Photo of the Wright brothers' third test glider being launched at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, on October 10, 1902. Wilbur Wright is at the controls, Orville Wright is at left, and Dan Tate (a local resident and friend of the Wright brothers) is at right

Architectural internships are modern day’s reinterpretation of the late apprenticeship model, but with some modifications. In earlier centuries, when a young person wanted to pursue a profession or craft, they typically enlisted in a seven-year contract with a “master” who took them under their wing and trained them up as professional practitioners. This was the young person’s education. They didn’t go to a school, get a degree in the craft they wanted to pursue, and then go and ask the masters for a job. Instead, they obtained their mentor from day one and learned everything from him. Today, our approach is quite different. We decide we want to be architects and then we enroll in a school to study it. After about five years, we graduate and go out and ask the marketplace to hire us. But we quickly realize that we don’t really know anything about architecture, or, to be more fair, we do not know anything about the practice of architecture.

It can be tough to wait until graduation to work in a professional setting. But this can be (somewhat) avoided. The historical apprentice has evolved into the contemporary intern. In this article, we’ll look at what you should look for in an internship, what you can expect, and why they are vital to your future success.

The Prerequisite to Understanding

Your time in architecture school is essential to your growth as a professional, but only partially so. When Wilbur Wright was invited to speak to the Western Society of Engineers about the progress he and his brother Orville had made in aeronautics, he repeatedly emphasized the difference between theorizing and practice.

“It is very much the same in learning to ride a flying machine; if you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial.”

The Wright Brothers were not against studying theory and history. In fact, they partook in rigorous study before they built their first glider. The reason Wilbur told this group of engineers that one could only truly understand flight by getting in a machine and failing countless times was that he knew that they only ever thought about it in their minds. It didn’t matter how many equations or ideas anyone threw at him, if it didn’t work in practice it didn’t matter. After all, neither Orville or Wilbur had college degrees. They weren’t “learned” men, but devoted autodidacts and polytechnic learners. This was the essence of their success.

It didn’t matter how many equations or ideas anyone threw at him, if it didn’t work in practice it didn’t matter

It’s the same in architecture. School is a vital part of our journey but realize that it is only a part of the larger picture. Architectural education gives us the foundation to learn about the practice of architecture. When we graduate, we can read drawings, and we understand the basics of how buildings work, what components they are made up of, and the design process. Without this basic knowledge, we have no starting point to pursue a professional career. School gives us immersive training in design while internships (hopefully) open us up to more technical opportunities. Am I saying that school does not train us in the technical aspects of the profession? Not at all. What I’m saying is, by nature of the emphasis of our schooling on design studio, that we will have developed stronger skills in design than technical issues.

Exponential Leaps vs Incremental Steps

During your time in school, if your goal is to take the traditional path in architecture, you should be thinking about how soon you can start interning. I’ve recommended before that second year is a good time to start looking for an internship. It’s at this point in your education that you have developed some understanding of architectural representation. There is a significant difference between having internships while in school and waiting until you graduate to first step into an office.

There is a significant difference between having internships while in school and waiting until you graduate to first step into an office

When you are working in a real-world setting while you are also taking your core coursework, your learning and growth become exponentially more potent. Say you start to learn about elevation drawings and how to represent them and you are able to go to your internship and see those elevations with annotations and professional level detail. With this, you retain the importance of that drawing on a completely different level than your peers. You have obtained a deeper understanding of how a building is coordinated, the essence of your role as an architect. Let’s call this an exponential leap. It’s when your learning compounds on itself and you begin to progress at a pace far beyond the majority. You can take both your schooling and your professional work and combine them for a holistic picture of what you are pursuing.

The other option is to learn incrementally. Instead of leaps, you’re taking steps. During the summer, you’re on break instead of working. Outside of studio, you’re watching Netflix, instead of studying those wall details from that drawing set in the office. It’s a difference in progress is all. Going to class, doing good school work, and not doing an internship is not a bad thing; just expect to have a steeper learning curve when you enter the profession. It all depends on your personal goals. If you want to learn as much as you can about architecture before you graduate, take the internship.

Value Mentorship

In your search for an internship, there are various things you should look for, some are non-negotiable and others, depending on the current market, can be compromised. First, there is no question that you should be compensated for your internship. This has been a huge issue recently and worthy of its own article. All I’ll say here is that every internship is going to require that you do some kind of work and that work should be paid. If the person hiring you doesn’t respect you enough to pay you for your contribution you shouldn’t respect them enough to work for them.

Second, if you can help it, try to find a place with an actual internship program. Here, you’ll typically have the structure of an assigned mentor, and the firm will tend to have a focus on exposing you to a wide range of aspects in the day to day work. This is different from the “sweatshops” where you will just be building models and doing renders. Firms with structured mentorship programs have committed themselves to educate you during your time with them. Also, the funny thing is that these firms will often pay you more than the studios that want you to work for cheap while also not teaching you anything.

An alternative to a firm with an internship program would be a small studio with a leader who values mentorship. Even though this person doesn’t have a formal structure, their sense of duty to pass onto you what they know will provide a rewarding experience for both parties. Believe it or not, there are lots of architects out there eager to adopt a protegé to take under their wing.

Ask Around

I wrote an earlier article on how to search for an architecture job that is worth checking out. But while the principles in that piece are valuable, they are more effective when you have a bit of experience. When you’re first starting out, it’s best to ask around your school for some guidance. Check in with the career counselor and see if they know of any openings, and of course, regularly check Archinect Jobs for new internship opportunities. Maybe some of your professors have their own practices, ask them if there are internship opportunities at their studios or if they have any pointers for you. Before, I said that there would be some aspects of the advice I gave that you could compromise on. What I meant is that your priority at this early stage is primarily to get some exposure in a professional setting. So, if you can’t find a firm with a good mentorship program or a leader who values giving back, still go ahead and pursue the model building and rendering jobs (just make sure you get paid for your time). Even if you come out hating it, you will know what you don’t like. Better to find out now then after graduation.

Turning Coursework Into Professional Work

In the end, you have five years to prepare yourself for life outside of school. The sooner you start to dip your toes into the professional world, the sooner you will begin to understand it. When graduation approaches, hopefully, you will have had a couple of summers worth of internships or even a couple of years. With this will come a confidence and ability to make an educated decision about your first steps in your career as a graduate. You will build relationships and position yourself as a valuable entry-level candidate. Embrace your coursework but also, seek to turn it into professional work.