This morning I attended the first lecture by Andreas Hoffer on ‘Architecture, Construction and Settlements’. The unit is taught in English and the tutor told us that he wanted his students to engage in discussion throughout the sessions.
He began talking about the ideas and processes behind the ‘formal and informal markets’; looking at building from the initial idea through to reality and how this ranges around the world. We discussed the fine line between the legal and illegal sides of these forms and discovered how fine this line was. The group seemed to all have a very mature approach to the discussions and Andreas Hoffer had a very successful approach to his teaching; his combination of a good sense of humour and in-depth knowledge of the subject kept us all engaged.
Nearing the end of the session he began to explain that at the Masters level he expected us to bring our own approaches to the set work. He showed us examples of previous student’s work and encouraged us to start thinking about how we prefer to work. He showed us examples of students that presented work in film format, as drawing designs, as well as more traditional essays and courseworks. It seems the freedom given is to encourage his students to work to their abilities, overall it was a great session and I look forward to the next.
Later that evening we went out and a few of the BA2’s joined us. They met our social group and we all enjoyed ourselves drinking and dancing until the early hours of the morning.
