The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

THE INNER STUDIO
design sensibilities. With experience, we can stay in the middle of
greater and greater turmoil rather then trying so hard to eliminate
it. It can be helpful to imagine what you think your favorite
designer or a respected elder would do when faced with your difficulty.
What advice have they for you? Let them bring you back to
your center.
There is another benefit in this often difficult and perplexing
situation: your project acquires its genuine and authentic character
from surviving these journeys. No abstraction or intellectualization
obscures the true nature of the project. Your sorrow or your excitement,
if you can stay connected to them, will ultimately enrich
your project. Through this process, what you design–and who you
are–will be strengthened. This experience brings an element of
earthbound inspiration to your work.
Sometimes it can useful to just play. What brought you joy
when you were younger, before you thought of becoming a
designer? What ignited your enthusiasm? Whatever that activity
was, try returning to it and just play. If you like to dance, play
soccer, or play a musical instrument, bring this into your daily
routine.
10. “I can’t let go of an idea–but it’s not working”
Frank was designing a university building for a small town, and
from the very first sketches had insisted on there being a large
tower rising out of the center of the building. Repeated reviews and
critiques from teachers had questioned his strategy and finally
dismissed the tower as a “bad idea.” What was interesting was that
Frank would not or could not let go. After six weeks of intense and
heated debate, his tower had grown slightly smaller, but its appeal
was a mystery to everyone. Frank was really stuck and increasingly
worried. He could not go forward or backward. What helped him
was a simple question, repeated several times, that he was asked to
carefully reflect on: “Frank, ask yourself–why is this tower so
important to you?” He needed to enter into an active imagination
exercise with the tower. When I teach, my position is always to see
where the design will go. How will the project unfold and evolve
and how will the designer go through this process? Frank was
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