Working Days

An Evening with our classmates

While in Tianjin we were fortunate enough to work alongside architecture students from Tianjin University. After the initial confusion of attempting to illustrate the project to all of them at once with a severely hindering language barrier, we began to communicate in small groups. The UNL students were divided into groups of three, and then paired with two to three Tianjin University students. Talking with the students one-on-one, we were surprised at their impressive grasp of the English language.

The views of the Tianjin students greatly affected some of our previous work and served to guide the project in a much more appropriate direction. Some groups were convinced another site visit was imperative in order to identify specific historical structures and culture that may be worth preserving. During the week we were able to meet the students in the evening for several hours each night to present ideas and further develop design strategies. The dynamic perspective that our Tianjin counterparts provided us is invaluable to the success of our projects. Interacting at such a personal level was an enlightening experience, and the bonds of friendship formed won’t be forgotten.