There Are No Mistakes

As the first class to experience Arch Studio 101 in España, we had no idea what to expect. At the level of every other studio at Cal we had to enter the studio space with a humbled open mind ready to absorb new creative knowledge. The hope is always that the professor and their respective curriculum will challenge each student’s design aesthetic and abilities. I am pleased to report that this trip has become a worth while experience that has affected me academically and will prove useful to me in the professional realm. The relaxed nature of the Spanish lifestyle would seem to be a perk of the program, but in contrast to the tension of Wurster hall, I was actually unaware of how to approach design from a non-obsessively critical perspective. Then Alex presented the first assignment of the semester with the command:

“There are no mistakes, only evidence of process”.

We were drawing directly on one of our only pieces of presentation paper and we were not to erase…EVER. Each assignment was to be drawn directly on top of the other as to show the process of discovery in your final conclusion. This was a scary endeavor for a perfectionist like me, but given that I was in Spain…I was resolved to relax and go with the flow. Up until now Studio and relaxing have been polar opposites. I have always enjoyed design work but accepted that it would never be stress free. This class has changed everything for me. I have fallen in love with not erasing! If there are NO mistakes then I can NEVER be wrong; and if what flows out of my hand is always right what is there to be stressed about!? Our only mistake would be to stop seeking answers to the questions presented by the site for which we were to design. Twenty-five Berkeley scholars were dropped into an off the map town in a foreign country with nothing but a blank studio store front. Our space has now been transformed into a bustling hub of free-flowing thought and spontaneous design. Being forced to break out of our familiar time constrained lives has given life to rich design concepts habitually suppressed under controlled facades of critiqued students. My outlook is forever changed.

- Jenni Tures