MR. LEE DIV. 5

Bjarke Ingels is the founder of BIG, an architectural firm based originally out of Denmark. Bjarke has interesting philosophies and ideas that could relate to education, as well. 

Pragmatic Utopia--it's really the best of both worlds; instead of choosing between a parking lot and an apartment, both can co-exist and thrive, with a kind of symbiotic relationship. It's not an either-or choice; rather an hybrid, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. "The Mountain" has both a garden and a penthouse view for all, and it sits on a cave of parking. And it's built on on block at a time. What do I find amazing? is important for the designer. 

Yes is More--the basic philosophy that greater things can be done if "yes" is the answer. How can we get to "yes," as opposed to "no" or worse, "impossible." 

Hedonistic Sustainability--linked with the environmental movement; what if sustainability could actually increase your quality of life? Maritime Youth House--it solved a lot of problems in unproblematic ways. What could have been a simple basic structure, it became completely different, with creativity and design. 

In architecture, people say it's bad when it doesn't fit in. Yet, he gives the example of the spires in Copenhagen--the differences from the norm--that actually give the city the reputation it has. 

Inclusive input becomes the driving force, making everyone happy, has to perform in so many different ways. If you're not realizing a dream, then 7 years is a really long time. 

His whole philosophy is barriers exist but they in many ways, the barriers become opportunities to create even more that could have been expected. He's also fascinated in doing things never before conceived and then making it a concrete reality. It's individuality yet blended and encased in an overarching structure and theme that gives it a unity as well. It's dreams becoming a reality in the real world. Humans have the power to impact the world in positive ways. 


Source: Netflix; Abstract: The Art of Design

Scott Gilmore wrote an interesting article on manufacturing. The good news is manufacturing jobs are returning to North America. The bad news is that the work is being done by robots.

As we continue to make machines smarter with machine learning and artificial intelligence, they're able to do the jobs that at one point we thought could not be doable. But then again, we live the era of computers that have beaten the world chess champion, Jeopardy champion, and the Go champion. 

Autonomous transport trucks are hitting the highways shortly, which could replace over a quarter of a million drivers in Canada (the 2nd most common job for men) and about 9 million jobs in the US. 

Henry Siu, professor at UBC specializing in automation has an interesting solution to these future losses, which I found fascinating as a teacher. He suggested avoiding STEM-related disciplines. In other words, these graduates are only contributing and speeding up the process of their own future demise. Instead, a more open-ended arts degree might be the way to go. Students need to be able to think laterally, creatively, and outside the box. That is the kind of thinking that computers will not be able to do for quite some time. 

Source: Macleans, February 2017

The learning method based on questions is inquiry-based learning, and the method that uses problems and solutions is called design-based learning.