Btw, I'll be starting my undergraduate course in Architecture Design at University of Edinburgh, this coming Sept. I'm very excited about it but I also feel afraid that a lack in designing skill will be a shortcoming to me :( So,do typically an architecture undergraduate course will teach some basic skill in sketching and drawing?
Anyway, I had recently just discovered about the BEng in Structural engineering and Architecture and now I feel torn between this course and the architecture course in Edinburgh as i'm interested in both engineering and architecture. However, I'm not as attracted to Sheffield compare to Edinburgh as I believe I'll will have a more fulfilled Uni life in Edinburgh. So, what do you guys think? I'll be glad to receive any input from everyone :)

ps:i forgot to mention that if i choose to study in this BEng in Structural Engineering and Architecture at Sheffield, I will need to wait for a year to further my study as the entry into this year is full now, but if I choose to study in Edinburgh, I will be able to start my study in this coming Sept!! (yeah!) - hehe, please do advise me :) Thank you everyone!

Liability Insurance nightmare, but totally practical combo ie santiago calatrava hasn't been hurt by his education

Liability Insurance nightmare, but totally practical combo ie santiago calatrava hasn't been hurt by his education

Seems like you're pretty excited about starting this fall, thats great! If you feel like it is the right place, and you will really be fulfilled there, by all means stay! Architecture school will give a good design grounding, and imho the ability to study more cultural and social aspects in architecture. There is always the option to study the more engineering side of architecture after your B. degree, but you will be sought (if your work is good) either way you go. Engineering might pay more and is more technical if you want that, but again, if you want to go into arch design and engineering im sure you can find good grad programs that can integrate the two, already having basic knowledge of structures from your arch design.

Hope that helps to some degree, but do take all opinions lightly, and most of all, listen to yourself and instincts!

I am torn on this issue. Personally, I think good architects have a strong a engineering understanding, and good engineers have a an appreciation for architecture and aesthetics.

That being said, I think you will be served best by selecting which ever field interests you the most and pursuing it the best of your ability. Study the other subject as a supplement and to add depth to your practice, but don't get caught up in the idea of being a super engineer/architect combo.

Personally, I think the opportunities to practice as both professions simultaneously are very limited. Even if you could acquire all the necessary knowledge to do both jobs, it is impractical to do both tasks on the same project given the normal schedule sequence in which much of the engineering work occurs concurrently with the architectural design.

If you still want to pursue this route, become an Engineer first and then try to add the architectural degree in grad school. In my opinion, it will be substantially easier to add the aesthetic understanding later than it will be to add the engineering skills,

I see, thank you for all the sound advises. They really broaden my insights. However, do lack of sketching and drawing skill will be a disadvantage for an archtecture student? I know that a lot of designing programmes had started to replace the charcoal and paper method but personally, I think sketching is an asset to a successful architect in order to communicate ideas well to a client especially to those clients with horrible visualisation ability. However, this is just my personal believe and i really hope to hear from veterans in Archinect :) Btw, after making some research and thinking, I felt that i'm more drawn to the prospect of becoming an architect than an engineer (despite that I like physics a lot!). I love the way an architect works especially when it comes down to communicating ideas or exchanging ideas with clients and coordinating a particular construction project. So, I'm quite sure that I'll be pursuing architecture course at the University of Edinburgh, but before I made a concrete decision, I'll have a talk with an architect nearby my area. Anyway, thank you for all the inputs :) they're really helpful and I had learned a lot from everyone in Archinect :)

I agree that drawing is an integral and unfortunately slowly disappearing aspect of education. However! you can always practice on your own. I'm sure edinburgh has some architetural drawing/sketching courses (at least one I'd hope) but the best way to improve your skill is to practice practice practice. take a sketchbook everywhere you go, and sketch everything. people on a park bench, buildings you think are interesting, cityscapes, landscapes.. Design Drawing by Frank Ching is an excellent guide for sketching as well as constructed perspective et.
Good luck, have fun, and most of all get some sleep!