students in my history/theory classes for many years have heard about the WU-WU as a vertical form of architectural expression (size does matter, y'all!) and no greater example resides in the single columns erected by emperors of rome, among them marcus ulpius nerva traianus (or simply, trajan). in this VERY CLEVER composition created by kayla mcdonough we see trajan bearing his WU-WU much to the delight of the female site seers looking on...
many know that the WU-WU is a riff from my undergraduate senior thesis advisor, david niland, a professor of great delight, who insisted that students would only pass sixth year studio with design schemes containing an appropriately scaled and detailed vertical element...
mr. niland died last week (shortly after i invoked his name in class and explained WU-WU to the next generation of design students). his memorial service was today and this news has caused much flurry of activity across the web as many reflect on the greatness of this terrific teacher. i am particularly struck by the lessons i carry with myself from architecture school that i use everyday, and many of them came from the actions and words of a gifted teacher.
according to jonathan pool, "most teachers teach facts, good teachers teach ideas, great teachers teach how to think." thanks for helping me learn how to think...and for shaping who i am as a teacher, mr. niland!
No comments:
Post a Comment