Master in Design Studies (MDesS)
Alex Hirsig - Concentration in Technology
Merging into the professional architectural arena after my undergraduate degree, I progressed through the seemingly unavoidable trials of discovering the protocols and opportunities for creating architecture. With time I began to recognize their malleability; as the acts of practice gradually shifted, so seemed how and (sometimes inadvertently) what we design. Through a tangential experience teaching traditional wooden boat construction I began to admire a companion to this evolution, noticing how the tools and materials for construction reciprocated progress with the means and methods for achieving designs. I became intrigued with these patterns in design, and returning to architecture I began to appreciate also its leaps in the application of technology, and to question its defiance of others.
I found my attention repeatedly focusing on this relationship, and the question of how to devote more of my professional time toward it. For certain, I needed to continue building my knowledgebase and refined rhetoric for what I deemed a worthwhile investment for the profession. A quick scan of the course list headings and one realizes immediately that the Harvard GSD is an institution with unique interests. Looking deeper into the faculty, student resources, and breadth of student interests left little question this is where I wanted to be and I entered the MDesS Design and Technology program with simple curiosity and eagerness. I found the program particularly apt to individual exploration, allowing me the freedom to follow lines of interest that flared in classes and tighten or broaden the reign on them as the first year proceeded.
With the responsibility to sculpt my own area of thesis research in the final semester(s) I was able to aggregate those interests with past experiences into how I wanted to present myself beyond school. My thesis studies in the emergent role of computer simulation in conceptual design prepared me with background necessary to be near the practical forefront of its implementation in practice. I have continued on to work with Behnisch Architekten with the opportunities and practical knowledge to experiment with these potential synergies in technology and design.