Sushant Verma, Co-founder and Design Head at rat[LAB] Studio, told ArchDaily about how computational design is currently being used to push the design industry to a faster pace of adaption of new technologies, which has led to innovations of various scales and types, and how architects and designers need to focus on an in-depth mindset of problem-solving, learning new techniques and methodologies, instead of just focusing on specific technologies.
I truly believe that most of these technologies will become redundant and obsolete in a very short span of time, so by the time we actually learn about any technology or technique, it will become obsolete as well. So there will always be a gap between design and technology, which is what we need to connect and bridge. So how to be future ready? To learn techniques and methodologies, and not just present software or technology that exists today. We have to understand the problems that we are facing today, the ones we have solved in the past and how we have dealt with those problems. Prepare ourselves and become problem solvers and great thinkers. I think that is a skillset we all have to level up.
Sushant is part of the innovators of the industry, several of his projects focus on bridging the gap between design and technology, besides architectural design, he runs rat[LAB] EDUCATION, an organization which looks into spreading the idea of design technology through independently organized workshops and programmes, working with different institutions to upgrade their academic curriculum, so that the young people can get more acquainted to technology, and look it from a proper lens. But even with this as his main focus, he has a very grounded vision on what are the skills that architects should be developing today for the challenges of the future:
I think the problem is, most of us are not even ready for the present, right? Forget about the future. We are still learning from the past, learning from our mistakes, and trying to fix things; what has gone wrong. So you know, being future ready is being one step ahead of time, and I think what is required as a skill set for architects and designers is to have a basic understanding and exposure to the appropriate kind of technologies.
Sushant Verma's vision on the future of architecture, is one of the many perspectives presented and discussed during the Architecture of the Future Conference, held in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 2019.
