Architectural Graphic Standards, but the best experience is to try building one thing you have designed and drawn up.

fuck books man, youtube is where it's all at.

http://sweets.construction.com/ -> directory of virtually all important construction suppliers / manufacturers etc - major ones have their own technical libraries either there or on their respective web pages

https://www.arcat.com/ - repository of details, construction drawings and what not

http://www.aecinfo.com/ -> a bit like sweets

I've taking the building code/ANSI route. Think this helped me be a better designer/planner. Finding and or creating details came from understanding of codes. Spend nights hand sketching details. Master standard details and practice new sustainable details and look for case studies.

Studying for your ARE will increase your knowledge of Architecture

Studying for your ARE will increase your knowledge of Architecture

 

Damn Fucking Right. No sarcasm. This man speaks truth.

Go work for a small firm. If you're good you will be on the job site in 6 months. You want a crash course in being an architect with a firm your best bet is a good small firm. You won't see half of what it really takes at a larger firm

My thoughts on working in  small firm: You'll learn everything a small firm will teach you in the first 3 months of solo practice. You'll never get a large project coming from a small firm and without any large project experience. Pick your poison carefully.

Guess it depends what you call large. 5-20 million? Small or large? I started on projects in the 5 million area and was doing 20 million dollar projects in 7 years. Firm size 6. I'm not talking about houses and remodels when I say small. Working on 50-100 million dollar projects doesn't translate to starting a firm very well. No one would drop this type of work on a new firm.

Faster way to a job site is by working for a GC.  I did project management, bidding, and contract negotiation for a couple years while in grad school.  Would go to one of our job sites every day at 5:00, and spend a few hours dealing with problems that come up because of the way it was drawn and the sub's "way it's always been done".  I only told one sub that I was in school for architecture...after that they never listened to a word I had to say.  Then would go to the office and spend a few hours on the phone with estimators.  Then in studio by 2:00.

I was very busy, but I learned a lot.  And because the owner of the firm was an Architect the work went towards IDP.

Study for the AREs. Asap. Pay attention to the references listed in the books you study for the exam with (Ballast, Kaplan, AGS, AHPP, etc.). For example, in the back of Graphic Standards there's references to the trade organizations. Some have manuals on how to build the assemblies they specialize in. Visit ARECoach forum. There's LOTS of helpful info there from people in the same situation as you.

Working at a small firm can go both ways... I've been at one 4yrs, still not done with 4 IDP categories. Be wary of being pigeonholed.

I'm torn on working for a GC. One of my friends my age does. He's learned an incredible amount. The money is $13k+ more than he made for a firm that was top 3 in the latest Architect top 50. If he goes back to a firm he'd have to be licensed to almost break even. (I don't know how difficult it is to get a job in arch firm once you're working for a related field). If I had to do it all over I would though.

Also check out Google 3dwarehouse. I think the masonry institute has their assemblies as models on there. I'd also second videos online. It helps when you can't get on a job site and have been staring at 2d details for awhile

Go buy some nail bags and get a job with a framing crew and stay for a minimum of one year. Then go work for a trim carpenter for a year.

With both framing and trim do production work and higer end more detail conscious work.

Everything plumb square and level.

Now Go!