Teddy Cruz speaks at NewSchool

This afternoon's studio was interrupted with a presentation from Teddy Cruz of Estudio Teddy Cruz. Mr. Cruz is a former NewSchool faculty member who did his undergraduate work in Architecture at CalPoly in San Luis Obispo, CA and his Master's in Architecture at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. He is an impassioned speaker with a fascinating ability for complex thinking. His speaking was supplemented with fantastic graphics illustrative of his sophisticated conceptual approach (though somewhat unsophisticated in their graphic style).

I was intrigued by his characterizations of architecture as a manipulation of money and process. He created a dichotomy by describing the difference between those projects with "clever money and stupid process, and those with stupid money and clever process." It is a fascinating spectrum I am sure; particularly when one can evaluate from his perspective on a wide(er) range of projects.

The practice of Estudio Teddy Cruz, as presented, is not so much about Architecture (as I have come to know it- having to do with the creation of buildings, place-making and space-making), but rather a complex dialogue in Urban Planning and Environmental Design that is informed by Architecture, and social and economic studies. His work, as presented, certainly takes one away from the ocular-centric (myopic) approach that is the focus of most of my projects at NewSchool of Architecture & Design (thus far; remembering I am in my first quarter).

My recent experience working for global development concern, Emaar, in the Newport Beach, CA offices, was experience working with the kind of "top-down" development approach that Cruz distrusts. His philosophical approach is more grass-roots oriented; dealing with the density of socio-economic transactions per acre rather than the number of salable housing units per acre.

Curiously, the whole time I was working for Emaar, I was fascinated by the global marketing of the SoCal suburban design approach practiced by Emaar. What has not worked so well here in Southern California (based upon the approaching demise of sustainability of suburbia caused by depletion of essential fossil fuel resources) seems highly desirable in the face of the challenging conditions existing in suburban Cairo. And while it may be that our SoCal suburban dream is more desirable than the existing options in Cairo, one wonders if the projects we were working on at Emaar Design Studio will ever be built as planned; and if the density of units will continue to be one of their defining factors.

What is compelling about this lecture was the depiction of a larger opportunity for design. Not unlike the evolution of a species, the design of the built environment is evolving to survive in conditions which threaten its continuation. Our ever present awareness of the depletion of fossil fuel resources means that structures designed today cannot be built with any expectation of dependence upon fossil fuel. The lifetime of buildings on the drawing boards today will see the depletion of those resources on this planet. So to co-op a phrase from process planning today, we must design with our "best-practices" in mind while at the same time fulfilling the role of the seer; looking into the future in a way we have not dared before.

The feel-good moment in the lecture was realizing that we (as architecture students, prospective architects, environmental designers, etc...) have the opportunity to insert the learnings of our failed policies and practices into the opportunities of developing cultures. Complex thinking indeed.