51 the honour of becoming the first Arab to join the EIGCA educational programme. In architecture as in any other art form, there is both theory and practice. I had understood that during the three years that I spent on site. While I had accumulated a lot of knowledge and ideas during that time – everything was a bit jumbled up. The educational programme allowed me to conceptualise, better understand and reorganise those ideas and put everything in its place in my mind. What aspects of the job can be learned in a classroom, and what needs to be done on site? RJ: Basic construction theory with regards to drainage, irrigation, turf and grading could be learned in a classroom up to a certain point. Anything that required more site-based creative expression or troubleshooting, such as routing, clearing, earthworks, shaping, finishing and grassing, is probably best learned in the field with time and experience. Nothing can replace the wisdom of a mentor. JD: Just about every aspect of designing something for the built environment requires equal parts of classroom training and real-world field experience. Every line we draw or concept we envision impacts things on the ground. Still, if you never get the opportunity to see how it translates to the field, it’s harder to understand the real-world inf luence of the idea. Reversely, suppose you are working exclusively in the field. In that case, it is difficult to have a well-rounded understanding of the contextual inf luence of the idea because you are working in a microcosm at any given time. They call it planning for a reason. Even the ‘field architects’ start with sketching or planning to understand the bigger picture of what they are proposing. There is no substitute for proper technical training, and there is also no substitute for experiencing first-hand how a site receives the design. AM: My personal opinion is that you cannot separate education into classroom and on-site. It is not black and white. Much experience and more profound understanding are lost by reducing it only to either way. A combination of both would be ideal. Educating the history of golf course architecture and its incredible designs and different design strategies is easily taught and discussed in class. Still, site visits to the best golf courses are mandatory (and more fun) to understand and study the ground and how they stand the test of time. The very same goes with construction. Understanding topo maps and what your sketched lines on paper mean for drainage and the response of the ball on-site is essential to draw them in the first place. On a broader scale, teaching the application processes through school projects would be fantastic if escorted with the specific government bodies to understand what they seek in those plans. Working through a whole project is vital for understanding the complexity of our job. TK: I believe the technical side of the job is still probably underappreciated by those outside the industry. As well as mastering the artistic and technical skills of the design itself, a good architect needs to have a broad knowledge base Photo: Keith Rhebb
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