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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?
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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.
