My son has decided to change his major. I won’t go into the gory details, but he’s withdrawn due to medical reasons from his current college and is at home, working full time and working toward various goals.
My son has always been good at translating 2-D images into 3-D…he’s quite talented at origami, and can follow along with the descriptions of magic tricks in books, to the point he put on a magic show as part of a high school talent contest. I always thought he would be good as an architect, and he’s decided to explore this.*
What universities are good? What areas of math should he be concentrating on? Any pitfalls to avoid? What are schools and various employers looking for?
*I have no idea how far he will go with this. Like I said, there are other, more pressing things he needs to work on first. But he asked me to ask ArchiDopers about this, so here I am.
Hi
well I have been a practicing Architect for over 25 years and have known I wanted to be an Arcihtect since I was about 8 years old. Personally I love what I do and really can’t imagine doing anything else for a living. It is such a great field–both creative yet technical. Never a dull moment.
It really depends on what his long term goals are in life. I make decent money, probably more then most Dopers but it has taken me a long time to get here. It was a bit frustrating early on in my career to know that for the same amount of education that those who chose the medical or legal fields were making significantly more then me. Of the complaints I have heard from colleagues that is the biggest. So if he is into making big money, I would suggest another field. Okay now ‘that’ is out of the way
Knowing and understanding 3D is a great skill to have as an Architect. Given the future and BIM (3D computer drafting) it will become even more critical.
"Name’ schools really in my experience have no bearing on your employment. It isn’t like law where going to Harvard makes a difference. I went to a state university and have worked with people who have architectural degrees from Harvard, Yale and Columbia, etc and it isnt’ a big deal. You are hired on your ability and talents–your portfolio. I have never been intimidated by going up against someone from one of the name schools–I always got every job I wanted. I should also mention Architects are not known for being modest–a good ego is critical. During design studios your work will be severly criticized by the professors and invited guests—you need to develop a thick skin and understand the criticism is there for you to learn from. If your son is easily intimidated or is not willing to listen to constructive criticism–this is NOT the profession for him.
If you have good sketching skills and can easily sketch and quickly sketch you can really be successful. But given that there are so many areas within the architectural profession you can be very successful and not really be able to sketch. School will be more difficult though! Many schools these days really emphasize computers (a little too much in my opinion) and thus we have many young architects who can’t draw or sketch if you take their computer away from them. I would avoid that pitfall if I was him. Learn to draw.
Not sure how/what the magic skills will do. I try and not trick my clients by pulling a rabbit out of a hat or anything! Math skills are important to get through school for structure classes and are used in the profession via computer drafting. I do recall that many of my classmates dropped out of school due to the math, but a good working knowledge is all that is needed.
If I recall you are in the Virginia area? The University of Virginia is a very good school if you want a local school. University of Maryland is also has a good architectural school. But again I haven’t found the ‘school’ to be as important as having the talent.
He should be aware that Architecture school requires lots of hours and is not for those who are seeking minimal school time. Go to ANY architecture school at 2 or 3 in the morning and you will find students in the studio, on any campus it is one of the few buildings that are open 24 hours a day. Design and creativity doesn’t always happen between 9 and 5 But he will also form very close ties with his classmates and will learn more from them then the professors.
Feel free to ask me anything here, or via email or instant messages.
good luck to him
First, be aware that the B.Arch. is normally a 5-year degree and it is quite intense compared to other degrees. It might take even longer than 5 years. Some schools are phasing out the bachelor’s degree altogether in favor of a 5+ year masters degree.
In your region, University of Florida and Georgia Tech are the better schools.
Don’t worry too much about math. He’ll have to get through Calculus I, but that should be part of the 5-year program.
Pitfalls? He should enjoy staying up all night working on open-ended problems all the time. There are few right-or-wrong answers; that frustrates some types of people.
Ask the schools what they are looking for. Some of them might want to see examples of creative work. Don’t worry about employers at this point.
The biggest trend in Arch. education right now is that some schools are really emphasizing actual building projects (where students do construction) and others are not. So find out about that & choose what suits his interests.
Which reminds me, some people have the impression that architecture is good for “loner” kids who live inside their head. This used to be true but now is wrong. The good schools are increasingly requiring a lot of teamwork.
On preview: I agree with everything **Hakuna **says, especially the part about taking criticism.
I mentioned the magic tricks because it went along with origami…seeing a 2-D diagram in a book and being able to translate it into 3-D. He’s also intelligent and creative.
Thanks, guys…I will send him the link to this thread. (Hakuna, I’m in Florida, btw, not Virginia) Can you tell me about your best accomplishments? What about your worst failures? How does architecture fit in with the actual construction of the building? Do engineers come to you and say, “Dude, this is quite pretty, but we’ll have to break six laws of physics to build this” or is that part and parcel of being an architect, know what will work and what won’t?
Heh. This brings back memories for me. I got my degree in architecture at Berkeley in '78. Some students emphasized the aesthetic and others the “practical,” but everyone was expected to have a good grasp of materials and basic structural engineering.
I took a fairly rigorous engineering approach and took my non-design classes in the college of engineering. The professors used to show slides of famous architectural projects, laughing and ridiculing the “irrational” and “idiotic” ideas of the architects.
I’d say that this divide persists to one degree or another, but most architects develop strong, mutually respectful professional relationships with the engineers they work with.
From way back when I was an architecture student ( I switched over to become a geologist so I didn’t finish the program) the University should have an accredited program. I would think most larger schools have accredited programs these days. But, for example, when I move to Nevada in 1996, the architecture program at UNLV was not accredited yet. (you had to get both a Bachelors degree as well as a Masters for it to count the same as an accredited school)
From what I understood then, it wasn’t so much the name of the school, but that it was an accredited program.
The architecture program I was in was at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln was a top notch department at the time.
As others have said, it is a lot of work and you spend a lot of nights working on projects into the wee hours of the morning. My first two years in school, I barely slept.
I was good at it, but I really liked the physical sciences more.
well if he is creative–he is halfway there. Creativity is critical in my opinion to being an Architect. You have to be able to envision what others can’t. You would have a difficult time getting through school if you aren’t creative–you could be a successful Architect, as there are many technical aspects of the field, but school is all about creativity and growth.
Florida–hmmm, not really sure of the schools down there, but Key Lime Guy hit on a couple of good schools that I have heard of.
For me my best accomplishments are those buildings that work and work well for the occupants. I can be pretty anonymous and go to the openings of my projects and hear what people say about them. My office also does post reviews of many of our projects and we can hear what worked and what didn’t. Failures? Never heard of that word before (I did mention didn’t I that Architects have big egos?).
As an Architect you need to know a little about a lot of things. Engineering being one of those items. I am NOT an engineer, nor do I pretend to be, and I have a huge amount of respect for the good engineers I work with. But in general they tend to want to keep things simple, and I want to push the envelope a bit. So I have to have enough of a working knowledge and experience to know when they say it can’t be done that it can’t be done – or enough to tell them that I think they are wrong (again I did mention that Architects have big egos didn’t I?).
I surprised myself when I got out of school and found out that I really enjoyed the construction phase of a project. In school you couldn’t have convinced me of that-but there is something about seeing a building going up, seeing the structure and bones of it being put together that is quite exciting. I find that I work extremely well with good contractors since I treat them with respect. You would be suprised at how much better success you have going in if you ask the plumber what ‘he’ thinks you should do to solve the problem, rather then telling him what to do! Sounds simple right? But I am constantly amazed at how many young Architects fail to grasp ‘treating people with respect’ will result in a much better project and future success. For me I think of the Architect as similar to a Director in a movie. The Director doesn’t do the acting, nor the filming, nor the editing–but he is the artistic creative person behind the film. Similarly the Architect is the same, he doesn’t build the building, pay for it, engineer it, or use it–but he is the creative force in pulling those people together to get it built. As a Director or Architect you can yell at people and be an asshole–or you can be a team builder and a team leader. Which approach do you think has better success?
Now I am more the team builder kind of Architect–but I will also admit to having a huge ego. I do honestly think you need to be confident and express a ‘I am in control’ kind of attitude to be successful. But you don’t need to be an asshole to do that. I have a nephew who is an Architect in New York–he initially exhibited the asshole approach but now with experience is in the team building mode.
Is your son timid? Does he express himself well in both written form and in person? Does he possess a strong ego and knows there are times he has to made a stand, yet understands there will be times he is wrong–and more importantly does he have the wisdom to know the difference? These skills frankly will be many of the determining factors of if he is successful or not in my opinion.
I think my son is confident, sometimes overconfident. When he was younger he had the confidence to zig when others were zagging. However, I think he needs to learn other people are just as smart as he is, and when to ask for help. In other words, he still needs to learn confidence in other people’s abilities.
He’s only 18, so he has some time to grow in that area.
Trust me he will learn that in school! There are lots of very talented people in Architecture school, and he will learn as much if not more from them in studio. Design studio is somewhat intimidating. You have all these talented people working on their designs around you and it seems you have design block or something. You can’t copy what they are doing, yet you need to have a design that is fresh and original—talk about pressure!
We are trying to teach our daughter good study habits now–she is the top of her class, but you know the funny thing is when you get to the University, all those people around you were at the top of their class too! I am sure he will do fine–what I was trying to get at is an understanding if he is confidant and if he takes constructive criticism well. If he does, then he will do well.
Usually because it’s inefficient. Engineers want to deliver a safe and efficient (easy to build, lower cost, practical) design. Architects are sometimes more concerned with aesthetics. For example, maybe narrowing the over-sized doorway by six inches would mean you could use a standardized door and a standard lintel but the architect wants a golden ratio which will mean a custom door and special structural design at five times the cost. Or the architects design doesn’t take into account longevity or the building’s interior comfort (huge expanses of glass make a buildilng hot and can triple the AC cooling load) or standard building techniques that ensure a sound structure. Many breathtaking modern buildings are uncomfortable to occupy, age poorly, and leak.*
*Can you tell I’m an engineer?
Yeah and, in general, most architects are good at compromising and working with engineers. But the buildings that sunacres are talking about are probably the large scale showy landmark type projects that tend to be very interesting, innovative, and very expensive. Things like the Centre Pomidou in Paris which put all the buildings operations on the outside but has been a complete pain to maintain. Or any of the Frank Gehry monstrosities which look incredible but have a ton of wasted space and have recieved criticism for not taking into account the building’s surroundings.
I’ll second the Frank Gerhy monstrosities, they are unbelieveable.
Ivylass - Your son sounds like an interesting fellow, full of wonder. That’s the first and best step towards his eventual goal. Hakuna Matata has answered perfectly, and I cannot add anything to what he’s said, but I can add that my field - Environmental Psychology is sort of the backdoor to architecture.
I don’t work with the engineers, I work with the imagineers like I call them. The folks planning the structure. I direct people on the “human” aspect of architecture. Hospital rooms, elderly housing facilities, parks, nodal areas, way finding, etc…etc…to be honest I don’t do a lot of consulting directly with the architects but a fair enough amount to mention it.
If your son likes using his hands and likes the “design” aspect of architecture perhaps he’d do wonderful at a school like RISD. [Rhode Island School of Design] where he could work with his hands, develope a creative style, maybe a specialization, and really foster that creative animal inside.
I mention RISD because I do a lot of work with this students over there. I was an adjunct prof there for a while. Just a thought.
I think tremorviolet captures the essential parameter around which architects and engineers often find themselves at odds. Now, there are many “green” architects who make a real discipline out of energy efficiency, some even make it a fetish. And plenty of architects value structural efficiency too.
Another value is “familiar building systems.” A third party in most projects, the builder, usually values that over aesthetic value or performance efficiencies. All of the values are important and have merit.
Interestingly, Ivylass, the architect is usually charged with representing the owner’s intentions. So for many architects an essential skill is a very political one: leading an owner into sensible choices. Many architects (myself included) become very frustrated working with owners who want horrendous blights. It is by far the hardest part of the professional task.
