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Pre-Study... fresh meat :)

Inco del Cambio

Hey guys,

I'm a young guy from Central Europe that recently signed up at the University in order to study Architecture. We moved to this new city and since the University was really famous (they're bragging about it, I'm sure you could guess which one I'm talking about) I saw it as a good opportunity to study architecture and get the good training they're so proud of.

I never really knew what I wanted to do, I was always reluctant to over-invest myself into "careers" nor did I really know what I want - only thing I did know was that I liked to visualize, draw, try to be creative and in my younger days, play video-games (great inspiration hehe).

 

Anyway, the other day I decided to actually see what Architecture is all about - I had some basic ideas about it (both from the school's programme and a presentation I once heard). Then I accidentally found your forum and read about a few topics...

Interesstingly enough, after reading a few stories from various "architects" (on architects.about.com) I found that it indeed seems that the profession is idealized; at least most of the talk was about bad pay/unpaid bills; working like a slave for free, what not... I hope it's only the case in the States though, or I'll have to work my arse off really hard to get to the top 1%!

 

That was quite a long intro... but the reason I joined you guys here, is to get some insight, problems, both the good and the bad... and ask you a few questions, which you hopefully won't mind! I'll just list a few of them that pop into my mind, no need to answer all of them, or any of them actually, you might just as well write something about your personal experience. Also, sorry if this has been covered before, you could pop in a link to the corresponding topic(s) :)!

 

Here we go!

- What was your view of the profession IN THE BEGINNING and how did it change over the years? Why did you decide to study architecture in the first place?

- Choose your 3-5 FAVOURITE and WORST things about being an architect

- How does the financial situation look like? Let's imagine we have two guys: Jeff and Matt. Jeff, who is pretty passive and waits for people to come to him... he doesn't get too much work due to his lack of enthusiasm and initiative: > He'd represent the "bad, unlucky architect".

And we have Matt, who is passionate about creating, designing and exploring new ideas - he's applying to all the contests there are, he's always active and looking for the next great opportunity. Due to his big initiative and strong, positive spirit, he also works on bigger projects. > So Matt would be the "ideal" architect, someone we all want to eventually become.

How much would Jeff and how much would Matt get?

- What advice(s) would you give me, being someone who's about to start studying this whole mess ?

 

Nothing much that comes to my mind, but hope you guys will be able to give me more (personal) insight into this whole area! Also, please don't sugar-coat anything, I think we've enough of those things around us, so be brutally honest if you have to.

Thanks!

 

Take care, and good luck!

Andi

 
Jun 16, 11 1:28 pm
trace™

Write less, you'll get more replies, no way any of us have enough time to read each line, especially when almost all of what you are asking has been discussed a billion times.

"someone who's about to start studying this whole mess"  

That about sums it up. Run.

Jun 16, 11 9:51 pm  · 
 · 
Inco del Cambio

Sorry to hear that... still, thanks for the heads up.

EDIT/PS: Why are you still in the business then?

Jun 17, 11 2:24 am  · 
 · 
Hence

I've only been doing this for 5 yrs, but only do it if you love architecture.  It is not the best job to make money, and it is not the best job to get "benefits".  But if you love hard work and seeing the results, then go for it

Jun 17, 11 9:06 am  · 
 · 
trace™

I am not, in a traditional sense, I left the 'normal' career path shortly after grad (and after 7+, 8.5 really, years of arch education).

I love architecture, I do not love or like the profession of architecture (again, generally speaking).

 

It'd be worth your while to do some searches and spend some time reading.  There are many well thought out discussions that go in depth with all the things you are curious about.

Jun 17, 11 4:49 pm  · 
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