I’m at the Memorial University upon invite from Kshama Roy, PhD, PEngat the School of Civil Engineering and Applied Sciences – a bright, humble and humorous man.
There are 16 bright and young students very excited to learn.
I’m equally and even more interested to explore how these young minds think of civil engineering, and so we engage in a mapping exercise to test the limits of their imagination. I ask them how they think about civil engineering in words, and they say – problem solving, safety, design, innovation, sustainability, soil, structure, load, construction, process, optimisation, adaptation, perseverance, and challenges.
I invite them to look at their language on the blackboard.
‘Where is imagination in your language?’, I ask.
‘There is innovation there’, I get a push back.
And creativity?
Silence …
… and ethics, morals, politics, critical thinking, belief, values, and inspiration? Why are those words missing?
Why do we need those words? I am questioned.
How do you design anything without passion, imagination, and critical thinking?
We don’t need any of that. We are given certain parameters, and we work according to that.
How could anyone give up before even starting their careers, I thought to myself. But they are right. It’s not them. They have been primed into a certain way of thinking and living
But I don’t want to ‘lecture’ them.
Instead, we decide to go on a walk to the next building – ‘the School of General Sciences’.
As we transition from the School of Civil Engineering, it’s not just a different world. It’s an entirely different worldview
Open windows, glowing natural lighting designed to fill in empty spaces, tall beautiful ceilings and carefully chosen colours on the walls at each level. From green at the bottom floor up to yellow, orange, red and finally blue at the top floor representing the earth, the sky and everything in between.
And the tip of the iceberg. One of the few blue whales (named ALTUM meaning ‘deep’) that was washed ashore some years ago is put together and hung high up on the ceiling. Altum is just like watching the symbol of Christ on the altar. Its death reminds us of the vulnerability of the world’s most gigantic species all due to human actions. And just like Christ on the wall, Altum is oriented in an East / West direction.
How does it feel standing under ALTUM? I asked.
Speechless. Breathless. Calm.
That is an awe-inspiring design, isn’t it?
We stay there in silence for a few minutes. It was an attempt to help them reflect on their missing words without saying much.
As we walk back to the school of engineering, lights get dimmer, space starts to shrink and instead of an awe-inspiring whale, we see clocks staring at us and reminding us to be more efficient.
We have a little giggle.
Nearly a week has passed by, and I am thinking what a waste of time it would have been to sit in the lecture room and talk about the theory of design. If you want to make people think, never argue. Instead tell them a good story or take them on a semiotic walk.
Thank you Kshama. Wonderful meeting you and your bright students. It was a memorable afternoon at the Memorial University, St. John’s, Canada.
