Katharine: Still going back to the system of working in offices and the classic path that you first have to work for a pittance to gain experience, and then it's best to set up your own office. It seems that the architectural profession is very individualized, and office work divides rather than unites.
Magdalena: This is a very interesting thread, which shows how the profession of architecture as it stands today does not fit the challenges of the modern world. In the UN, the European Commission or associations in general - everywhere they talk about interaction. In contemporary models of urban management (e.g., Triple-, Quartal- or Penta-Helix Management), activities based on various public-private partnerships are most important. NGOs are involved in management. The idea of Smart City, for example, includes open data and organizes hackathons where students can work out solutions for the city. In architectural studios, on the other hand, we still have a unitary rather than a team approach. This is despite the fact that many trades, many people are involved in the process, and an important role of the architect is to coordinate everyone who contributes to the project.
In designing more responsibly to the public, we will tend to lean toward tactical urbanism, which is a set of ad hoc activities that test different solutions. We temporarily test the effectiveness of the changes made, and if they are OK, we make them permanent. And the role of designers is to assist the community in forming a vision of what it needs and wants. This way of working is quite different from a traditional design studio.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an action plan developed by the United Nations that indicates how to meet the current needs of societies, keeping in mind the needs of future generations and caring for the environment
© UN Information Center in Warsaw
Catherine: At the recent International Architecture Biennale, there was a slogan saying that an urban planner's best friend is paint. With it you can quickly test specific solutions in urban space. Is this approach in architecture or urban planning - that spaces should not only look, but also proposed solutions should be tested on the fly - present on a large scale?
Magdalena: I think the maladjustment of architecture to the challenges of the modern world is huge. There is still a perception that big glass buildings are great. I recently read an audit of one of the skyscrapers in Warsaw. It got awards, met all the necessary requirements. But what of the fact that the building has water recovery, recuperation, if it's still a big glass skyscraper, in which, according to studies, many socially sensitive groups feel very bad, and birds hitting the facades die every day! Another issue is the glazed first floor with huge doors that have no relievers. If one has less strength, carrying groceries or when there is a strong wind, it is quite a challenge to open the door leaf. There are plenty of bad schemes that are still being duplicated. For example, the staircase, which shows the monumentality of the building, but in practice is exclusionary. We continue to design in a schematic way that does not correspond to what we already know about the future: that it will be warmer and that society will age. I can't imagine myself as a senior citizen walking through the streets among glass buildings whose doors I can't even open. And buildings are not designed for a year, but for decades.
The quality of life is affected not only by the quality of the interior in which we live, but also by the neighborhood - the availability of services or the aesthetics of the surroundings
© pieing.cafe
Catherine: You conduct workshops, such as OSSA. You have also been active in Smart City.
Magdalena: Smart City is a design trend involving the implementation of technology in the city. I worked in a startup that dealt with data. We were developing activities to study, among other things, how space management is changing. These were solutions aimed at local government officials. It was a fairly short adventure. Nowadays, these activities are done top-down - it's mainly about digitizing various elements, such as the MPZP, which in many places is still a scanned map, so if we want to design something or study the absorptive capacity of a plot, after zooming in on a map downloaded from the BIP, the applicable building line can be 2, 3 or even 4 meters wide. There are a lot of solutions within the Smart City, there are hackathons organized, there are applications, for example "jakdojade" or "upkeep" (which allows reporting offenses such as incorrectly parked vehicles).
Katarzyna: What do the trainings you conduct consist of?
Magdalena: During workshops with students or during training (developers, local government officials), I try to teach design skills through Design Thinking processes. I'm committed to incorporating critical thinking, rather than developing a single solution. Both architectural design and Smart City projects are treated as processes of continuous change. Of course, there are stages that are closed, but then there is always a process of adaptation. Such an example is the now quite common thermal modernization of older buildings. The facilities we are designing now will also have some kind of adaptation process in the future. I aim for participants to have a well-documented design and decision-making process, rather than one great solution that impressed everyone. On the other hand, in workshops with local government officials, I try to make sure that we pick out the most important elements that are challenges and work out a way to implement them.
Catherine: Do workshop participants come back to you after some time with information about a change in thinking or a different perspective on design problems?
Magdalena: Yes. Of course, not after every workshop, but the positive feedback is very high. Such information comes through during the thank-you notes, between the lines, in emails, private messages. Participants admit that they are beginning to see aspects they didn't see before, or that the center of project focus has shifted. Indeed, the mental approach to the subject is changing.
Catherine: In pieing.cafe, you metaphorically throw a pie as a gesture of outrage. What aspects of the architectural profession would you like to throw at?
Magdalena: Mostly at the individualized, unitary approach involving the success of one person. The second issue is the lack of work-life balance. And the third is the lack of basing design decisions on research, which is usually due to lack of time for good research. Many award-winning projects are implemented in isolation from reality. I think it's a big problem that we award projects that have a nice facade or look good in photos. However, when you think about how the building is to be reached by the example of Mrs. Helena, who will come by public transportation, it turns out that it is not well thought out. This issue goes back to the mentioned individualism - often architects think of the project only within the plot, and not as a building in a specific environment. An environment that influences it and that the newly created building changes. Sometimes in offers for sale of apartments there is information that from the building to the bus stop is 5 minutes, but no one will write that through an underpass with stairs, without an elevator, so the road will be inaccessible for some.
Catherine: You are involved in promoting how to create a good city. So - how to create them?
Magdalena: To listen to the needs. Because a good city is designed on the basis of needs. The needs of everyone, not those who shout the loudest or have the most resources.
Catherine: Thank you for the interview.
interviewed: Katarzyna Mikulska
Magdalena Milert - a graduate of the Silesian University of Technology, architect, urban planner. In her social media as @pieing she talks about spatial management, architecture, urban planning and the psychology of space. Sounds boring? Wrong. Substantive knowledge interspersed with memes can be quite enjoyable! It promotes good urban UX. Stresses that the city is to be done decently and accessible to all, as well as adapted to climate change. Vice President of the Community Embassy, Member of the Jagiellonian Club, Co-founder of Archipogotow - a place for free architectural advice for residents of Poznan, workshop tutor and mentor, honored on the list of "Forbes Women 2021".
