0014 Where to Find Inspiration
The Brief
Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemen to the Architecture Student Diaries where it is my mission to help you kill it in Architecture school whilst making you, the best you in the process. You have probably heard of the term ‘writers block’ which is basically when an author overworks their brain, and they cannot think of what to write next or where to go with their work. This can be a difficult situation to be in, particularly for professional writers or academics writing important papers. The problem for us as architects though is that writers block does not only appear within writers; architects and designers can encounter a similar situation that I would call ‘creativity block’. This is when we are trying to start a design or an assignment and we just cannot think of where to start, we have no idea where to take the project and are simply stuck. Never fear though, as there are a loads of terrific places to find inspiration to kick start that creative process and get you on your way to designing something to be proud of. This article is all about finding that inspiration to get you on your way.
Below is a breakdown of what we will discuss in today's lesson:
Books
Online
The Real World
Mobile Applications and Databases
Museums, Galleries and Art Pieces
Material Possessions
Needs and Sustainability
Humans
Architects, Artists and Designers
Now, let’s get into it. Class is now in session.
Books
As the world moves deeper and deeper into widespread technological use, books are becoming a last resort option to use if you were unable to find the answer on the internet; this unnerves me. When I was little, I lived in an era where technology was not really used by children and was not deeply integrated into learning in most instances. Flash forward to 2021 and it is hard to go to a café and not see a toddler on their parents iPhone or to a school and not see a child on an iPad. I am a bit of a tech head and advances in technology excite me, but the over exposure to technology that I see in young children these days really worries me. Books are a learning and information resource that have been around for centuries and are still here for a reason; learning from books works.
There is just something about having a physical book in your hand, whether it be for reading, looking at pictures or looking up statistics; they are also easier and safer on your eyes too. There is a myriad of incredible architecture related books in the world covering every topic that you could want to read or look at and they will be extremely useful during your time in university. Physical books are expensive though and that along with the space that they take up are the two main trade-offs. Yes, you can have a thousand e-books on your iPad that takes up less space that one physical book but coming from someone who has attempted to use e-books in university as opposed to physical books, the on-screen option become annoying, and I always find myself going back to hard copy books.
Secondhand books are the best way to get your hands onto incredible resources without the prohibitive cost. During my first year of university, I found a secondhand book shop that was filled with amazing architectural books, it was going out of business and had large sales on everything in store… I think I bought enough books to fill a library during that sale. The next option for cheaper books is simply to borrow them! University libraries are incredible places with more books than you could even imagine, and the best part is that borrowing them is free to students, but all libraries are terrific resources filled with loads of books to give you inspiration. Libraries are often overlooked in today's world due to technology which I think is quite sad, they are terrific resources and wonderful places to make new friends!
You do not need google do ace your assignment. Let’s do a hypothetical here:
Let’s say that you have an assignment to design a habitat for an endangered bird species where they will be safe and be able to live their lives happily. An example of a structure such as this would be the Snowdown Aviary at the London Zoo, designed by Antoni Armstrong-Jones, Cedric Price and Frank Newby and constructed in 1964. University libraries have made life for students so simple these days that if you go onto the library section of your institutions website typically you can find books and have them put aside for your without looking at a single bookshelf. Typically, the process with this will be as follows:
Search any key words on the university database: for you let’s use ‘endangered birds,’ ‘aviary,’ ‘animal welfare’ and ‘mesh architecture’
Look through the list of books that appear and choose which ones you think will be helpful
Click a tab that will say something like ‘collect in library’
Arrive at the library and pick up your book from the librarian or the dedicated collection shelf
That is how simple it is. It took a few minutes on the website and now you have a collection of books to look through that will no doubt give you some form of inspiration or ideas to start with.
Online
I really don’t need to speak for a long time on using the internet to find inspiration as it is highly likely that you use the internet every day to find answers to life’s questions like “Why aren’t elephants purple and why don’t they fly?” or “Why do I spend so much time looking at TikTok when I should be reading The Architecture Student Diaries?” The internet truly is the fastest and simplest way to find answers, however, the internet can be unreliable as anyone can post. People on the internet are not necessarily trained professionals, therefore you need to be careful with what information you trust and where it comes from. Luckily for you, it is hard to be misled about inspiration as you will most likely just be looking at pictures and be like ‘yes, that gives me an idea’ and go from there, so for inspiration the internet is a pretty safe bet; just be careful if you are trying to find inspiration from written word.
The first thing to do on the internet to find inspiration quickly is a google images search, type in whatever key words are relevant, click search, and you will be presented with an endless string of images to draw inspiration from. Other sources such as blogs, design sites, architecture sites, YouTube videos, online e-books and articles are terrific places to search for inspiration online. Archdaily one of the most well-known online resources for architects with a terrific and expansive collection of work where you will be able to gain much inspiration; if you have not checked this site out before, I highly recommend doing so.
The Real World
The world is filled with millions of things occurring every second that could spark inspiration in your creative brain. Below is a list of several things in the real world that can offer inspiration to you as they have with architects and artists for generations.
Cities:
I cannot think of many localised areas that can create more vastly different opportunities for inspiration than the worlds cities. Regardless of where you are in the world, your closest city will be filled with hundreds, if not thousands of buildings, each with unique qualities to inspire you. Furthermore, cities are the nucleus for human activity where you can observe human movement, interaction, and search for the needs of the many that you may be able to address in your design. If you want to find a place where you can stand in a single spot and be inspired by thousands of things at once, a city is the place to be.
Nature:
The oldest and most utilised inspiration for creative humans has and will always be the natural environment that we live in. As time goes and climates change, the natural environment changes with it and thus you will never be in a place of nature twice and it be exactly the same. You could be in a forest surrounded by trees and a strong breeze comes through, moving the branches and maybe some leaves on the ground and suddenly, your surroundings have changed, even ever so slightly. That breeze may have arranged some leaves to fall in a certain way on a rock that creates an idea of a building form in your mind. Maybe instead, you are at a beach overlooking the ocean as a storm starts and the waves become viscous and sharp; these new wave forms might give you inspiration for a roof or even a naturally flowing floor plan instead.
Nature will never be beaten for its ability to inspire and generate incredible designs, so if you are stuck for inspiration, take a walk, you never know what you will find to inspire you. I once went for a hike where I stumbled upon a rock that over time had protruded through the ground and broke apart. This left its pieces laid out in an interesting pattern, my brain instantly looked at this collection of rock pieces and turned them into a building without me intentionally trying to. If you are studying architecture, your brain is probably capable of this too, use this ability and make something amazing with it.
Houses:
Now this is an easy one to draw inspiration from, it is pretty easy to find a house to look at, you probably live in one yourself after all. Unless you live in a new housing estate filled with cut and paste houses, you will probably be able to walk down your own street and see several completely different design languages that you can find inspiration in. It may simply be a cut out in your next-door Neighbours front door, or an integrated downpipe a few houses away, it could even be your own front façade. Houses are a quick and easy place to look for inspiration.
Animals:
Animals are a good place to start looking if you want inspiration, you can follow their movements, their features, their habitats, and homes. Take a rabbit for example, do you want to create a design that is complex and holds surprises at every turn? Draw inspiration from the complex maze of a rabbit burrow that can change direction and depth at any given moment. Just be careful about how deep and complex you go because you might find yourself in Wonderland…
Movement:
So, this is quite an open one and I guess it can be interpreted in many ways, but today I am focusing on physical movement, for example a human or animal moving, a tree swaying, a rock rolling down a hill or a bike being ridden along a road. You could definitely find inspiration in political movements and the like and that is a terrific area to investigate for inspiration, however, I believe to dissect that, would most likely take an entire class in itself or more.
Movement is something that you will most likely have to dissect in one way or another throughout your degree and is something particularly important as an architect to understand. The goal of an architect is to design a space that is not only beautiful but fits the exact needs and functions of the client, this is where a building designer and an architect differ usually. Architects need to be able to think deeper and analyse the needs of the occupier, for example if you are designing a home for a person who is wheelchair bound, the house needs to be designed with wheelchair circulation and accessibility in mind. It is not enough to simply get the dimensions of a wheelchair and build a house that it will fit in, your job is to analyse what it would be like to be that person and design a home that works with that person’s movements and makes their life better and simpler.
You can find inspiration in that person’s movements to push the boundaries of what a typical floorplan of a house is or find interesting ways to integrate ramps. Use the rotation of the wheel to create curves and lines throughout the house or take inspiration from a moving sea to make the house feel as though you are moving through different levels whilst still remaining on the ground. Movement is interesting because it can be confined like a train on a track or random like an ant searching for food, take these differences and create something out of them.
Bodies of Water:
I have always grown up around water, so it is unsurprising that I often draw inspiration from bodies of water in my designs. Water is something that can be perfectly still or absolutely treacherous depending on the environment or weather patterns it is encountering. Water in a bottle will be completely clear and still at rest, but if you hit the table it is sitting on, ripples appear, the harder you hit the table the bigger the ripples. Water is beautiful and natural and uncontrollable (in uncontrolled circumstances), use this uncertainty, flatness, or sharpness and roll with it.
Mobile Applications and Databases
Take out your phone, unlock it and look at your home screen, I almost guarantee that you will have Instagram or Pinterest, or both loaded somewhere, I do too. Most people have these applications purely for media consumption, maybe you follow a celebrity you have a crush on or a clothes brand that you really like, that is great, but you are not using these types of applications to their full potential. These applications, and many others like them, are databases filled with images and articles to inspire you. Instagram and Pinterest are two of the most powerful tools for near instantaneous inspiration that you can find, it is like google images, but better. If you are an architecture student and you do not have Pinterest, you are missing out, as it truly is life changing for someone who needs ideas. Make sure you do not copy what you see though on any of these applications, that is plagiarism and plagiarism is a no no; taking inspiration is different, it is finding something and using it to create something else that is different from the original. So instead of just using these apps on your phone to waste time, use them to ace your next assignment instead.
Museums and Galleries
These are some of the most inspiring places and things in the world, not only are museums and galleries typically beautiful designed, architectural masterpieces, but they are also filled with pieces that can inspire you. Gain inspiration from the exterior of the buildings, then go inside and be inspired by the interior design, once you have looked at all that the building can offer have a look through at the art pieces inside. These can include anything from whale skeletons to paintings like the Mona Lisa to sculptures that confuse and excite you. You will not be lacking inspiration when you visit these destinations. I always take a pencil and a sketchbook when I go to museums and galleries just in case, I see something I want to sketch, and sometimes you cannot take photos in these places, so it helps.
Material Possessions
In first year, I had an assignment where we had to gain inspiration from a household object and turn it into a bicycle storage facility, I chose a Nintendo Wii console. Material possessions such as household object, clothes, chairs, and iPads are objects that can inspire from shapes and curves, so take a look around your house and see what you can find.
Needs and Sustainability
In Star Trek, Spock once said: ‘the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few’, ironically, I learnt this line from The Big Bang Theory and not from Star Trek, but regardless, the statement is true. I believe that the true calling of an architect is to make the world a better place, we have the ability to change the world and design a better future for coming generations. The earth’s needs, and in extension, those who inhabit its needs are changing along with the climate and therefore we need to begin to think and to design in a way that can adapt for these changes. If you start researching the needs of the earth, the needs of the people and the animals, I am sure you will find something that inspires you and that you realise you care about.
“It may not be our generation's fault that the climate is changing, but it is our problem.”
In extension to this, sustainability has never been more of a crucial element of architecture. It may not be our generation's fault that the climate is changing, but it is our problem. The generations who have caused this issue, are either already gone or will be gone before these changes reach full effect, therefore it is up to us and those that follow us, to find a way to work with this new reality and do all that we can to fix whatever possible. We are lucky as architects that we physically have the ability to design and implement changes to do just this, so if you can find inspiration in sustainability and working to make the world better, use this and do your absolute best. I am with you on this one and I wish you the best in your venture.
Architects, Artists and Designers
To finish off, I thought I would talk about those that came before us. Yes, in the last section I may have alluded to the past generations being responsible for our planet being broken, but that does not mean that there were not people in those generations to aspire to be like and to learn from. There is so much to be gained and inspiration to be drawn from centuries worth of architects, artists and designers who have come before us, right up until those who are currently practicing. Research these people, look at their work, meet current practicing architects and artists and ask them questions about their work; you never know what they might say that inspires you. You also may have just made a contact in your network who you may be able to gain something from in the future…
Final Notes
This was quite an in-depth article and I do applaud you for making it all the way to the end. Creativity block is one of the most frustrating things that an architect and architecture students will encounter through their time, but as I look at it, it is an opportunity to expand your knowledge and learn something new. If you get stuck, take some time to just look through Pinterest, go for a hike in nature or investigate the needs of the many; inspiration can be found all around you, you just need to look for it. Stay tuned on The Architecture Student Diaries socials for updates and to know when my next class drops.
Ladies and Gentlemen, class dismissed.
Iain Colliver, SONA, YBA, GKIHS
