Author: The Leewardists | ArchDaily

How To Become (or Rather, Look Like) a Famous Architect

The Leewardists — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000

We all know the typical architect’s look: a black turtleneck, slim fit pants, pointed toe boots, and minimalist jewelry pieces. Almost all of us, at one point or another, have tried to imitate the style of our favorite architect. Perhaps it was by sporting a pair of Corbusier and Philip Johnson’s iconic round glasses. Maybe it was through a chic statement haircut, or it could even have been by adopting the unofficial uniform of designers with the all-black outfit. If none of these sound appealing to you, there's no need to worry- there are still plenty of other ways to look like your favorite famous architect.

B.V. Doshi's Ultimate Lesson To Us

The Leewardists — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Pritzker Prize Laureate, Balkrishna Doshi, has imparted many lessons through his poetic architecture. Drawing upon local craft and culture, he has created buildings that focus on community and humanity. Doshi once described design as "nothing but a humble understanding of materials, a natural instinct for solutions, and respect for nature," the philosophy evident in his architecture which combines the natural environment with a focus on the human. Here, The Leewardists illustrates one of his famous quotes and show how B.V. Doshi has inspired generations of students and practitioners in the universal values he displays in his architecture.

Spot the Symptoms of Someone With an Architecture Affliction

The Leewardists — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 08:00:00 +0000

In order for doctors to make a diagnosis, a patient needs to show symptoms. But what if the affliction in question isn’t an illness, but an extraordinary lifestyle? Almost everyone can agree that architecture brings with it a distinct way of living. The grueling hours, sharp design sensibilities and studio experience shape more than what we make – they define who we are as people. Architecture’s quirks and eccentricities become our adopted quirks and eccentricities. When it comes to spotting an architecture student on campus, it’s more than our clothes that give us away. Comic illustrators The Leewardists have drawn up some classic symptoms that serve as dead giveaways – check them out below:

Yoga Poses For Architects

The Leewardists — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Learning to adapt and be flexible; it’s something that comes in handy both in an architecture firm and yoga studio. The everyday motions you go through as an architect can sometimes feel like a strenuous physical routine. Whether it be performing tasks for work or sneaking ways to get some precious shut-eye, architects need to learn how to be nimble to get through the long days and nights (coffee doesn’t hurt either). Take some deep inhalations and exhalations as you check out, in four easy to follow steps, some common positions architects find themselves in.

Life Before and After Architecture

The Leewardists — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 06:00:00 +0000

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. David Bowie was right when he sang it – life’s full of so much uncertainty, variables, and excitement that half the battle is riding the wave and adapting as best as one can. Some adjustments are self-directed and others are forced upon us, but regardless of this, change allows us to reminisce, regret and reflect on what once was.

If the AutoCAD Unexpected Error was "Honest"

The Leewardists — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Modern technology; when it works, it's brilliant. Even the cell phone, primarily a communication device, can now transform our face into a dog or let us throw angry birds at pigs. Computers really do separate us from the animals.

The Confidence Meter of an Architecture Student

The Leewardists — Tue, 30 May 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Confidence. It’s a journey, isn’t it? But when you’re in architecture school that journey turns into a high speed roller coaster, complete with the double loop. And that would make sense, as the sheer amount of knowledge, variety and level of information that gets absorbed at us year by year only increases with each new group entering the mysterious and complex world of “the studio”. As we’ve gone up that long and winding path that is our education, our emotions go through it with us. From sheer bewilderment in first year (WTF is a 2-point perspective???) to the pride when handing in that final dissertation (tears of joy), to the fear of jumping off that deep end after graduation (real world?!), we go through it all.

The Super Powers of an Architect

The Leewardists — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 08:00:00 +0000

“Look up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane?” Nope, just another sketch model flying out of the studio window, armed with powers of frustration and rage of its creator: the architect.

The 10 Types of Architecture Professor Every Student Has Experienced

The Leewardists — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Professors: for many of us, they're the windows through which we first glimpse the huge breadth and depth of the subject of architecture. They're our guides and our mentors--but they're often also strange, unpredictable and infuriating (although there is a silver lining to even the most frustrating of teachers). Of course, every different person brings their own quirks to the job of teaching architecture students, but the likelihood is that you've come across at least one professor that fits each of the following descriptions:

Visiting the Taj Mahal: Regular People vs. Architects

The Leewardists — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 08:00:00 +0000

A degree in architecture teaches you to see the world differently. For confirmation of this fact, look no further than the poor souls who have accompanied an architect on vacation—people who, at some point between being dragged far outside of their destination city to visit some apparently exemplary office buildings, and stopping for hours to photograph structural details, probably started to question their companion's sanity.

10 Types of Architecture Students

The Leewardists — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Architecture students have a lot in common. We share a long-term committed relationship with coffee. We share an instinctive urge to collect random cardboard boxes for model-making. We share a university studio which, over time, becomes our ‘home away from home’. As we get to know our fellow students, however, we learn that the architecture studio hosts a micro-society of ten different, but lovable, characters.

The Watch of An Architect

The Leewardists — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 08:00:00 +0000

The legendary John Lennon once said, “Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.” And had a group of disgruntled, bespectacled, darkly clad architects been present when he spoke these words, their response probably would’ve been: “Time? What time, Johnny boy?” But as a matter of fact, there was no group of architects listening to these wise words, because they were probably furiously puffing on their last cigarette, tearing up another piece of trace, or lying collapsed somewhere.

Architects and Their Facebook Posts

The Leewardists — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 08:00:00 +0000

To most people, Facebook is simple. They use it as a survival tool during never-ending university lectures. They use it to distract themselves during arguments at the family dinner table. They use it to ‘research’ that new person in the office. But when the architect signs in, everything changes. To us, Facebook is an ‘archi-forum’. Every passionate, powerful sketch of ours is uploaded. Every deep, reflective, opinion of ours is posted. Every non-architectural event is advertised with the intensity of an adventure to Narnia. Happily, we know our audience – other architects...

Architecture Students: Then Vs Now

The Leewardists — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 08:00:00 +0000

To be certain, architecture students are required to perform a wide variety of skills to complete a project. But thanks to some guys named Gates and Jobs (among many others), we are now able to execute nearly all of our tasks on one magical machine: the computer. While things like sketching and model making will always be fundamental parts of our profession, the laborious task of hand drafting has already become the "walk to school uphill both ways" of architecture – that is, something most of us are happy to have moved on from.

The Anatomy of an Architect

The Leewardists — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 08:00:00 +0000

This here is an architect. The architect is a strange sort of a creature. Typically nocturnal, it survives purely on an unhealthy work-life imbalance. After years of primary research, our experts have finally succeeded in dissecting The Architect...