东莞理工学院 建筑工程系 钱志豪 指导老师：蒋坛军

    Qian Zhihao, Architectural Engineering Department, Dongguan University of Technology Instructed by Jiang Tanjun

As a freshman majoring in architecture, I once thought the core of architecture was beauty because it can delight people both inside the structure and out. But when I finished my internship this winter holiday, I changed my opinion.

    One day, I followed an engineer to spot-check the quality of a bungalow, which was in the process of construction. The engineer found a small crack in a pillar. He asked the hardhats to rebuild it based on the rule. But the hardhats ignored the request. The engineer became very angry and strictly scolded them. At last, the hardhats began reworking. The engineer told me that even small flaws must not be ignored or the construction could suffer the butterfly effect, just as an old saying goes: For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the rider was lost; for want of a rider, the message was lost; for want of a message, the battle was lost; for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost; and all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

    During the internship, I also found much waste on the construction site. For example, excessive sand, stones and timbers were simply discarded. Recently, I read a report by Wang Shi, the chairman of Vanke, on reduction of energy and resource consumption that could mitigate the greenhouse effect. I realized that the leftovers we wasted not only increased costs, but also endangered the environment.

    Now, I think the core of architecture is responsibility instead of beauty — the responsibility for both the construction company and the people who will settle in.