Photo courtesy of Ali Chen.

An architecture background offers individuals skills to thrive in disciplines outside of traditional architecture roles. As evident in our Working Out of the Box series and Archinect's Interesting Jobs series, we highlight examples of how architects and design professionals use their backgrounds in different industries.

With design expertise continuously evolving, our editorial team has connected with those who have applied their architectural backgrounds to alternative career paths. One such example is multi-disciplinary designer Ali Chen. A licensed architect and visualization expert, her interests evolved into packaging design, UX/UI design, and app development.

For this exclusive interview, we connected with Chen to learn more about her multifaceted career path, her experience with architecture licensure, and the launch of her IOS app that aids in studying for the ARE called ARE Inquizition.

Chen received her B.Arch at the University of Southern California before pursuing a Master's degree in Packaging, Design, and Identity Systems from the Pratt Institute. An experienced designer and visualization artist who's worked with firms like BIG, Rome Office, and LABTOP she also took first prize in the ‘Speculative’ category of Archinect's Dry Futures contest back in 2015.

Alongside launching her new study app, Chen is a visiting professor for Pratt's Packaging, Design, and Identity Systems program and runs her own design consultation practice. Her client list consists of companies such as Nike, Maidenhome, and architecture firms like MVRDV, Gensler, and Woods Bagot to name a few.

Where did you study architecture and what motivated you to pursue it as a career?

I received my bachelor's of architecture from the University of Southern California. During this time, I became interested in how to better represent design and complex information in fun and digestible ways. It led me to visualization at first and significantly influenced my eventual shift towards branding and packaging.

You have worked for several international architecture firms. How was that experience?

Having had a visualization-focused background, I worked on many design competitions. I enjoyed it because of the larger concepts and fresh ideas were what drove me to architecture in the first place. In general, I gravitated towards highly collaborative, fast-paced environments and am quite grateful to have experienced a lot of excitement and joy in that phase of my life while also working on a very wide range of project types and innovative designs.

Was a path to licensure something you knew you wanted to pursue after graduating?

Looking back, licensure was not something I had thought about very intentionally. I started the process because I felt it was the natural next step. I’ve always felt like somewhat of a peripheral architect, so for me, it was something I felt I should pursue to get closer to what I considered traditional architecture.

You have such a multidisciplinary background. What drew you to architectural visualization and package design?

I’ve always been interested in the intersection between different disciplines and how they can inform each other. I eventually pursued a Master of Science in Package Design at Pratt Institute, where I currently teach. To me, packaging was simply a smaller scale of architecture. Many of the same things, like structure, ventilation, constructibility, and sustainability have to be considered. Even the graphic conventions are the same. It was also a way for me to combine my interest in branding in a dimensional way.

I’ve always been interested in the intersection between different disciplines and how they can inform each other [...] To me, packaging was simply a smaller scale of architecture.

How did your background and prior interests lead you to app design

I had no experience or even interest in UI/UX design prior to creating the app. It was simply my method to present the massive amount of information required for the exams in a more digestible way using my experience in branding.

What compelled you to create an app specifically for the ARE process, and why was it important to do so?

This app was born out of my own study process for the ARE. I found that trying to incorporate a bit of joy into my study process helped me absorb all the architectural content. I wanted to share that feeling with others who are on their path to licensure.

One of the struggles I also ran into during studying was that not all primary and secondary information was clear, concise, or accurate. Some of the primary resources even contradict themselves. It is a process to vet out what information is true of the exam content, and this may not necessarily match up with real-world practices. I wanted to create content that maximizes clarity and provides an access point for the required knowledge. My goal was to create content that is a true distillation of all primary resources referenced by NCARB.

This app was born out of my own study process for the ARE [...] I wanted to create content that maximizes clarity and provides an access point for the knowledge that is required.

What kinds of obstacles or challenges have you faced in developing the app itself?

My licensure process took about three years between graduate school, jobs, COVID, and life. It took about four years to develop the app itself. I had a lot of help along the way. My friend Hana Lee helped me with some early development. Lean Bakery, Bassem Aly, and his team of graduate students at the Pratt Institute Gamelab were also integral in advising and assisting with the development process. While my architectural background provided me with some intuitive understanding of the world of product design, it was not without its many technical snags and complications.

Describe your own licensure experience. Which exam(s) did you take, and what part of that process did you find most challenging?

I really enjoyed the process of licensure in the beginning. As incredibly nerdy as it sounds, it felt refreshing and alive to be consuming all this educational material again after university. I was concurrently going through the exams and developing the app. In the beginning, the process of building the app helped me in my own studying, but as the exams grew more complex so did the app. I started to encounter some difficulties managing my time and energy. The joy I had felt at the beginning of my journey was replaced by a manic state of wanting to complete the exams so I could finally launch the app. At a certain point, I realized I had to consciously reclaim that joy and curiosity. I am grateful for these roadblocks during the exam process because they helped me improve and reiterate the material for future exams.

How will the app help recent graduates on their path to strong>professional licensure?

My philosophy is that the exam process does not have to suck. While it is more so a companion tool for primary exam content, my hope is that it [the app] makes it easier to access study content wherever, whenever. Whether it’s on the beach or the subway commute, I hope to help people integrate this architectural content into their life instead of having their lives revolve around studying and memorization.

Passion is often touted as integral to the field of architecture (as problematic as that may be). And while passion is a hard ask for these exams, I think joy isn’t. In fact, it’s quite imperative to incorporate some joy into studying for architecture exams. I believe there is valid psychological reasoning for enjoyment aiding in retention. In an ideal world, we would retain this information well after getting through these exams and be able to recall it quickly in a professional setting.

How does this affect exam gaps and other areas of professional practice where imbalances exist?

One of the barriers to licensure is that exams are expensive and extremely time-consuming. It’s estimated that you should spend an average of 100 hours per exam, which adds up to about 600 hours given that you don’t fail any. The average ARE test taker fails two of their exams. And this is often on top of a full-time work grind and kids, pets, and life in general. People who start this process need to consider whether they can afford the time and financial costs outside of often already long working hours to invest in this process. On top of that, primary and secondary study materials and books cost hundreds of dollars. My hope is to democratize this process by making this condensed content more accessible to everyone at lower prices.

One of the barriers to licensure is the fact that exams are expensive and extremely time-consuming [...] People who start this process need to consider whether they can afford the time and financial costs [...] My hope is to democratize this process by making this condensed content more accessible to everyone at lower prices.

In the future, how do you envision the app being used? Will there be any more on the way, or is your focus now on other projects? If so, what are they?

The app is a minimum viable product, meaning it’s still a work in progress. I am constantly taking and incorporating feedback for our next update to improve usability. As the architectural field evolves, I do eventually hope to update the content as well. In the future, I would like to add sections on the California Supplemental Exam, LEED certification, as well as the 4 LAREs (the Landscape Architect Registration Examinations). However, right now my focus is currently on branding and packaging projects for other architects and organizations.