Anybody here in Architecture?

[bentothejam1n]

i've been thinking a lot lately of what i want to do as a career when i get older and i came up with being an architect. I find math interesting and entertaining I would want to do something involving it for my job. i was just wondering what kind of classes and grades did you have in high school and what classes would you take if you could do it all again? Ah also how much could i expect to make coming straight of of college just getting certified and what how hard would it to be to get hired right of college? On another note, Coolhand what do you do for a living? it sounds kind of interesting.
/ill be in san diego till the second so i probably wont post in this thread till then

[Swampy]

Well not really a architect but I'm in college for Landscape Architecture right now. But it really depends on what Architerture field you want to join which will more or less dictate what you make for a living and what you do. And this is what I ran into so far at college.

Yes you'll need math pretty much Algebra, Geomotry(SP?), and some Calc.

If your school offers CAD courses I'd take them.

How good are you with measurments? Cause alot of pen and paper working in 1/4in scale being able to convert measurments.

Also you still need to learn the basics being able to draw it out on paper(and its my brainstorming for projects/assignments then final on the Landscape Pro 12). Theres other programs out there then CAD to designed to the field your in.

Last from what I learned from talking to people that been/are in that those fields is that you need to learn sales a little nothing really big such as taking the courses at school or anything but what they basicly told me the drawings are going to sell themselves, if you worked a summer or two such as a car salesman and learned the basics you should be fine.

I hope it was a little helpful for ya.

[Thordic]

I'm not an architect, but I worked with them for five years. I was a marketing coordinator who wrote / put together all the proposals for a fairly large architecture group within my firm so I worked very closely with the architects. This wasn't residential design, I don't know if thats what you wanted to get into. This was schools, post offices, college buildings, etc.

Coming out of school you'll likely end up doing a lot of drafting and design of small projects unless you are a really talented designer.

One thing I noticed that really seemed to help architects out was the ability to conceptualize and draw. Being able to sketch out conceptual designs that look good can be a great skill. You'd be surprised at how few architects can do this well. There was ONE guy at my old firm who was really good at this, and he did these things for everyone. They'd give him the basics and he'd sketch something out in marker and pen in like 10 minutes. So art classes wouldn't hurt.

Another problem architects have is writing. They need to be able to describe their projects well if they want to get future work. Pictures alone aren't enough. If you have the ability to write clearly and correctly, you could make yourself invaluable to a small firm.

Also, and this one won't really apply in high school, and your friends would probably get a chuckle out of it, but interior design is a skill that will pretty much guarantee you a job as an architect forever if you want to get into commercial architecture. We had one architect who was fairly junior in the group who had a degree in interior design as well as her BArch and she was used ALL the time and eventually another firm stole her. When I left they hadn't found anyone to replace her and it caused them a lot of grief.

Anyway, I don't know how much that helped but just a few things I noticed in the workplace.

[Steelrat]

Go read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Made me want to be an architect.

[BeaverEater]

Some of the people going for architecture at my school took a basic drawing class in addition. It helps the to visualize and then draw it out. If your still in high school, im sure you could go talk to a conusler and figure out what classes you should take.

[magmanl337]

Well, good choice on a career, and the best of luck to you in the end. By architect, do you mean you want to design buildings or do you want to be the one that sits down over paper and writes the blueprints for construction sites? The two jobs are different and many people wanting to be an architect say they want to be the latter, though they are mostly called engineers. Being hired fresh out of college or after getting your certification is actually quite easy, you'd be suprised how much the construction business needs help in all fields. There are a lot of private contractors always looking for arcitects, engineers, inspectors and construction managers. You say you are going to be in the San Diego area until the second? Just so happens I am in the San Diego area and I am into construction myself (training to be a masonry inspector for the time being and hoping to get my steel, concrete, and epoxy certifications soon). If you want me to show you around some construction sites I would be more than happy, or I can help you get started and tell you places to look to get into the business. Hope it works out for you.

[Grey Goose]

Agree 100% with everything Thordic said.

I also worked at an architecture firm, but I was the IT Director.

Like Thordic, I also noticed very few people could knock out the drawings that got the contract done. Also, the renderers were very key. All of our in-depth presentations included detailed walk-through renderings and wireframes. The marketing/writing staff were constantly working, as well.

Other than that, I'd say 99% of the "architects" were drafters working under the supervision of their dept. head or VP. I was also appalled at what they made, and how long it took them to advance their careers.

If I were just dead set on a career in architecture, I'd probably go the 3-D/rendering/animation route. Very few people do that well, or even mediocre. A whole lot of people can draft cubicles.

[Thordic]

Also, and I don't know what classes would help you with this, but you need to have good interpersonal skills. If you want to open your own office, you'll need to be able to talk to clients and have them trust you. If you want to a project manager in a larger firm, you need to be able to talk to clients and have them trust you. Basically to succeed in any way beyond sitting behind a desk and drawing (and getting paid proportionately), you will need to have good people skills.

At the start you might just be a deskmonkey, but to advance your career you need to be somewhat of a salesman as well. If you can keep a client happy despite any delays, budget overruns, or other issues which may come up and have them return to you for future work, you have a huge step up on the other architects in your office.

[slade]

I'm applying to engineering schools right now, and a lot of those schools have architecture majors. One thing you're going to have to prepare for well ahead of time is portfolios. every school i've looked at asks architecture applicants to submit a portfolio for review. what would almost guarantee you acceptance at a decent school is if you managed to get a summer job at an architecture firm.

a teacher we just hired at my school is teaching architecture and woodworking. a week or two ago he started talking to me about a 3D program by google called sketch up... they have a free trial version you can use. ive never used it, but it seemed pretty simple and architecture oriented. it couldnt hurt to download it and give it a try.

also if your family needs any work done around the house, you could design something and help with construction. about a year ago we tore off the deck of our house, and replaced it with an enclosed porch and deck. my father and I did all the work, from design and laying the foundation to laying the hardwood floor and running the wiring. If I had been interested in architecture, I would have gotten more involved with the design aspect (my father did most of the design with a CAD program, and even made a scaled concept model out of balsa wood).

[Kyle.Kimber]

Yeah, I wanted to be an architect, but then I realized I suck at math. HELLO LAW SCHOOL

[slade]

Yeah, I wanted to be an architect, but then I realized I suck at math. HELLO LAW SCHOOL

math is fun.

[bentothejam1n]

thanks a lot guys
/anybody know what happened to triangle?