Architecture and Travelling
Sightseeing at architectural monuments, even for those without an architectural
background, is very common. Every man-made space we visit, including cities, parks, and palaces, is an architectural creation. Even an average person enjoys and learns a great deal from visiting these places, imagine what an architect could gain from traveling!
Architects are trained to be attentive and observant of their environment and the spaces around them. Explore the life story of a famous architect, and you’ll discover that almost all of them traveled to different corners of the world during or after their formal education, and most of them evolved as powerful thinkers during this period. So, what changes while traveling? What can an architect learn from it?
Inspiration
This is obvious, right? The more you see, the more you learn, and the more inspiration you gather. Architects visit various types of buildings and get inspired to create great architecture. Seeing numerous architectures, big and small, helps them develop a vast design vocabulary in their minds that could later be used for their projects. Many architects find their style while traveling.
Collecting Solutions
A design problem can be solved in various ways. Every nation has its way of solving problems based on local materials and knowledge. While traveling, architects learn about these solutions from around the world that they might not have known about from their region. This way, they can have multiple solutions for a problem.
Learning by Experiencing
Architecture is best learned through experiencing real spaces. When architects
experience real-life structures, they can understand how the design would evolve with the decisions they make in the initial stages.
Learning from Natives
As observers, we can only understand what we see. However, people living in certain areas experience their local problems. While traveling, an architect can gather local perspectives on the facilities needed, the quality of life in the built environment, what could be improved, and what works for them. This is an effective way to quickly collect data about a place and its architecture.
Analyzing Contextual Data
You can gather as much data as you want from the internet, but being in a place,
experiencing the society and culture, and living that life gives a clear idea about the place. Feeling the history of a place and being a part of it cannot be experienced otherwise. Only traveling can offer this opportunity.
Networking Opportunities
There are never enough connections for an architect. The more you make, the better. Traveling helps to create fresh and new connections from different places around the world. Visit a Brazilian architecture school from China, and they will want to know about you and your architecture as well. Traveling helps build global-standard communication skills.
Traveling is both fun and essential to being a great architect. It helps architects achieve an international perspective, provides them with many useful tools for designing, and opens up their minds to countless possibilities.