Conflict

One may think that conflict is best avoided, and that peace will always be more beneficial. It is my belief that this is not the case. This does not mean that there should be fights amongst group members, disagreements, threats or anything of the sort. Conflict is defined as “to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash”. The most important part of understanding conflict is acknowledging conflict in its different forms.

None of the above necessarily means violence or even assumes negativity. They simply mean that there are two opposing views. In the context of our collaborative project, opposing views have always been healthy. In our first decision making process as a group, a conflict had already arisen. Were we to choose the difficult, organic-looking Zaha Hadid building? Or were we to choose the much more geometric Harry Seidler building? This may have caused our group problems, but our methods of conflict resolution ensured that we dealt with the situation in the most productive way. One could go so far as to say that the conflict was more beneficial to our group than if we had not discussed this clash at all.

William Ellery Channing said “Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” This is an excellent quote for our group to remember whenever a conflict arises, because it means we do not fear conflict, we welcome it knowing that we will learn and grow from every conflict that arises, provided we deal with it with open minds and a responsible attitude.

Planning

In the words of Winston Churchill, “Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.”

Plans are simply lists of objectives towards fulfillment and completion. Planning. It is the thinking ahead, the anticipation of what’s to come and the willingness to adapt as circumstances change. It is maintaining a plan, ensuring that one stays relatively on course towards completion. It is the organization (and often re-organisation), prioritization and fulfillment of minor tasks culminating in the fulfillment of the endeavour and as such is essential in collaborative or individual pursuits in any line of work.

Planning is quite flexible and ever-changing as it adapts to progress, or lack of progress, towards completion. Good planning is indicative of this fluidity; the progression from one task flows into the next while it is swerves along with the ever changing currents.

Our group developed an overall plan that outlines our goals throughout the semester. Given that the plan defined which tasks each person had to accomplish and by what date, we were all able to gain a full enough understanding to develop our own individual plans to manage our time effectively. As mentioned before plans are adaptable, and whether the adaptation is a result of poor time management or a change in circumstance, a good plan can be revised. This re-iterative process is a key function of a plan, and what sets it apart from a mere direction, and giving it a role more along the lines of a steering wheel.

Good planning reaps rewards, poor planning impends failure. It is very important to plan all along the way during a collaborative project like ours.

Remuneration

Remuneration can come in many shapes and forms. First impressions imply that one is being paid, and in general this is true. In the workplace of an architect for example, any services or goods, be they design drawings, council approvals or mere opinions, there is a dollar amount required to entitle the client to this.

Remuneration comes from the Latin word remunerationem which means “a repaying, recompense” and repayment can often be in the form of funds. “Recompense” leads us on to another form of remuneration, a form of remuneration more applicable to our course, and in the context of design collaboration studio. It is said that one good deed deserves another. It is ironic that as a student, our deed as that we pay the university. The resultant remuneration from the university is that it provides is with a learning environment and an education. As Confucius said, “Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness”.

Most of the time remuneration is earned, often with the performance directly affecting the amount of remuneration. A solid effort from our group in producing a model that is superior to the Falling Water model will be amply remunerated with an HD+, provided those providing the remuneration are happy. A poor effort remunerated with an F. This is not always the case, and the act of remuneration is a common place for conflict to arise, due to differing views in the appropriate amount of remuneration for a given piece of work. Records, in the form of contracts, are a good way of settling the remuneration process well before conflict arises.

In some way or another, all actions we take return some form of remuneration, if not in the form of physical remuneration of money or other tangible rewards, then at the very least in experience and knowledge gained. This is the most significant remuneration of participating in this collaborative project.

Context

When working in a collaborative group it helps to look outside the box, or so to speak. In a project such as ours, one may think that the crux of the task is to build a model that betters the Half-Life 2 Falling Water model. This may indeed be the case, but a thorough understanding of context can really help to achieve this goal.

Context is defined as “the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc”. When applied to our course, context has a few applications that stand out. Firstly there is the context of the brief. We are working in groups of 4 or 5, in a university environment. Having established this, the context is an atmosphere of learning, co-operation and exploration. When approaching the production of the UT3 model, we know this is an educational exercise; one that encourages us to try new things, ask for help, push our boundaries.

The model itself has a context. The physical context, or the site, plays a major role in the perception of the space. It is extremely clear that Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water is heavily reliant on its context to provide the intended feeling of the space. The name itself is a reference to the river and waterfall that runs beneath the dwelling. The experience of the space in Half-Life 2 is heavily impacted by both the visual imagery of the water, as well as the inherent sound of falling water. Rocks, trees and sky really put this building in its place.

Context is nothing with the “particular event, situation, etc” that it surrounds, but this surrounding provides a deeper understanding of anything it touches.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy

A hierarchy can be established in so many different ways, and can take so many different forms. Hierarchy is simply any system of persons or things ranked one above another. An example of this would be the Roman Catholic Church. At the top of this hierarchy is the Pope, and below him the cardinals, then the arch-bishops, bishops and priests. In general hierarchy in this form has a tier system where the highest rung of the ladder is the leader and working down the tiers, there are more and more members, forming a triangular shape.

Government is another example of a solid hierarchy. There is the Prime Minister of Australia, then his cabinet, then his back-benchers. One of the inherent traits of hierarchy is a feeling of authority by being “above” someone else. This authority does not necessarily need to be practiced, sometimes it just needs to be respect but sometimes it does.

As a collaborative group, there can be conflict that arises as a result of differing views or methods. Having a leader can quell such conflict because there is a recognized order that is commonly respected by the group.

Human hierarchy is just one of the applications of hierarchy within our collaborative project. Prioritization goes hand in hand with hierarchy, and within our project one of our first actions was to prioritize tasks. This took on an image of the human hierarchy in that the overall goal was to produce a model together. Sub goals that fell lower in the hierarchy included building the model, fabricating a site, developing textures. Further still were buying necessary programs, keeping process blogs and researching.

Hierarchy has yet another application in our project in that our building, Harry Seidler’s courthouse, has a strong dependence on hierarchy which we need to convey in our model. A courthouse implies authority and order, two things which I have alluded to in previously discussing hierarchy.

When looking at the overall nature of this task, hierarchy not presents itself in various forms, it is also established by us as without it, it is much harder to be organized and ordered.

Intent

Intent

It could be assumed that intent is the same as goal, objective or purpose. In some ways it is. Intent outlines what needs to be done. For example, in terms of architecture, design intent is the direction in which an architect will lead a project, like following a brief to satisfy certain needs or specifications.

For our purpose, intent is what we want to achieve not only as an end result in our collaborative project, but also as a process by which we achieve that end product. Each decision is born of a problem, or an issue that needs to be resolved. Each of these decisions requires some form of intent, whether that intention is to resolve a conflict, produce a model or even simply establish a schedule for meeting times.

Intent flows from reason. An objective is merely an objective until one reasons out how to head in the right direction. Of course what one intends can be different to the outcome, thus why intent can be considered to be directional. An intention is influenced by many variables, many of which we consider obstacles when addressing a problem, such as timeframe, skill level, group members and availability of information.

Knowing this, it only takes a bit of further reading to get to the real crux of what intent is. Its etymological roots give a much clearer idea of what intent means. Intent, to intend, intention. These words all derive from the old French word intendre which means “to direct one’s attention” as well as the Latin word intendere which means “turn one’s attention to, strain” or specifically in, “toward” + tendere, “to stretch”. To stretch toward.

Intent now draws its differences from mere goal, objective or purpose. In essence it is the vector form of these words. Intent does not just entail having a goal, it means to stretch out toward achieving a goal. Its driving force is one’s own capabilities and their acknowledgement of the best possible way of achieving something.

Knowledge

Knowledge

It is a well known saying, knowledge is power.

Why is that the case? When one breaks down the benefits of possessing knowledge of whatever kind, it becomes clearer that knowledge gives you a better understanding of situation and response.

Knowledge can be considered the justified form of perception, based on investigation of fact. In simpler terms, knowledge is proven. Whatever knowledge you possess is the result of a combination of learning and experience. Learning is usually the study of what has been previously learnt and published by people before you, and they learnt from the knowledge passed on by people before them. Experience is what you gain from your own practice of utilizing what you have learnt.

Although this vast concept of knowledge seems irrelevant, when put into the context of a collaborative project such as the one we are undertaking, an understanding of knowledge makes it easier to present its importance.

Each of our tasks requires some form of skill to undertake. 3DSMax for example is not a basic program, and has hundreds of tools to understand. Possessing the knowledge, i.e. the “familiarity or conversance” with the program can make the task much easier. Experience in practicing what you have previously learnt in the program helps you understand which tools to use to model different parts of your building. Conversely without prior experience in the program, you will need to learn it to acquire the necessary knowledge to produce the building.

Whatever the program, and whatever the skill level one possesses, knowledge can always be acquired through learning, which is why this project is so effective in passing on knowledge. There are so many programs that are vital to this project, and especially with a new program to learn, it becomes clear that all of us in the group need to learn from our group members, peers and tutors, as well as share our experience with them, so that each of us comes out with more knowledge. Knowledge will give us the power to complete this task, and the relevant knowledge will help us overcome any hurdle in the future as well.