Archinect - News

Tips for making the most of an architecture internship

2022-03-08T12:41:00-05:00

Architectural internships are a double-edged sword. At their best, an internship provides a valuable introduction to the profession for those at the beginning of their career; helping to inform complex decisions on their future development. However, at their worst, internships can also be a magnet for exploitation. In the broader U.S. economy, it is believed that 40% of internships are unpaid, as indicated in an NCARB poll from October 2021, which also found that 32% of respondents were recently offered or saw a listing for an unpaid internship.

To those who are successful in finding an architectural internship that respects their time and input, the role presents an opportunity to develop industry-relevant skills, build a resume, meet professionals and potential mentors, and even increase the chances of gaining a full-time position in the future. In order to help interns fulfill these goals, a broad range of academic institutions, experts, and Archinect’s own community, have shared...

Free 3D planning tool launched to help schools teach architecture

2021-09-30T16:17:00-04:00

Planner 5D, a digital design tool, has created a free educational version to help schools teach architecture and design. The tool, which allows users to generate 3D home designs, is offering its free educational licenses to “encourage students to foster their creativity in a digital realm while learning design principles.” The tool is available to teachers worldwide, who can download up to 100 free educational licenses for use by students.

The initiative has been launched to facilitate the teaching of STEM subjects to school kids, including focuses on art, architecture, engineering, and interior design. The app is centered on “problem based learning”, which invites students to develop computational skills by studying and solving home design challenges using a library of 6000 objects.

“With this free educational version for schools, we not only provide students across the globe with access to the platform but also help teachers to encourage them to foster their creativity while l...

Leading national architectural organizations collaborate to provide guides to help students and teachers explore careers in architecture

2021-04-16T10:25:00-04:00

Two new resource guides have been made available to help students and educators explore careers in architecture. “Your Guide to a Career in Architecture” is designed for high school students interested in joining the architectural community, while “Your Guide to Helping Students Consider a Career in Architecture” is intended for school counselors and educators to advise students through the process.

The guidelines are the result of a collaboration between the AIA, the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). As well as providing additional information for K-12 students already interested in an architectural career, the reports strive to broaden the base of students who may not have considered a pathway in architecture, but whose imagi...

How Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design is helping students navigate career opportunities during COVID-19

2020-04-23T14:27:00-04:00

While the architecture industry is seeing a dramatic reduction in employment opportunities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting hit to the economy, Archinect Jobs and our Talent Finder recruitment tool continue to offer the top resources in the industry for job-seekers and firms to connect professionally. Archinect is working hard to develop new tools and strategies to assist with recruitment. If you are a firm looking for better ways to attract the best talent, or if you're one of the thousands of architects that have recently lost their jobs, please let us know so we can help you.

Earlier this month, Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design (CPP ENV) appointed the department's first ENV Career Specialist in an effort to guide and address the looming questions students have during this time. Archinect was able to connect with CPP ENV's Career Specialist Alie Ivie to unpack the college's efforts to provide resources and support to their students.

Interview wit...

Here are 3 ways architectural design professionals can get better at detailing

2020-01-16T12:05:00-05:00

Drawing details is one of the foundational skills of an architect and the levels of mastery are seemingly endless. How does one communicate complex assemblies in two-dimensions? This is the constant question of the architect. Early on, it may feel unclear how to tap into this higher level of thinking, to move on from merely picking up redlines, drawing floor plans, elevations, and sections. Taking initiative is essential to one's professional development, and it's the same with this. Here are 3 ways that a design professional can grow in understanding details:

1. Understand existing drawing sets

It's one thing to be able to navigate a set of drawings, but it's an entirely different thing to truly understand its contents. When starting out, young professionals typically spend a lot of time interacting with already completed or semi-completed sets of drawings. It could be picking up red lines, modifying layouts, or organizing sheets, whatever it is, capitalize on the opportunity and p...

Don't be a spoon-fed professional

2019-11-07T18:36:00-05:00

In our professional growth, learning new skills and gaining new knowledge are foundational to our progress. Mentors guide our trajectory, and our experiences sharpen our competency. However, we can't always rely on the received information presented to us by other people. Instead, in many cases, we will need to proactively put forth our own effort to gain the knowledge required to elevate ourselves to a higher level.

I remember in my second year of professional work I expressed to my project manager that I wanted to start drawing wall details. I had been picking up a lot of redlines for wall details on a project that had multiple buildings and the team was going to start on a new building. Instead of doing redlines I wanted to be a part of creating the wall details for the DD package we were working on for this new structure.

"Okay, now you're doing wall details," he told me, "but keep in mind, it's probably going to take you a lot longer than the work you've been comfortable with. ...

How can you deal with working with someone you don't like?

2019-08-16T16:30:00-04:00

In an industry dependent on working with others, it is inevitable that we will come in contact with people we don't like. It might be a contractor, a consultant, or even one of our colleagues in the office. Whatever the case, working with someone we don't like can make work difficult. How do we deal with this? Bregman Partners CEO, Peter Bregman has some ideas.

Bregman says that we can't just "grin and bear it," like we might be tempted to do. "According to research, the more people like you, the easier, more productive, and more profitable, your life will be. Which means that someone you don’t get along with—even if you grin and bear it—poses a risk," he writes.

Instead, according to Bregman, we need to really look at the reason that we don't like someone. Perhaps, they're selfish or dismissive or mean. Ultimately, they tend to have some character traits that bother us. And so, after we identify this, we are supposed to look at ourselves and see if we can detect elements of these ...

How to Combat Imposter Syndrome in the Workplace

2019-08-16T13:00:00-04:00

As we progress in our careers in architecture, we can sometimes come to a crossroads where we feel like we're pretending. Maybe it's that first time on a construction site by yourself, and the fear of looking foolish or not knowing what to say begins to creep up. Perhaps, you've just completed your ARE Exams and are now officially "an architect," but owning that identity seems strange, almost like you're acting. And even then, there are those who finally make it into a leadership role, as a design principal or partner of a firm, and, in the beginning, the status feels uneasy.

Designer, Megan Crabtree recounts this feeling from her early career. "[I] spent the first few years of my professional life trying to be a good pretender, trying to ignore this voice in my head that takes over and says I don’t belong," she writes. Looking back at her younger self, she offers some pointers for those struggling with "imposter syndrome:"

Never Stop Asking For Feedback. Megan remembers how she us...

Just stop. Productivity may make you unproductive.

2018-09-28T02:47:00-04:00

Think about the artists who have put out too much work. How many lame Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler movies must we suffer? What about Eminem’s cringeworthy new album? Or the last couple from U2, Coldplay, and Madonna? When was the last time a James Patterson novel was actually good?

AIA teams up with National Girls Collaborative to build new educational pathways to architecture for girls

2018-03-01T14:33:00-05:00

In their latest effort to advance diversity and equity in the architecture profession, today the AIA and the National Girls Collaborative announced their new partnership to create new pathways for girls to achieve educational goals that will prepare them for future careers in the architecture and STEM fields.

Based in Seattle, the NGC teams up with organizations around the U.S. that are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue STEM careers. The group also runs The Connectory, the largest directory of youth-focused STEM programs in the country.

“Architecture represents an innovative blend of design and crucial STEM skills,” said Karen Peterson, the National Girls Collaborative CEO, in a statement. “Thanks to this partnership with AIA, we are looking forward to engaging more girls in architecture activities and career paths.”

On March 22, the NGC will host a one-hour webinar on how architecture and design programs around the U.S. can use The Connectory. It'll also be pos...

The mutual attraction of architecture and pastries; 4 architects turned pastry chefs

2018-01-23T15:07:00-05:00

Ms. Yee, who oversees pastry for all the restaurants in the Resurgens Hospitality Group, used to be an architect, and she designs desserts the way she once did building interiors: meticulously sketching every element, testing many prototypes. And these days she has plenty of company: Many of the country’s top pastry chefs have practiced or studied architecture.

As we have shown in Archinect's ongoing series Working Out of the Box, architects have a background and skillset that can be applied in many ways outside of traditional architecture practice. For example, these prominent pastry chefs all started off as architects and switched to designing cakes instead. Each chef has translated the intent of an architect into food design in unique ways, from 3D printed cake molds to creating pastries from sketches and blueprints.

Check out some of the their delicious designs below:

Dinara Kasko began as a Ukrainian architect:

Berry-almond tart with a surface constructed from a mold made by a 3D printer by Dinara Kasko. Image: Dinara Kasko.

Jennifer Yee has a degree in interior architecture:

Lemon Fleur éclair by Jennifer Yee. Image: Jennifer Yee.

Jansen Chan studied architecture at UC Berkeley:

Nectarine Orchata and Lemon Balm Broth by Jansen Chan. Image: Antoinette Bruno.

Baruch Ellsworth studied architecture at a California community college:

Choco...

Tiffany Brown wants to bring more black women into the architecture field with her project “400 Forward”

2017-12-13T17:42:00-05:00

“I try to be the face that I was looking for growing up,” Brown said. “So if I go into a room or an auditorium and just one person is interested in architecture, then I’ve accomplished my mission.” The name comes from a milestone this past August, when the 400th African-American woman became licensed as an architect. There are 110,000 licensed architects in the country.

Raised in Detroit, architectural designer Tiffany Brown won a 2017 Knight Arts Challenge grant for her project “400 Forward”, which aims to bring in more black girls and women into the field of architecture and urban planning. According to Brown, only 0.3 percent of U.S. architects are black women.

Start an education outside the classroom with Archinect’s internship roundup

2017-11-20T12:00:00-05:00

Everyone has to start somewhere so why not start now! Kick your education up a notch and begin learning what they don’t teach you in school. Certain invaluable skills are gained only by working in the field, under professionals, and in a firm. Jumpstart your career with our roundup of current internship positions on the Archinect job board. Scroll down and take a look.

DFA is currently looking for an Architectural Intern for Winter/Spring 2018.

Central Park Observation Tower rendering by DFA. Photo: DFA.

This is a full time internship lasting 20 weeks beginning on January 2nd, 2018 with a bi-weekly stipend of $1,000. A Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and or enrollment in a Master's of Architecture program is required. The right candidate will be interested in a multidisciplinary design studio driven by thoughtful and creative buildings, interior environments and public spaces.

PAR is seeking an Architecture Intern for their Los Angeles office.

Guggenheim Helsinki Museum by PAR. ...

Center for Urban Pedagogy accepting applications for inaugural Change in Design Fellowship

2017-03-30T20:18:00-04:00

As many recent surveys have noted, the design world has been slow to incorporate people from historically under-represented communities into its ranks, particularly in leadership positions. While a variety of causes lead to this, and greater efforts are required to address it, we are committed to using our resources to contribute to and catalyze that change in design.

At a time when inclusion is as crucial as ever in the architecture community and beyond, the non-profit Center for Urban Pedagogy in Brooklyn is encouraging designers from historically under-represented communities in the design profession to apply to their inaugural Change in Design Fellowship, a yearlong career training and mentorship program.

The call for applications is open to anyone who identifies as a member of an under-represented community (including but not limited to people of color, people from low-income, immigrant, or LGBTQ communities, formerly incarcerated people, and others), with a strong interest in CUP's work.

The fellowship is probably the best fit for recent design graduates, but applicants aren't required to have a degree. However, applicants will need to submit a portfolio and any evidence that demonstrates their design abilities and proficiency in design software. The fellowship is also a full-time position that includes a monthly stipend and benefits.

The Fel...

Despite progress, architecture still favors 'the young and childless'

2016-10-31T15:04:00-04:00

Work-life balance is always a question within our building, and within the industry at large. In a lot of ways, [architecture] really favors the young and childless. I'm recently married, and I don't have any kids yet. It’s really interesting to see people who eat, sleep, and breathe their work, but who then have kids (or something else about their life changes), and they have to draw back a little bit.