Any Architects, or Student Architects in here please?

Ricochet J · 5 Jun 2006 at 15:10

Or even people who know anything about Architecture.
In 2007 i'll be going to Uni, hopefully doing Architecture. Just wanted to ask anyone who's an Architect, or a student how do you find it? What's it like?

At the moment i'm doing A Levels at college which consist of
Mathematics
Physics
D&T: Product Design (More of Graphics)
Cisco CCNA Course (which actually isn't an A Level)

I understand Architecture is a seven year course and to a point of view underpaid. However i'm not money motivated (although i'd love a £1000/week job) and I really enjoy architecture.

Can you shed any advice for me? I've tried to get a little work experience for the summer but so far been rejected, and one from the big names Foster and Partners rejected me.

But yeh, if you could just put down anything then that'd be fine

Thanks

spirit · 5 Jun 2006 at 15:17

my mate does architecture, its incredibly hard work, he did maths further maths physics art and something else

art was useful apparently
physics and maths obviously useful

yeah i was chatting to loads of them (@a london uni can't remember which one hes at exactly) and they seem to have immense amounts of work/lectures/classes

and its a rediculously long degree (or till u get the actual qualification or whatever if i remember right)

FISHGUTS · 5 Jun 2006 at 15:57

Learn about planning law. ppg's and all that bumpf. Architects or the one's I know tend to get used as unofficial planning consultants as well.

ichabod crane · 5 Jun 2006 at 16:27

i have just finished my second year of architecture at sheffield uni

it is an awesome degree you will really enjoy it. you wont get work experince until your second year at least so i wouldnt even try to be honest. During my second year i worked part time for a firm and at the mo im lookin for some summer work but its still quite hard even for a second year student. yes it is 7 years long. 3yrs at uni followed by a year working this is called Part 1, then two more years at uni Part 2. finally another years placement and a exam this is Part 3. and you are a quailified architect. During the two years of the part two you will be working almost 3days a week and in uni for just 2 days a week. its probably the first part that is the longest and hardest with no architectural experience but your mainly learning at this time. personnaly im loving it. fantastic fun and i love using AutoCAD

and on a final happy note it has the largest dropout rate of any course at uni

Raymond Lin · 5 Jun 2006 at 16:44

ichabod crane said:
i have just finished my second year of architecture at sheffield uni it is an awesome degree you will really enjoy it. you wont get work experince until your second year at least so i wouldnt even try to be honest. During my second year i worked part time for a firm and at the mo im lookin for some summer work but its still quite hard even for a second year student. yes it is 7 years long. 3yrs at uni followed by a year working this is called Part 1, then two more years at uni Part 2. finally another years placement and a exam this is Part 3. and you are a quailified architect. During the two years of the part two you will be working almost 3days a week and in uni for just 2 days a week. its probably the first part that is the longest and hardest with no architectural experience but your mainly learning at this time. personnaly im loving it. fantastic fun and i love using AutoCAD

He's right there on the years, one of my mate finally finished last year. We started back in 1997 ! Think of the student loan ! Actuall, it was so long ago, when i started i get a grant.

I am glad you like the course, similarly i had the same passion but lost it during my diploma stage. I loved making models, didn't mind drawing on paper, love CAD, especially 3D stuff. But hated about all the BS you sometimes need to do at presentation, I can see the need of reference to precedence and site analyses, but sometimes an idea just comes and you simply can't say "well i was watching Blade Runner over the weekend......."

As for the Architecture course, depending which uni you go it, it could be design base, or tech base (Bath or instance). I went to Plymouth for my degree and Brighton to do my Diploma. they are both design orientated courses. There's hardly any math , there was 1 module in the first year on Mech and thats it. I also worked in practice for about 2 and a half years, you don't need the math. If there is some question whether that beam is long enough ? sent it to the structural engineer, thats what they are for. Besides, building control will NEED to see his drawings/calculation as proof that your design will stand up.

I did Math, Chemistry and Computing at A-levels.You need to be able to think abstractly thou (and you'll use that word a lot, so is the word organic, transparent, welcoming...etc), also think in 3 diamension. Prepare for a lot of long nights for model making and drawing, and then lots of money for the materials for model making too. Easily £50 per project, if you want it to look half decent.

as for drop out rate (we started with 60, think only 20 graduated), it's probably down to the work it needs and people expect it to be lots of math when its mostly design. I had 2 presentations a week, you draw, make models and design for them. Stand in front of the class and explain your reasons for that design, site analyses, materials, flow diagrams, people movements......etc and then wait for the tutors to take you apart. Some don't know the meaning of constructive criticism, and they can be really blunt and harsh and tear you apart. I've seen many girls cried after the end of them.

edit, also, in my experience. You pick up so much more at work, i feel like apart from drawing, which i self taught btw. I picked not that much on the course, excecpt how to self crit my own work and crit others. Work is SOooooooooooooooooooooooooo much different it is unreal. The course does NOT prepare you for it.

ichabod crane · 5 Jun 2006 at 16:49

my course is more design based

i cant cope with all the maths thats a brick counters job (technision). i gave up on model making this year when i started using sketchup and 3d cad far quicker.and as for hand drawing it just takes to long lol plotter does all the work now. espcially on final sheets anyway

ichabod crane · 5 Jun 2006 at 17:00

Some don't know the meaning of constructive criticism said:
this is the most important thing said so far spot on in all counts

Raymond Lin · 5 Jun 2006 at 17:04

I have to add..

If you are thinking getting into this for the money....there isn't any, not unless you are a partner in a at least medium size firm. Even experience architect gets about £35k - 40k max. A first year graduate Optician can get that much.

You have to LOVE the job, it is a hobby and your life. I realise i am not that, or that i've lost it during my diploma, looking at my professor who simply breath Architecture, and the best student in my glass who can just chuck out quality work with ease, he does part-time work, has a new born daughter and does drawings, 3D stuff AND models. Don't know how he does it. Not to mention i had more fun reading my sister's Law Text books so i knew it was time to leave and do something else. I simply didn't want to be one of those architect who just do residential housing for the rest of his life.

Thou duing my years i did get to meet Normal Fosters in his London Office, and went to Enric Miralles's office in Barcelona as well. Had 2 fantastic field trips in Barcelona and Paris. Thats another thing, Architecture field trips are the best. You get to go to Cities to basically site (I mean to say site, not sight) seeing (my mate went to Greenich and they had a field trip in Disney World Florida !!!!!!! see the Disney Village.....but they spent most of the time on rides

), then the tutors will let you roam free in the city the rest of the time. That translate to a bunch of students drinking themselves blind from bar to bar.

Raymond Lin · 5 Jun 2006 at 17:19

as for working for Foster without any qualification? you'd be so lucky, they literally have applicants from like Cambridge with a 1st hoping to get unpaid work experience making tea there just to get that on their CV. This is a serious case of Who you know and not what you know. Even if do get a place there, you'll be drawing doornobs for the next 6 months, then they might let you draw the whole door. Yup, it is that hard.

That said, their office is AMAZING! !!!! on the edge of the River, it has its own canteen and security guards, the Slides room is so cool with all these photos on slides that just come out of the walls. And Foster usually have his team meeting on the ground floor at the far end by the corner in the building

and he's not that tall !

Ricochet J · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:02

Sounds intersting TBH.
It may sound like a boys dream and that's it. But I really want to just open my own practise one day.
But i'm not feeling what I hear, working on day's off. I hear when you get the weekends to yourself you need to work your arse of JUST to catch up! Then the following week you're behind again! :eek:

Raymond Lin · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:08

eXSBass said:
Sounds intersting TBH.
It may sound like a boys dream and that's it. But I really want to just open my own practise one day.
But i'm not feeling what I hear, working on day's off. I hear when you get the weekends to yourself you need to work your arse of JUST to catch up! Then the following week you're behind again!

sounds about right, my boss is usually the last one to leave the office. This is not a 9-5 job, like i said, you Live and Breath it. It is your hobby and your job.

ichabod crane · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:12

yeh and you will never look at a building in the same way again! walking around cities really gets you down with bad architecture then good architecture you will be glues looking at it for hours, its like looking at women but without the norks

and i hate norman foster he is rubbish. only good thing he has done is invent frameless glass

Raymond Lin · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:15

Forgot to add this, the most interesting and satisfying part of the job is to see something you design get built. Through planning application, through building control and then in front of you under the sun/rain or sleet. And most of all the client likes it too.

That feeling can't be bought.

Though i hate it when they call up and ask "is my drawings finished yet ?" They all think they are the only client the firm has and they are the only set i am drawing.

ichabod crane · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:18

dont think we are filling him with confidence really but hey its an awesome course u will love it

Raymond Lin · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:21

LOL, well, its just the reality. May be thats why so many drop outs

ichabod crane · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:23

eXSBass said:

quick quiz who designed it eXSBass??

Ricochet J · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:23

No. I'd rather knows it's downs and experience it's ups.
There are three things concerning me:
1) It's length. It's a long mofo course!
2) Money. I'm not money orientated. However, 25k-ish for a 7 year course? Not good!
3) The work. I don't want to have to live and breathe Architecture. But I really like it. The fact that it consumes all of your life?

However the end result is rewarding. You can walk down the high street and say, "I designed that".
You can look at the subliminal messages a building has.
Architecture is considered a world class profession.

Edit: Sir Charles Barry, the architect

And I took the image

Neo-gothic architecture is it not?

Raymond Lin · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:30

eXSBass said:
No. I'd rather knows it's downs and experience it's ups.
There are three things concerning me:
1) It's length. It's a long mofo course!
2) Money. I'm not money orientated. However, 25k-ish for a 7 year course? Not good!
3) The work. I don't want to have to live and breathe Architecture. But I really like it. The fact that it consumes all of your life?

However the end result is rewarding. You can walk down the high street and say, "I designed that".
You can look at the subliminal messages a building has.
Architecture is considered a world class profession.

Edit: Sir Charles Barry
Neo-gothic architecture is it not?

The length doesn't bother me, going to uni is fun !

Money, £35k is not bad, first year (after part 2) out you'll be on about £25k max

The work, the very best will live and breath it, if you are going to do 9-5, you won't make it to the top.

And i can walk down the street (well, some street in Hereford and Worcester) and say, "I did that"

Architect does have this image of being almost God like, you get a chance of design and influence a lot of things. Create semi permement structures that will last longer than our lifetime, give people joy with your work (if its good).

ichabod crane · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:30

eXSBass said:
No. I'd rather knows it's downs and experience it's ups.
There are three things concerning me:
1) It's length. It's a long mofo course!
2) Money. I'm not money orientated. However, 25k-ish for a 7 year course? Not good!
3) The work. I don't want to have to live and breathe Architecture. But I really like it. The fact that it consumes all of your life?

However the end result is rewarding. You can walk down the high street and say, "I designed that".
You can look at the subliminal messages a building has.
Architecture is considered a world class profession.

Edit: Sir Charles Barry, the architect And I took the image
Neo-gothic architecture is it not?

1)length is nicely broke up with work and uni
2)the money does increase the longer you work
3)if you like it you wont notice it consume you till your wife slaps you for perving on a building

bang on charles barry + augustus pugin and gothic revival (neo)