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Should I reinvest my life?

moetmo

I am a 38 year old architect (married, no kids, African descent) working in Marrakech, Morocco (got my masters there as well). Been working for about 9 years and I think I’m getting burned out with the situation, the money is mediocre and the projects are uninteresting. I need a new job or a new career, (I’ve been posting for openings for the last couple of years abroad, but I guess my Moroccan diploma turns potential employers off).

To get to the crux of it, I have an offer of partial tuition fees for a master’s at any London Uni for fall 2015 (Westminster or LondonMet I’m thinking) should I be accepted, to do a Riba Pt.2 It’s technically slightly below the diploma I have currently but in reality better cause it’s a European degree.

Should I

  1. Take the offer and toil for two more additional years to get a Riba 2 with the current job climate?
  2. Use the offer to study something else, (which I am open to; Urban planning, Industrial design, or even something with no rapport) with better employment opportunities later
  3. Is it too late for me?

Bounce Ideas…

 
Jan 20, 15 2:09 pm
chigurh

Use the scholarship to study something else.

Obviously you have been in the trenches long enough to know the field is not for you. School could be fun as a sabbatical type deal, but at the end you would be right back where you started.  

It is not too late, when you figure it out, let the rest of us know the way out.

Good luck. 

Jan 20, 15 2:58 pm  · 
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moetmo

Thx, just weighing the odds. Sounds good

Jan 20, 15 3:38 pm  · 
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Saint in the City

"...money is mediocre and the projects are uninteresting..."    

It's gone global... RUN!

1. no
2. yes
3. no 

Jan 20, 15 4:22 pm  · 
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moetmo

Thx saint. Why do we think that being an architect is a divine duty to humanity? Lol. I have a preliminary list but could u guys propose some alternative studies?

Jan 20, 15 4:42 pm  · 
 · 

Isn't globalization great?

Jan 20, 15 6:17 pm  · 
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sameolddoctor

" the money is mediocre and the projects are uninteresting" -- cool, thats true for 90% of the profession. Unfortunately, the situation is not better elsewhere - I would argue that it is even worse in "developed" economies, where the game is even more established (read even more boring)

If you are going to make the jump, do option 2. Frankly, you can always come back to architecture, its an old man's game.

I would not do urban planning, as its quite similar with even more mediocrity. I would consider Industrial Design, Interaction Design, UI/UX, Media Studies, Advertising etc (and yes, I am bracing for the archintecters who will claim that architecture is above all those fields)

Jan 20, 15 7:43 pm  · 
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geezertect

And miss out on the excitement of ARE, ADA, LEED, IBC, Revit, BIM, etc. etc. etc.??

Jan 20, 15 8:07 pm  · 
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awaiting_deletion

Reset button and see what happens. You actually have enough experience to get an architecture job once in the country. In other words study something else and then since you would already be living in London you could get a part time job in an architecture office in case you wanted to go back into architecture

Jan 20, 15 8:38 pm  · 
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moetmo

Feel reassured (not easy letting go of something u love, tho). I like to think of myself as a creative person, guess i'll figure it out

Jan 21, 15 4:09 am  · 
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dia

Don't take this personally, but there is a funny dichotomy in architecture, where as a so-called creative profession, architects seem unable to design new ways of working beyond the strict confines of the profession.

Jan 21, 15 4:15 pm  · 
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moetmo

There are a lot of constraints...I can only speak about my context and it seems like most clients are especially interested in only cutting costs and maximising profits. Dont even get me started about the planning permission process. Seems like the only way to be creative is to sell sculptures on the side :)

Jan 21, 15 4:45 pm  · 
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dia

I am aware of the constraints - but the harder the constraints, the more delicious the problem to solve. 

Jan 21, 15 4:50 pm  · 
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