What basic qualities and knowledge should an excellent architect possess?

(A) Requirements for the subjective mentality of architects

1 correctly understand the responsibilities of architects

Architecture is not an artist.

Therefore, the primary responsibility of architects is to serve the society with their own expertise and meet the needs of the society, rather than just pursuing the realization of personal values. A painter's works are priced at one million yuan, and he can still enjoy himself even if no one cares. The purpose of architectural design is to build and use, which requires the society to invest a lot of money and manpower and occupy land and environmental resources.

Architects are not theorists.

Architects can understand all kinds of avant-garde architectural design schools and fashionable doctrines and theories, but they can't be the core of their work, and they have to be presented every time. That is the work of architectural theorists, critics, academic researchers and educational researchers. The primary duty of architects is not to talk big, but to achieve it in a down-to-earth manner.

People involved in the football industry can be divided into three categories: one is the player, who is the direct creator of football art; The second kind of people instruct players to create the art of football, such as coaches of different professions; The third kind of people are more concerned about various cultures derived from football, such as a player's transfer fee and who has finished class. They know the family history of A and A registered players like the back of their hands. They are also a part of football culture, but they are by no means the main body of football culture.

Correspondingly, in the construction industry, one kind of people are the architects who design directly. One kind of people are workers engaged in architectural academic research and theoretical education; There is also an architectural critic. Just as a high-level player should go to the court to prove himself instead of talking about football culture all day, architects should solve social and technical problems through actual design, instead of saying that the design is poor, neglecting the right things and not knowing what to do.

Architects are not philosophers.

In fact, a great architectural philosopher like Louis Kahn used his biblical architectural comments to influence and inspire the architects of an era. But this is not the direction of most architects. As a professional architect, Kang is not successful. Most of his life plans were left on paper and he died quietly in the bathroom of Class Three.

Architects belong to a branch of service industry.

Architectural works should ultimately serve the vast number of users in society. A community may be home to thousands of families and tens of thousands of people. A house of more than 100 square meters may be just a passing detail in an architect's complicated daily work, but for many ordinary residents with a monthly salary of less than 1,000 yuan, a house worth several hundred thousand yuan is often the biggest investment in his life and the place where he spends most of his time. Who will be perfunctory when thinking about this?

Any building has investors. A development project, the developer's investment is often millions, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. Entrusted and loyal to people, architects must submit solutions in architectural technology according to the requirements of the design entrustment contract. For a government project, the source of funds and taxpayers' taxes, architects should be responsible to taxpayers. Even for a highly artistic and memorable building, such as an art gallery or a monument, it is a project after all. With investors, architects must meet the requirements of investors while expressing artistry. This reflects the architect's investment in the builder and his respect for the risks he takes.

Architects also have a profound responsibility to the country and society.

On limited land, once a building is built, it usually takes decades or even longer. The work of architects influences and transforms the spatial environment and cultural environment of the city. Every architect wants his work to become a landmark of the city. When many landmark buildings with different characteristics are gathered together, can architects consider architecture from a higher level to avoid the chaos of the city?

Buildings are not castles in the air, but built on land. Architects are not qualified to sacrifice the country's non-renewable land resources and satisfy their own creative desires. The duty of an architect is not only to serve investors, but also to serve the public.

2 Architects' team spirit

In the eyes of westerners, China people are called fragmented, with relatively weak team spirit, and often pay more attention to personal interests. Especially in the construction industry, architects, as "freelancers", have an artistic side in their work, and it is easier to pay attention to personal value and ignore team spirit. In fact, as a production industry, the complex division of labor from design to construction makes strict teamwork necessary.

The common structure of large firms is that they are divided into different design groups, such as commercial, residential, school and office buildings. Due to the different specifications of different building types, the coordination between groups is the guarantee for the smooth completion of large-scale projects. The team is usually led by a senior architect. Designers who blindly pursue individual performance but don't talk about team spirit will have a certain impact on the team's work efficiency and work results.

In addition, the continuous structural adjustment of architectural design industry requires reasonable cooperation among enterprises. At present, most large domestic design enterprises are comprehensive and omnipotent. This makes many enterprises compete unnecessarily on the same platform, which is not conducive to the improvement of professional standards.

National policies also encourage the trend of specialization. At present, the qualification of construction enterprises in China is divided into three sequences: general contracting, professional subcontracting and labor subcontracting. In the latest enterprise qualification, the proportion of enterprises engaged in professional subcontracting is quite large. It is understood that similar policies on design will be introduced soon.

In the world, professional creation has become a common practice. Andrew's company is small. After winning the bid for the National Grand Theatre, we immediately looked for the best professional company to cooperate. The same is true of Beijing Wuhe, focusing on the development of an architectural design, and looking for the most capable companies to cooperate in the fields of structure, water, heating and electricity according to the needs of the project. In order to improve competitiveness, with the specialization of design enterprises, cooperation between companies is an inevitable trend.

3 attitude of continuous learning

Excellent architects are made by the times.

As long as we compare the buildings around us in 1980s, 1990s, and 2 1 century, we can clearly feel the increasing requirements of the times for architectural design. General applied talents, such as bookshelf talents and craftsman talents, have been difficult to adapt to the development of the times; However, intelligent and innovative talents with comprehensive quality and strong ability to receive continuing education are increasingly showing strong vitality in the fierce competition of the times. What architects need to learn mainly includes the following aspects:

Emerging knowledge of engineering technology and materials.

With the development and application of new technologies and materials, from brick-concrete structure and frame structure to steel structure, from stone and wood to steel and glass, the development of building technologies and materials has brought about leap in architectural image again and again. If architects want to innovate, they must master new technologies.

Even in order to build buildings in the most economical and convenient way, continuous learning in technology is essential. At present, there is a big gap in this respect in China's construction industry. In some long-span buildings, the use of steel structure obviously has the advantages of being faster and more economical, but it is sometimes forced to adopt concrete frame structure because of the weak design ability of steel structure.

Learn new design methods.

Frank gehry, a famous American architect, introduced the software for aerospace modeling technology for the first time in the design process of the world-famous deconstructive building-museo guggenheim bilbao, Spain, which made it possible for Guggenheim Art Museum to transform its completely free modeling into construction drawings. Of course, some people think that architects' excessive dependence on computer software will lead to the degradation of creativity, but in many western architectural schools, such as AA school in Britain, which leads the world architectural trend, computer-aided design is indeed listed as one of the important courses. It should be admitted that it is necessary for a new generation of architects to master new design methods. Constantly mastering and applying practical design means requires architects to have the spirit of continuous learning.

The constantly updated market environment.

Architects serve the market, and the market updates faster than knowledge. Not knowing what others are doing and what users are thinking is tantamount to blind people touching the elephant for architectural design.

The market is the best teacher for architects. Effectively absorbing and learning useful market information also requires architects' keen thinking and professional judgment. The old adage "Never too old to learn" is particularly important for architects to maintain a longer professional vitality.

(2) professional skills requirements of architects

1 Judgment ability to make correct decisions and macro-control ability to implement decisions.

The process of architectural design begins with the analysis of problems.

The architectural cultural constraints of the surrounding environment, the needs of users, the market positioning of the project, and the nature and characteristics of the building are all influencing factors that architects must bring into the analysis and judgment system to form the initial design concept. This is a test of the architect's comprehensive analysis and judgment ability.

The gradual implementation of the original idea in the whole design process depends on the architect's macro-control ability. From conception to construction drawing completion, it is necessary to judge, trace and implement many specific problems, transform macro-decision into micro-solution, and avoid the mistake of changing strategy because of tactics.

From 2000-200 1 year, Beijing Wuhe was responsible for the planning, architecture and landscape design of the "one-room" residential project located in Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone. After receiving the project, the architects of Beijing Wuhe realized that the project positioning is the key to the design, and it is also the core issue throughout the design. So we cooperated with the agent Beijing Golden Net Real Estate Investment Consulting Co., Ltd. and seized two key factors: the location advantage of the project and the sales target.

The "One House" project is located in the Economic and Technological Development Zone. Since the establishment of Yizhuang Development Zone on April 8, 1992, more than 1000 high-tech enterprises have settled here during the period of 1000, including more than 60 famous multinational companies and 40 fortune 500 enterprises, with a total investment of nearly 45,438+05 square kilometers. Great economic strength makes the development zone have a good living environment, forming the location advantage of the "one villa" project.

The location characteristics determine that the sales target of the "one room" project is mainly middle-and high-income young white-collar workers, including migrant workers in the development zone and car owners living in the suburbs, and it belongs to the transitional first residence of successful people. Therefore, the architect chose a dynamic, positive, bright style atmosphere that meets the needs of young people.

Accurate analysis and correct decision make clear the direction for the subsequent design. From the design to the construction drawing, the architect avoided the decoration and did not show luxury. From image to function, the original design idea has been basically realized, and it has become the first of the top ten star buildings in 200 1 Beijing.

2 have enough professional knowledge accumulation.

Accumulation is an indispensable process for architects. Including: the accumulation of architectural technical knowledge, knowledge of building regulations, understanding of domestic and foreign architectural works and long-term practical experience. It is precisely because there is enough time requirement for accumulation that architectural design is inaccurately called "the industry of the elderly". Generally speaking, architects mature after their forties and fifties, and architects under the age of 50 belong to the category of "young architects". The modernist master Corbusier was 63 years old when he designed the most famous Langxiang Church. Architects need to accumulate enough to find a balance between knowledge and creativity.

The realization of accumulation also comes from paying attention to the little things in life. It is said that Mr. Liang Sicheng, the first person in the field of architecture in China, took a tape measure with him when he went to Zhongnanhai for a meeting. When he met a comfortable sofa, he took out a tape measure and measured it. For many architects, it has become a professional habit to pay attention to architectural phenomena and details in life.

3 Grasp the spatial scale of cities and buildings.

Creating a good city and architectural space is always the primary responsibility of architectural design.

Spatial scale is the basic problem of architecture, and it is also a problem that some architects tend to ignore when pursuing architectural concepts. The spatial scale of cities and buildings has a basic law. Only by mastering this law will it not lead to the directional error of architectural creation.

For architects, the ability to grasp the spatial scale of cities and buildings is a relatively advanced professional ability requirement. Architects who don't have this ability may always stay at the creation level of architectural sketches, or leave some large and unreasonable spaces and stupid and scary buildings for the city.

4 Aesthetic accomplishment and modeling ability

"Sturdy, practical and beautiful" is the first criterion put forward by Vitruwe to judge the quality of buildings. Aesthetic accomplishment is a necessary prerequisite for becoming an excellent architect.

People create architecture, and architecture also changes people's lives. The appearance of a building will exert a subtle influence on users' aesthetics and emotions. The beauty of architecture has different forms of expression. The beauty of cultural buildings is gentle, while the beauty of commercial buildings is full of vitality. The aesthetic orientation of architecture represents the characteristics of a city and a country to a certain extent, and it is also an important part of local social humanities.

A designer who lacks aesthetic quality is not so much an architect as an engineer. What is particularly important in aesthetic accomplishment is the ability of macro-modeling. Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower and other famous buildings handed down from generation to generation for a hundred years can be represented by a single line, and their macroscopic modeling is an important reason for shocking the world.

5. Predictability of building components in space and image performance.

People use architectural space, which itself is composed of a series of components with different functions and sizes. Component is the most direct way of communication between buildings and people, which greatly affects people's feeling of space and cognition of buildings.

Whether a building is a free-wheeling sculpture or not, architects must be able to feel the actual effect of a full-scale building through drawings of various proportions, and have a strong foresight on the role of various building components in future space and image performance. It takes a long time to develop this ability.

6. Comprehensive ability to solve building functions

Including the internal functional layout of the building and the site design and streamline organization in the building group. Specifically, there are:

Horizontal and vertical traffic inside the building;

The layout and combination of each use space;

The relationship between buildings and the surrounding environment of urban roads;

Organize underground parking;

Coordination between buildings and so on.

The solution of these functional problems requires not only the professional skills of architects, but also in-depth study and understanding of the operating rules of corresponding buildings. Mastering new technologies and materials provides necessary tools for architects to solve problems, and the most important thing is that architects care about the end users.

7 Pay attention to and understand users

People of different regions, nationalities, industries and ages will have different needs for similar buildings. Architects must pay attention to their differences and put forward targeted design schemes. This requires architects to have rich and accurate life experience, actively think about various social phenomena and be good at communicating with users, which is often more important than the design itself.

The same villa, in the United States, such as Los Angeles, is a place where ordinary people live, with two children, a dog, a house and a car, which is a standard public happy family model; In China, villa is a luxury that only the rich can enjoy, and it is a sign of successful career and becoming a "talent". Therefore, villas in Los Angeles can be simple and warm, while in China, it is necessary to show the noble status of residents, surpass the noble taste of ordinary people, and show them in the most direct way, in a "visible and tangible" way. Some people think that it is kitsch for architects to cater to this kind of psychology and demand, but "architecture" is originally kitsch in real life, and only architects who return to kitsch as soon as possible can "help the world"!

8 Expression and communication skills

Expression and communication, collectively referred to as "communication", is a process of explaining one's intentions, discussing and receiving feedback. Including architecture and ideas. The architect's ability of architectural expression is to reflect his own ideas about space and form into concrete images in the form of diagrams, which is the basic skill of architects.

The first is the ability to draw by hand, which is what we often call "kung fu at hand". Hand-drawing can express the design intention quickly and generally, and can also be used for recording, which is very suitable for face-to-face communication.

Followed by computer drawing. Computer drawing can accurately draw drawings, which is convenient to modify, and can also truly express the architectural image and space atmosphere, which can shorten the distance between drawings and reality and is essential in the communication between professionals and non-professionals.

The exchange of ideas is carried out through language, which is essential in all walks of life. Good communication skills of architects help to understand the needs of owners and provide better services. At the same time, the full expression in the communication process also makes it possible for architects to realize their own ideas.

9 organization and coordination ability

Architectural design is a complicated process of division of labor and cooperation. The design of famous buildings in history usually lasts for decades or even hundreds of years. St Peter's Cathedral in Vatican is a Catholic center, which was built in the 1920s. It used to be a rectangular basilica hall. 1506 demolition, 1626 reconstruction. It lasted 120 years, and passed through 10 architects such as Bramont, Michelangelo, Raphael, and little Sangalo. Even in China, where the construction speed is amazing, the design and construction period of an ordinary public building is about 3 years. In such a long time, on the one hand, architects should be responsible for the design work, on the other hand, they should face many unforeseen contradictions and changes and coordinate and solve them in time.

In the long process from planning and design to construction, acceptance and use, architects contact users, investors and builders externally, coordinate various types of work such as structure, water, heating and electricity internally, and assume the role of core and link. Architects should organize all kinds of people to work together, and at the same time coordinate the inevitable contradictions between them. The contradiction between users' pursuit of high standards and investors' pursuit of low cost, the contradiction between the time required for high-quality design and Party A's request to shorten the design cycle, the contradiction between architectural modeling change and simple and practical structure, etc., make the responsibility of architects far beyond the design itself. No wonder Mr. Liang Sicheng said that the job of an architect is like "dancing with shackles".

2. Basic requirements of society and market for graduates of architecture department

After architecture graduates leave school, a large number of people will choose the professional road and join the ranks of professional architects. Their mentality is varied and their level is uneven, but do they meet the basic requirements of society and market for graduates?

As the first-line architectural design unit in the market and the direct employer of architectural graduates, we believe that graduates must make the following two preparations before entering the professional design team.

(A firm, clear and pragmatic subjective mentality

1 Have a clear orientation for their own development direction.

Whether undergraduate, master or doctoral students. Graduates first need to make a clear positioning according to their own strengths and weaknesses and plan their future development direction.

At present, postgraduate entrance examination has become a common practice among students who have graduated from architecture for 1-2 years. About 80% people want to take the exam, 50% people really review for the postgraduate entrance examination, and finally less than 5% people can get in. Judging from the motivation of postgraduate entrance examination, it is most likely to improve their professional level and find another opportunity to continue their studies; The second is to get a gold-plated degree to increase income; The third reason is that I don't want to go into society, and I don't want to hit a wall in society, but I want to hide in the ivory tower for another few years. There are only a few students who really consider why they take the postgraduate entrance examination.

For those who want to improve their professional level, it can be said that they have made great progress in theoretical literacy after finishing their postdoctoral studies, but their architectural design ability has never been improved in proportion. Compared with other undergraduate graduates in the same period, they lack several years of valuable practical engineering experience, and are actually backward in this respect, but their competitiveness in the architectural design market has declined. In foreign countries, most design companies are unwilling to accept doctors with strong theoretical ability and high salary level, but weak design ability and low output value. Looking at the architectural design masters at home and abroad, few of them graduated with doctor of architecture (most of them were awarded honorary doctor after outstanding achievements), which also shows that the fundamental reason for the success of architectural masters lies in their ability to create excellent architectural design works.

For those who want to get a gold-plated degree to increase their income, there is always the idea that the degree is supreme. This is related to China's traditional educational concept, and it is also a misunderstanding in social consciousness. It is generally believed that education represents the level, and the higher the education, the higher the comprehensive level. The most typical joke is to treat a postdoctoral fellow as a degree. In fact, a person's income is not determined by his educational background, but corresponds to the value of his labor in the social market. The experience gained from practical work will bring architects greater social value and higher income.

For those who are afraid to enter the society and have escape psychology, we should face up to their timidity, make clear their own characteristics and choose the road suitable for their development. Those who can't make up their minds might as well come out and have a try. Only by having the courage to try can we gain a more comprehensive understanding in practice and plan the future better.

Therefore, graduates should first understand that different social divisions give architects and scholars different responsibilities. Scholars and teachers are also the needs of society. Good scholars who do scientific research and teaching seriously can teach 10 thousand good architects. Designers are the demand of society, directly serving the forefront of society, and are also the main force in the construction industry. An architect's degree or profound theory can't prove anything, but its value lies in the real design ability.

In foreign countries, there are obvious differences between the two: people who study for a master's degree or a doctor's degree may not return to actual production if they take the academic road. Most people in China go abroad to get scholarships and go abroad. After studying abroad for several years, I gradually understood this truth. The higher the educational background, the harder it is to find a job, whether as a professor or doing research in a university, which is bound to be a very narrow road in the academic field. Many masters and doctors go to design companies to find jobs. They dare not say that they are doctors, or even masters, and only take undergraduate diplomas to find jobs. This is also a waste of time and resources for individuals.

In short, graduates who have a clear orientation of their own development direction can try to avoid blindness and take fewer detours; In society, it can save unnecessary investment in education and improve the efficiency of talent training.

2 Correct understanding of their own abilities

Architecture graduates who have just left school are generally too confident in their creative design ability, ignore or despise the actual needs of society for architectural design and refuse to start from scratch. Especially the graduates who have finished their graduate studies are accustomed to the lazy graduate life and can't adapt to the strict schedule and working style of the design industry. When they apply for a job, their salary is several times that of others. They think that people with high academic qualifications are better than others, but the actual situation may be just the opposite.

Studying for a degree does not mean the improvement of design ability, nor does it mean that wages will rise. The degree mainly represents the theoretical level and has no essential relationship with the actual production capacity. Even some design units have misunderstandings on this point, thinking that students are creative and pushing the scheme to fresh graduates and even internship students. So that students also know themselves from this angle, and finally mistake others for themselves.

Have a long-term vision and avoid impetuous mentality.

Graduates should have a long-term vision and a down-to-earth attitude on the basis of clearly planning the future and correctly understanding their own abilities. The impetuousness of the whole society makes most young people reluctant to start from an early age. Often one mountain looks at another, constantly jumping ship, always thinking that they have not found a suitable development space. As everyone knows, it is not necessarily the enterprise that restricts its development, but often its own impetuous mentality.

Many students worship or admire experimental architecture, are keen on avant-garde, alternative and more expressive architectural language, and pursue self-expression. This is also the performance of graduates' unrealistic impetuous mentality. An architect can claim to be or be called a master architect. Architecture is often called art, and it has artistic elements, which is a discipline spanning engineering technology and plastic arts, and also includes many factors such as urban environment, social culture and so on. The experimental building that only pursues creativity has its positive significance, but it can't become the mainstream in society.

The employment rate of graduates reached 70%. It is foreseeable in the future that the employment pressure of graduates will become greater and greater. It can be said that it is a common problem that graduates from all walks of life cannot quickly integrate into the industry and society because they do not have a good mentality. The graduates of architecture department have delayed the opportunity of self-development because of their mentality.

(two) to meet the basic requirements of professional skills

For graduates, it is required to have all kinds of skills of mature architects, but also to meet some basic requirements, mainly including four aspects.

1 Aesthetic accomplishment and basic architectural feeling

The current situation is that graduates' knowledge of creativity and spatial change is often unrealistic, and they also lack the ability to appreciate high-grade architectural works. Moreover, due to the relatively weak training in urban planning and urban design, graduates often lack the basic feelings and abilities of urban spatial scale and building group space shaping.

Have a preliminary understanding of the systems and procedures involved in the building.

This requirement includes the basic understanding of structure, water, heating, electricity and building coordination, as well as the basic knowledge of structure, mainly the knowledge of external wall structure. Because of the lack of perceptual knowledge in the structure, and even the outdated knowledge, the designed scheme can not be implemented without reality, or it does not know how to create new means of expression and formal language by using new material technology.

3 painting skills

Mainly computer graphics, most of the graduates can meet the requirements. In terms of hand painting, there are obvious shortcomings. In fact, the widespread use of computers can't replace hand-drawn work after all.

4 Expression and communication skills

This is an essential ability for practicing architects, and it is also lacking by most graduates, and needs to be continuously improved in their work.