<p>What makes the subject of architecture difficult? I am debating between this and other design fields to study in college. Are the qualities that make someone a good art student the same as what makes a good architecture student? What about workload, are the two similar? Also do instructors teach you how to build models or do they expect you to be proficient already as art school somewhat expects you to know how to draw and paint?</p>
<p>Architecture, like art, has a very subjective side. Two people may not see the same art piece or building in the same way. This makes teaching architecture (or art) a bit difficult, because it’s harder to define the criteria for success as objectively as we’d want. </p>
<p>Some schools probably expect basic drawing skills (especially those that require heavy duty portfolios and such); others pretty much tell you to not worry about it and teach you what they like; others may jump into CAD from day one, and so on. It really varies. </p>
<p>Is model building taught? Again depends on the school. I was sort of concerned once I saw the supply list for 1st year Architecture (what do they need several types of cutting blades, hand tools, safety glasses, and a Dremel for anyway :-)) and indeed, the students spent a bunch of hours in the first couple weeks making simple stuff out of chipboard and getting the hang of things. Right now, two months into Studio 1, my daughter and her classmates could probably build the Taj Mahal out of chipboard…</p>
<p>See: [What</a> is Architecture?](<a href=“http://vimeo.com/3248803]What”>Architecture on Vimeo)</p>
<p>Difficult? I think of engineering physics or organic chemistry as difficult. Architecture can just be subjective, tedious, and demanding. Schools do not expect you to know how to draw or build chipboard models before you arrive, but once you get there they expect you to figure it out on your own. This is where much of the studio bonding occurs; you and your studio mates trying to figure out how to do the current assignment.</p>
<p>Do good art students make good architecture students? Yes, I think there is a pretty good correlation there, though I think architecture takes a bit more discipline. </p>
<p>What makes a good architecture student? Natural talent plays into it. Some people have a good eye, and some don’t. But I would say that mostly it is students who enjoy the studio environment. If you like hanging out in studio with your classmates then architecture is a blast. If you find studio tedious and would rather be somewhere else, then architecture is going to feel like a beating.</p>
<p>Architecture is the most important of the arts and I think it provides the strongest foundation for any design field you may wish to enter.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Long hours, often without control over your personal schedule. (team projects; team works as group; face-time requirements, etc.)</p></li>
<li><p>Relatively low pay prospects, for relatively expensive and time-consuming educational and licensing requirements. Many senior architects have relatively modest household incomes compared to their college peers who became doctors, lawyers, and business people.</p></li>
<li><p>Relatively high levels of career dissatisfaction throughout career duration. Before chosing Architecture as a career or college major, BE SURE to speak with several architects, asking them to be very candid with you.</p></li>
<li><p>Relatively unstable employment security. See #3.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There are some conditions that I fully expect will happen in the next 20-25 years that will make Architecture a bit more desirable once again… </p>
<ul>
<li><p>crumbling infrastructure that needs replacement - and the way things are going it’s often cheaper to build or repurpose than to keep fixing. </p></li>
<li><p>energy prices will ‘motivate’ people to move back to the cities - we already see some of this. Higher density, smaller houses, etc. </p></li>
<li><p>McMansions will become so 1990’s and people will demand smaller but awesomely appointed homes (same thing that we see in cars these days)</p></li>
<li><p>work in other parts of the world (developing, Middle East, etc)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If we’re talking about Barbie the Architect putting out a shingle and expecting to build mansions in Overland Park, KS, well, that’s difficult. Elsewhere, or other types of buildings, very likely.</p>
<p>But it’s not all about money. My daughter just got her first midterm review grade for Studio 1 and was crying with joy. The school has a strange policy of bringing in guest reviewers (faculty from a couple nearby architecture schools, or practicing architects with ties to the school) along with the obligatory local faculty from different levels… The comments she got (showing that these old sages really did get what she was trying to convey) were amazing and she read them all to us on the phone. </p>
<p>I’m not a stranger to such reviews, it’s a tense time, and while it’s relatively easy if you’re thick skinned like I am, but we’re talking about our children here, spending all hours of day and night building the elusive chipboard Taj Mahals without knowing what lies at the end. But to see how four years of high school prep, sacrificing two summers to do portfolios, and putting one’s soul into it day after day makes it worthwhile.</p>
<p>I was an Architectural Engineering major, which for me meant studying the structural design of buildings. I did NOT want to major in Civil Engineering, because I had zero interest in highway design, wastewater treatment, etc.</p>
<p>I ended up with a very high GPA, but my two semesters of architectural design were a nightmare! We would be given an assignment such as designing a hotel and building a model of it. Ack! I have no artistic ability at all. I found architectural design to be extremely challenging! I got a C one semester and somehow pulled out a B the other. The class did help me appreciate what architects do! If engineers were responsible for the looks of buildings, they would all be cubes!</p>
<p>I think a semester of Plates & Shells (by hand) cures most people from designing anything but cubes for the next 10 years :-)</p>
<p>Food for thought: [The</a> Architect Has No Clothes](<a href=“http://www.guernicamag.com/blog/3176/the_architect_has_no_clothes/]The”>http://www.guernicamag.com/blog/3176/the_architect_has_no_clothes/):</p>
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