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|School of Architecture Commencement
Friday, May 9, 2008
Texas Hall
Today, we celebrate your success. We admire your persistence. We mark your time here—and I know that in the classrooms and studios of the Architecture Building, that was quite a lot of time. We also note the progress of our University. It is a dynamic, changing place. It is an institution of rapid ascent and rising acclaim. An institution where innovation is as valued as tradition, where cutting-edge science is as treasured as leading-edge architecture. We are a university that’s proud of our students and our newest alumni, and we hope you are proud of your university, too.
This campus—in the heart of Arlington, Texas, and your home for the last few years—is a relevant part of a larger, evolving world. A world where isolation leads to obsolescence, where barriers don’t make boundaries, where knowledge of character is as important as knowledge of craft. As the generation to which the torch of accountability is passed, this is the world that you will inherit. As architects, it is the world that you will build. Build it with confidence and courage. Be bold, while your mind is young. Be creative, while your ideas are fresh. Be daring, while your voice is still looking for its place. Discipline builds careers; boldness builds legacies. You need both! And don’t be afraid of mistakes. Mistakes build strong character and better judgment. And, as the great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright reminded us, when architects make mistakes they can always advise their clients to plant vines.
There will be days when you need to plant vines, no doubt about it. But there will also be days when you need to plant seeds of creativity and ingenuity, when you will be architects in the grandest of terms: those who boldly create, design, and build a better world.
There was a story in the news just this week about David Rockwell, the famous architect who has designed a number of our nation’s landmarks, including the Kodak Theatre, the Walt Disney Museum, the viewing platform at Ground Zero, and Comerica Park in Detroit—one of my favorite places to watch a baseball game. The story concerned Rockwell’s latest project—which is not a theatre, museum, or ballpark. It’s not a cathedral or a monument. One of the world’s greatest architects is designing a children’s playground. Why? Because David Rockwell is bold. Because he sees too many strip malls and gas stations replacing green space. Because he knows that everyone—even children—needs their own real estate, and that recreation is not just fun, it’s fundamental.
Sometimes bold ideas are simple ones, seen in a new way. Sometimes they fill a void or make a difference where it’s needed most. Sometimes they push the envelope to make the fantastic feasible. Boldness paves the pathway to excellence. That’s why our nation asks its boldest citizens to be its leaders. Not those with the most money, but with the most commitment. Not those with the best intentions, but with the best solutions. With your education and your persistence this is you. In fact, you’re among the best-trained architects anywhere. A month ago, the influential journal Design Intelligence ranked our graduate program in Architecture No. 2 in the Southern United States. That’s a source of both pride and prestige. To be sure, it gives you an advantage in the job market and a responsibility in the community.
Our society needs bright, young leaders who will dream big, think broadly, and act wisely. We need catalysts in our changing world, women and men who understand that bold ideas are needed, and bold actions will make the biggest difference. We need innovators who understand unique opportunities like sustainability and ominous threats like global warming. We need a new kind of professionals who understand that modern technologies and precious resources can enhance one another, not limit each other. We need leaders who can influence the world through critical thinking, through your ability to see and interpret things that others can’t or don’t.
We need bold teachers like Jane Ahrens. Jane is an assistant professor right here at UT Arlington, who is using her education and expertise to make North Texas a better place for all of us. Many of you have taken her course on sustainability. Some of you know that she’s a member of several local and regional green building committees and even trains local contractors in green building practices. When she was 4 years old, she told her grandmother that she wanted to “build buildings.” Today, Professor Ahrens is not only building buildings, she’s at the forefront of sustainability issues in this country. Her ideas about architecture are bold and visionary; or as we say, they’re Maverick. Architects “are responsible for the built environment,” she has said. “But … the Earth provides us the resources we need. If we destroy the latter, we eventually destroy the former.”
We need bold practitioners like Ralph Hawkins, one the North Texas’ most highly regarded architects, and one of our most prominent alumni. Ralph is CEO of HKS Architecture, a world-renowned company whose portfolio includes the new Terminal D at DFW International Airport, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the Dallas Cowboys’ awe-inspiring stadium not far from our campus. Ralph’s designs are visionary. His venues are expressive. His ideas, distinctive. He believes that “buildings should reflect the unique characteristics of both location and the people who use them.” In other words, they should be bold!
Ralph also believes in hiring graduates of UT Arlington’s School of Architecture. We applaud him for that, too.
I want to make this clear: There is a fine line between boldness and recklessness. Be bold with a purpose. Be bold not because it’s different, but because it is necessary. Be bold within the framework of your conscience.
You have unique experiences and unique opportunities. You’ve learned from your classmates and colleagues, just as you’ve learned from your professors and mentors. You’ve grown because of your successes, just as you’ve grown in the face of obstacles—and there’s no doubt that you’ve had both in your years here, and you’ll have both in the years to come. But know this: How you handle situations matters more than the situations themselves. Obstacles often seem insignificant if you approach them boldly.
Today, as always, be proud of what you’ve accomplished here, but be hungry to achieve more. Dream big, think broadly, and act wisely. Be bold. And be a Maverick.
Congratulations, Class of 2008.
