WORK FROM HOME

For me, the transition to work from home was fairly straightforward and easy.  As it became clear that we would be disrupted in the classroom this semester, I began backing up all of my digital files and gathering essential supplies in a box to take home. 

Working from home has also been fairly easy.  I set up a card table in a room that we already use as an office, and simply plugged in my laptop.

Co-Working from the home office!

We have reliable wifi in the house.  I have multiple devices that I can use to teach, and sketch, and give feedback to my students.  Coffee is made most afternoons.  

Afternoon Coffee is an added bonus to WFH

My children also have multiple devices, and are old enough to be mostly self sufficient in their e-learning.  Aside from the newness of being home all the time – my job continues without major disruptions.

Studio desk critiques from the home office

The same cannot be said for my students.

If there is one aspect of this that I severely underestimated in advance, it was how difficult this would be for some of our students.

I think it has been a much more difficult transition for our students.

Their lives, and social (educational) support systems have been entirely disrupted.

Some students are struggling to work from home.  They might lack motivation.  They are lonely, and miss their classmates. They might have no space to work at home.  Maybe they suddenly have family demands or dynamics that have changed, interrupting their ability to work

Their wifi is spotty.  Their laptop is too old to download the required software.

They miss the architectural design studio, which was their creative space filled with like-minded peers. 

Maybe the students who hung out in studio all of the time did so because they didn’t want to be at home?

Some students are scared.  Scared of becoming sick.

Some students have relatives who have become sick.

One of my students works in a nursing care facility, where patients have died of COVID.  He is required to live there full time to limit the traffic in and out of the facility.

Many students have had their work schedules entirely disrupted.  Some are essential employees, and now are being scheduled for 10 hour shifts, or new shifts, or weird times. 

Some students have lost their jobs.

The stories my students tell are many, and varied.

This has been a major disruption for many of them.

For me, less so.  I need to remember that.

In spite of all of this, my second year design studio continues on.  I have actually been really impressed with the student’s persistence and determination to keep their education moving forward. 

They still find moments of levity, however, in spite of everything.

Arch 2202 student presenting a precedent study.....

This Architectural Record article addresses many of these same issues and discusses how this might impact the future of architectural education moving forward.