Diving right into an L3 studio was not something a lot of us had anticipated. Doing an L3 studio online? Definitely not. There were so many apprehensions before even starting the semester about how everything would work, but looking back now- 16 full weeks later- I can say that it was filled with an incredible amount of learning- from figuring out how to have complete conversations and discussions by doodling on Miro to coming up with a feasible, thought out housing scheme. 

What I appreciated the most was the way in which the studio pushed me to question many things that we unconsciously imbibe. This was done through thorough readings and discussions on a wide range of subjects- from smaller details to larger questions about the home and housing. What made this exercise even more useful, however, was the fact that it was constantly punctured with 24 hour time problems and other parallel exercises- where it became a challenge to consolidate these theoretical, ‘intellectual’ conversations with the hard reality of housing so many people, its rules and regulations. For me personally, this was the biggest learning. That you can only truly know, by doing. These parallel exercises allowed me to look at examples of housing around us in both a more appreciative and a more critical manner, and it really pushed me to observe the real world around me- in an attempt to connect it back to larger ideas from discussions in the studio.

Another thing which was separate learning in itself was the work of my peers in the studio. With all of us working from our individual homes, I wasn’t really expecting to see much/ discuss much of their work but the way in which we used digital platforms to share and discuss the work as a studio, to look at not what was missing or incorrect but what was well thought out and what had multiple opportunities hidden within itself was something to allow each of us push further into what questions we were trying to explore, and what concerns we were trying to respond to.

There was truly so much joy in learning all kinds of new things this semester- having a screen full of people laugh together from different parts of the country to understanding the home in a different way and expanding my mind.