So if you are a Facebook friend or follow me on Twitter or
God forbid are real life friends. Or all of the above! You may know that I
recently had an interview for an MA starting in September in Architecture and
Urbanism at
Manchester
and was accepted. This may sound uber boring to most folk but I’m about to
attempt to convince you that it’s NOT!
So firstly, I’m actually looking forward to the prospect of
moving back home. This is good for a few reasons: I don’t have to pay rent, I
don’t have to pay utilities, I don’t have to pay for food, I don’t have to cook
lame excuses for dinner (like Heinz beans, broccoli and mushrooms which I’m
ashamed to say I ate on Friday night. I mean seriously, what a bizarre
combination!?), I don’t have to walk or cycle everywhere because I will have
the Holy Grail of all transportation methods that is my Mothers car. I also get
to live in the lovely countryside again instead of the grotty area of
Cardiff I currently
reside in. I can go for my run and not have to dodge dog shit, be heckled by
kids, wolf whistled, pipped and ogled by random strangers! And I can shop in the
shopping paradise that is
Manchester
whenever I fancy! Of course there are some obvious downsides but I am currently
concentrating on the positives.
Now for the actual important life stuff: My MA. I have been
pondering the idea of doing an MA for about a year now and in Sept I decided
that it was definitely on the cards. Jobs are lucrative, I had a bit of a
falling out with my BA course last year and lets face it; I know very little
about the world outside the education system I have come to know and love. So I
decided to stick with what I know, get myself more in debt (because really now,
what’s another £4000 at this point?) and get a few more fancy letters after my
name for my imaginary business cards.
So what’s it all about? Well Architecture and Urbanism of
course! Since studying Interior design I have found that I actually enjoy
writing about design as much as I like designing. And I also prefer
architecture to interiors, it’s a broader spectrum. My course allows you to be
broad, most of the time, but I want to go even broader. This probably stems
from doing my dissertation. You learn so much shit writing that thing! Things I
had no idea even existed; Urban Taxidermy, Urban Psychology, Linear
Metropolis…(…s’? …ses?) And other geeky stuff like that. Mine is about Zaha
Hadid and perception, and some other boring jargon. That dissertation is the
reason I chose Architecture and Urbanism. Through writing it I actually became
interested in what I was saying and coming up with and it was all really
fascinating. I actually love having all this knowledge in my head and I wander
around sometimes and think ‘Yeh, all this stuff really does make sense when you
apply it to everyday experiences.’ It’s great! I feel all intellectual for
about 10 minutes of my day! So next year I’m going to be learning tons more
about urban spaces and how they function and flow, and all the theory behind
it, and then put it into practice through project work and a thesis.
If you, like me, want to pretend to be knowledgeable and
clever about stuff like this, then I recommend reading Zaha Hadid: Automobility
and Architecture in Anthony Hoete’s Reader on the Aesthetics of Mobility AND
Replicant urbanism: the Architecture of Hadid's Central Building
at BMW, Leipzig by Spencer Douglas in the Journal of Architecture. They
were the only two texts that I actually enjoyed. They are both good reads if
you care at all about anything I just said in the above paragraph. If you don’t
care, then don’t worry, this makes you a normal person.
Also I’m just really excited about doing something new. I
love nothing more than a challenge and this is mine for next year. It’s going to
be a huge leap from what I do at the moment, but I think I’m ready for it. I’m
ready to try something a bit different, broaden my horizons and I guess really
push myself academically. There are only positive things to gain out of this
and I have a really positive outlook on my future at the moment. I get to meet
new people, have new opportunities and gain new experiences. Come September, I
will officially (as long as I don’t fail, drop out or get hit by a bus) be a
student at the Manchester School of Architecture, which, FYI, is jointly run by
Manchester Uni and Man Met. I get to be a member of all three, BOOM!
So that, my friends, is why I am so excited about next year.
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