As well, seeking to reinforce the institution as a place for congregation, working and learning from faculty and peers is of concern. The idea of a studio culture is extremely important when discussing architectural theory and design. This is counter to remote computer-accessed education and an objective will be to shift computer use from centralized labs to the design studios. This will foster the natural learning process and encourage interaction, encounters and debates between students. The idea of the studio-as-a-second-home experience is a special one that will certainly be taking into account.

Having gone through the program myself, and having used the facilities, I am certain that I am in a unparalleled position to propose such a change for the School. The School's philosophy has always been founded on the principle of universitas, a community of scholars devoted to learning and education in the field of architecture. It has never prescribed a single philosophy in its mission to teach design, and I feel this has been beneficial to the school because the various approaches by the different professors allowed students a certain freedom in experimentation and the opportunity to learn about different types of work. However, I feel that some things about the school are increasingly lacking as we enter the new millenium, and this sparked an interest for change.

Following a survey I conducted throughout the school, some issues kept resurfacing: the new wave of computers and how the school has (not) dealt with it, the need to upgrade the studios, workshop and photolab. As well, regarding the curriculum, students felt that there should be more interaction between the different years of study and the different schools, that there should be more two and three-dimension computer courses offered and earlier on in the program, as well as opportunities to get their hands dirty and build more physical models of varying sizes, up to and including full-scale details.

Graduates and other students that have worked in offices claimed to not have had enough of an understanding when it came to construction details and the construction process in general, nor the knowledge of the latest building technologies and materials. There was a lack of savoir-faire in setting up working drawings and in constructing wall sections.The feedback I got was extremely helpful in figuring out what more students wanted out of their educations and it reinforced my own thoughts about the kind of education we should be getting in a school of architecture. All of these thoughts have made me certain that the intervention I am planning to carry out on the school is one that is worthwhile. In choosing to update the facilities and bring the School up to the level it has always been thought to be at, I not only plan to make this addition stand on its own, all the while relating it to its surrounding counterparts, but also to make IT a part of the learning process, a tool for teaching and for learning, and a space that will spawn learning, knowledge, and excitement.