Candid

Candid is a pavilion which emerged out of concept and criticism from late nights of architecture school. There are two sides to architecture graduate school. On the one hand it is a great experience where you spend 3 years learning, and exploring. We design the un-buildable, and study the relationship of architecture and society through every possible angle. But on the other hand, architecture school has the capacity to bring you to your breaking point at any time. It often pushes you to places you never thought you would go: the cold-hard floor at 6am, ludicrous breakthroughs, and criticism from intimidatingly qualified minds. Candid is the solution to making the two sides work together. It is a living pavilion, where you can work, sleep, and socialize. The pavilion has three parts, one for each program that inhabits it. The first program is work. You go to architecture school to learn and study. Candid supplies an extra pin-up space where work can be completed and displayed. The cans were unrolled to create flat panels, which created a smooth surface, while the can tops become the structural components of the wall. The second program which Candid fulfills is sleeping. In order to create a bed, the cans were cut in two at different lengths of the can so that various heights could be achieved. The half cans were then arranged in an ergonomic fashion so that sleeping could be as comfortable as possible. From the bed, the cans continue up and switch orientation and grouping until they form a hex-grid. The hex-grid is the base method from which the pavilion gets its form. Growing out from the hex-grids, the cans move out into walls which curve and twist. The wall curvature can change based on the orientation of the can. The walls then fall down and create the seating area, which is where the third program, socialization, occurs. The walls fall and split open over the foundations which form the structural component of the seating area.

Candid is a critique. It is a satire. It is a celebration. It stands tall and bright, and rises out of concept and criticism from late nights of architecture school. If graduate school is for committed minds, it must be said that architecture school is for minds that should be committed. We are in an asylum of innovation and peculiarity -- using the latter to drive the former. It often pushes us to places we never thought we would go: the cold-hard floor at 6am, ludicrous breakthroughs, and criticism from intimidatingly qualified minds. We use every ounce of our energy and sanity to chase ideas that may never be more than pages in a sketchbook or a project in a portfolio. This schooling to which we have committed to, takes every ounce of energy, time, and money from us. Surely architects are human beings, but we are not treated like them, we are not allowed to live like them. This is the sad fact of an architecture student. It is intellectual hazing. We work, we sleep, and we socialize with our classmates. We never have enough time for any of the three. Work is in the studio, sleep is at home and beer with friends is always maybe tomorrow. How can we do them all when there isn’t time to go between? Candid is how. It is a living, performing machine that enables the primary aspects of an architecture student’s life. Tired? Candid has a bed of cans for you to sleep on. Where to pin up your work? Candid has a wall of cans for you to use. Want to catch up with friends? Candid has benches for you to sit on. Candid is a functioning machine designed to demonstrate the nature of an architecture student’s life.

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