A note before you get started ... this post is the result of an innocuous comment in Thread Central, a slow work day (ok, a couple of slow days), and some research a la Balkins (meaning my superficial understanding of these terms comes only from Wikipedia). This post is probably full of inaccuracies and incongruities that probably won't make sense if you actually understand metallurgy (which I don't). So don't take any of this too seriously.

... I've heard it described that architects know a little about a lot of things rather than knowing a lot about one thing in particular. What better way to illustrate that than by taking my superficial understanding of metallurgy and using it to analyze the career stages of an architect?

In many ways, the career of an architect is one of lifelong learning, of responding to new knowledge and changing things either gradually or abruptly in your process and approach to the problems you'll encounter. Even then, there seems to be a general trend in the types of changes that might occur during a career, and I've taken the time to find their analog in metallurgical processes below. 

(image source)

Architecture school (first years) = smelting and refining. This is a process of extracting the desired material from ore and purifying it. Some students come to architecture school more refined than others, but the first years are usually about getting rid of the impurities from the students in order to be able to build up their design sensibilities. 

Architecture school (later years / grad school) = forging. Applying heat and/or pressure to shape and form a material. The goal is to rework the material's inner structure to be stronger and more consistent. It's a rough process that usually requires further working to produce a final product. The procedure here is mostly handled through design studios and critiques to form a student's design sensibilities. Some students can handle this very well, and some cannot. Regardless, the process is not over and further work must be done to develop a successful architect.

First job / AXP program / ARE process = annealing and quenching. Annealing can relieve internal stresses and recover the internal grain structure that is disrupted by those stresses through a gradual heating and cooling process. This leaves the material softer and prepared for further shaping and working. Quenching is more about abrupt cooling that puts the material in its hardest state. The material is prone to breaking after quenching as it is brittle and inflexible. Both of these processes are still working the material to produce desired effects and ready it for further development. In most careers these are formative years in the first job(s), working through the experience and examination requirements to get licensed, and ultimately becoming licensed.

First years after licensure = tempering. After quenching, the material is usually too hard and brittle. It could be used as a final product, but the risk of breaking due to inflexibility is great. Controlled heating to a certain temperature followed by gradual cooling will reduce the hardness of the material while also relieving some of the internal stresses cause by quenching. The process leaves the material more ductile (flexible) and tougher (resistant to fracture). This is similar to the the process of getting additional responsibilities, advanced mentoring, and work experience. 

Continued work and experiences = any number of surface finishing processes. Grinding, polishing, burnishing, gilding, pickling all have an effect on the surface of the piece giving it a different look and feel, but the underlying structure of the material would remain roughly the same. This is continually happening throughout the middle and late stages of a career. The changes we make here may look significant, but they may not change the underlying sensibilities developed earlier in our careers. The approach to design may remain largely the same, but the result or expression of that approach may be different.

Late stages of career = plastic deformation and fatigue. Over the length of a career we get pushed past our elastic limits and permanent deformation will take place. Continued strain into the plastic range leads to continued deformation and eventual fracture. Fatigue can happen even if we don't get pushed into the plastic range. Faults at the molecular level can be introduced with cyclic deformation in the elastic range resulting in microscopic cracks that get larger and larger, weakening the material. As with plastic deformation, continued loading will result in fracture.

Where do you find yourself in these phases of your career? Are there phases that I've missed, or need to revise? Let me know in the comments.