I had one particularly loathesome prof for third year design.  He was one of
those people who can only be described (to borrow a quote from a friend of mine)
as "boogie-hanging gross".  I think he was offended by my failure to accept his
offer of a private "critique" on the sofa he kept for that purpose in his
office, so he refused to have anything to do with me for most of the rest of the
semester.  Finally, a couple of days before the big final design presentation,
he wandered over and began examining my presentation boards, whipped out his
felt pen and started marking them up.  Sensing a confrontation brewing, all the
other students in the lab drifted over to watch the reaming.  So the prof
started lecturing me, telling me that I was entirely too preoccupied with
structure, and that I shouldn't worry about how the building was going to stand
up, but should concentrate only on form and the expression of space.  I looked
him square in the eye and said, "Oh you mean like you did with that church in
Plainview where the roof collapsed" . . .  I wound up taking third year design
again that summer, but the look on his face made it all worthwhile.

One of the professors that I most admired was the one who told me that the only
thing I would learn in 5 years of architecture school that would be of any use
in the real world was how to letter nicely.  He was right. . .

Lisa


>Tell me, you architects out there.... does this happen often enough to be
>regarded as a typical "trial by fire" for all aspiring architects.