in school to both explore what you're interested in without appearing to rebel outside of understandable/acceptable notions of architecture in your school, then I really think you're on to something.

Creativity, I do believe, arises not out of a vacuum but through some sort of process of problem solving, adversity, conflict, need. However, it takes the very best of us to have the desire, ambition and discipline to resolve these things to create this world for ourselves and it's a lifelong process. But I think it's important to try.

If you've missed too much of school already, is it an option to skip this semester and start again next semester? Are you even thinking of leaving Melbourne at all? How far can you go? :)

You mentioned needlework.??! Hey, are you serious?

Best,
x