Architecture

[theraidenproject]

I've been interested in architecture since I wanted to move out of my old town a few years ago, and I started house hunting on the net. So this year, when I had the chance to take Architecture/Drafting 1, I took it. I plan on taking Architecture/Drafting 2 next year, then probably Portfolio Development first half senior year, then intern for an architect for ISP (Independant Study Project, where you get pretty much the last half of senior year for a project, from the serious, like interning at Goldman Sachs or something, to making a CD {not saying that's not hard, but there's the huge potential for doing little to no work}). So I was wondering if anyone else is interested in architecture, or is an architecture. Any tips for getting into the field would be appreciated. i told my parents to make friends with as many architects as they could.

[Toranaga]

I'm also into architecture and Engineering (probably aerospace). From what my parents and I can see, the best thing to do is take as many physics courses, math cources, drafting courses, and the like. Also, some hands on work in any way shape or form will probably help (I do stagecrrew for my school).

Also, you will probably want to create a portfolio for college.

Sadly, I am a little farther away from college then you, freshman

[Zygote]

You seem to be on the right path. Math (geomtery, trig algebra and calc) is definitely useful, particularly when you get into structures courses in college, but even more important is a strong art background. Architecture is all about light, order, space, proportions, color,use of materials etc. so a firm grasp on that will help you immensely. Drafting is good too, but not as important. You can pick it up in no time. As one of my professors said, a dog can draw an axo. The imprtant thing is to develop a portfolio. Sketch whenever you get a chance: buildings, landscapes, perspectives, people, whatever. They just want to see that the foundation and potential is there.

If you're looking for a summer job, you should consider something in construction. Help your dad build an addition. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. If you learn how buildings are constructed, you'll be that much better at designing them.

Some things to keep in mind though. The Bachelor of Architecture program at an accredited school is typically 5 years and you will work your *** off for these 5 years, spending a lot of time in the studio. In the first year my class size went from around 80 to around 55. By graduation there were 25 of us left.

Architecture is definitely rewarding...in a non-monetary way. You won't be fabulously wealthy and your genius may not be recognized while you're still alive, but you will have license to make up words like "materiality" and "hypersignification".

Feel free to ask anymore questions you may have.

[Thordic]

Originally posted by Zygote
Architecture is definitely rewarding...in a non-monetary way.

Depends what you do. Architects in my firm make fairly good money, about the same pay as engineers. Thats with a large A/E firm.

If you do private work, your pay will depend on how much work you get/take/do. So thats in your hands, but you can make quite a bit of money if you get popular and take a lot of work.

And then, you can always end up with one of the super architecture firms. Firms like the ones who do the designs for HUGE projects, like the new WTC. If you make it in those firms, you will be pulling down a large paycheck.

Its a well-paying profession, no matter how you look at it.

[Fred]

hahahahahaha

there's a lot of funny stuff in this thread already... as someone who is (theoretically) getting his Masters of Architecture degree in 5 months, let me interject a bit...

Math- Bah, that's funny, i had to take ONE term of it in college, and not even calc (which i did take, big mistake...got a C...)

Physics- All you need is to know the theory. basically, everything that has weight that you want to stand up has to distribute that weight to the ground somehow...

Structures- had 2 terms of statics and 1 term of theory... if you know the formulas, its a cakewalk... knowing the theory is more important than being able to crunch the numbers, that's what engineers are for...

As for courses...
Take a HAND DRAFTING class, and art classes that focus on freehand drawing. CAD is important, but if you don't have the basic drafting skills you'll rely on the computer too much, which will turn you into a CAD-monkey someday...

I'm in a 5 year masters program... a lot of Universities are switching to it now since so many credit hours are in the schedule that when you graduate you have more than many people do with 2 degrees... I think i'll have around 190.

Its 5 years of hell, pure and simple... little or no time to play paintball... I pretty much live in my design studio. this year is worse since i have to take all grad level classes and do a thesis project...

My freshman class was around 70-80 i think... we're down to 17 in the masters studios, and maybe a total of 25 people who i started with (they still have the option to take a Bachelors of Architecture... we're in the last year of the transition to the Masters.)

As for pay... you don't make much as an intern unless you land a really cushy job... and afterwards it really depend on where you work, what type of design you focus on, and how good you are. I'm hoping to land around 35-40k plus benefits when i graduate... and that may be pushing it due to the economy right now.

feel free to ask me stuff too if you want.

---Fred

[Thordic]

Re: hahahahahaha

Originally posted by Fred

As for courses...
Take a HAND DRAFTING class, and art classes that focus on freehand drawing. CAD is important, but if you don't have the basic drafting skills you'll rely on the computer too much, which will turn you into a CAD-monkey someday...

Architects who can draw by hand have an advantage. Most of our architects are used to doing a lot of computer work and the only things that get done by hand are usually fairly technical blueprints. Being able to do nice looking concept sketches will get you noticed. Just thought I'd point that out. My office is in NJ, and we have ~24 architects, and we get our concept drawings done by a guy in one of our Michigan offices because our guys just can't do it as well.

And you DON'T want to get stuck being a CAD monkey, it can hurt your career.

As for pay... you don't make much as an intern unless you land a really cushy job... and afterwards it really depend on where you work, what type of design you focus on, and how good you are. I'm hoping to land around 35-40k plus benefits when i graduate... and that may be pushing it due to the economy right now.

--Fred

35 - 40K is a safe bet. I'm not sure how much the new guys make since we havn't hired anyone in a while, but our architects who have been here 5ish years are making pretty decent money.

By the way, for those who are curious, I'm a marketing coordinator for a large A/E firm. I do all my offices architecture proposals for NYC jobs and such, so I while I'm not an architect, I have a fairly decent grasp of the workings of a large architecture firm.

[Zygote]

35-40K is a good bet for an intern architect. But that's after 5 years of school. I'm now in the process of paying off 5 years worth of student loans. After you graduate and find a job, you have to go through the Intern Development Program, which requires you to amass a certain number of credit hours in various aspects of professional practice. This generally takes about 3-5 years. Then you can take the tests to become a registered architect and increase your earning potential. In contrast, some classmates that I went to school with majored in structural and civil engineering rather than architecture. The engineering program is only 4 years and I believe they took the tests to become registered while still in school. So coming out of college they are making more money and have less loans to repay. It may even out further down the road but engineers are faster out of the blocks. You just have to like what you are doing.

[Fred]

So far the only debt i have is to my parents... working my butt of summers and an academic scholarship have kept me ahead of the game there.

As for IDP, bah! I'm not planning on doing it. Personally, its just not fun anymore. I really prefer to do smaller scale work, stuff i can build myself. I'm planning on going to Grad School for industrial design.

The beauty of this degree though is that the education is so broad I could probably get a job just about anywhere in the design field.

The biggest lessons I've learned are this:
1) Never trust the contractors.
2) Hire a good engineer.
3) Have a GOOD lawyer on retainer.
4) Document EVERYTHING.
5) Never trust the contractors.

---Fred