run forest run!!  don't get into architecture at this age unless you got lots of money saved up xP

A few answers:

- a B.Arch. ends at  age 23 or 24, and a 4+2 ends at 24 or 25.  For M.Arch. (extended), the average age, at entry, is 27 or 28.  You would have to start next year, which would be 29.

- the education will depend on what state you live in and what state you might move to.  Especially in this climate, I would not expect to get hired just by switching fields without any additional education, though a BS in Physics is indicative of smarts.  A few states don't have an educational requirement. The operative word is few.  The shortest educational route is then the M.Arch.  It can be done in as little as 3 years, or 6 semesters.  You will need a portfolio to demonstrate 3 dimensional thinking and creative potential.  This puts you into the field at 32.  That means 35 working years until Social Security, which is a long time.  It's totally up to you.  As an EE, you probably make good money and I'm sure the atmosphere is kind of staid or intellectual.  In architecture, you will have an income drop in the beginning that will last a while.  The other thing is that architecture will be culture shock - both in school and in the office.  If your current environment is somewhat conservative or conventional, then expect to find the next environment somewhat quirky, an in some firms even bohemian.

-  the job market is getting slightly better, and might be better when you exit school.  There is certainly pent up demand.  However, lenders are cautious. For curiosity, I looked at the AIA web site job center.  At the bottom of the trough, circa 2009, the number of jobs was about 85 to 105.  Today, it has about 180.  Around 2004 or so, the listings amounted to about 1,000.

Architecture is a long career!  Word on the street is that most architects don't really hit their stride until their 40s or 50s.  This is a significant advantage over fields where specific knowledge can become obsolete quickly and it can be hard to remain in a non-managerial position (depending on the company and specialty).

In the strictest sense of becoming an architect (e.g., licensure), your fastest possible path is likely five or six years - three for graduate school, and two to three for internships and exams (depending on summer internships, average hours worked, etc.).  This would put you at 35, which is not all that uncommon an age for people to become licensed.  Depending on what kind of electrical engineering you practice, and where you went with architecture, your previous knowledge could be a significant asset in architecture in the long run (though I don't know if it would get you paid more in the near term).

Hopefully the economy in the mid-2030s (theoretically, when you'd be hitting your stride) is kind to architects.  For the time being, many of us are making at least minimum wage now, which is a significant improvement over the past few years.  I don't think anyone gets into this field for the money - otherwise we'd be contractors or developers or something.

Finally, are you a licensed engineer (PE), or do you just work in that sort of capacity?  (Can a BS in Physics be ABET accredited?)  If it's the former and you're just interested in working on buildings in some other capacity, perhaps pursuing a different specialty (structural engineering?) may whet your appetite for architecture in a much faster way.

I think a 2 year ms in structural engineering or architectural engineering would be a good decision. You could master the cool software and work on complex structures and you would get to do a lot of work on interesting projects or complex  facade design and fabrication, as architecture is becoming more and more digital more complexities arise in building the structure and systems. You would get the creativity you desire and not spend as long in school and most likely earn more money, additionally you could probably find a job in the field for a engineering firm while you finish a masters in arch eng or structural eng. Firms like ARUP (large scale) and Studio NYL (small scale) and other are beginning to do some interesting work, I would shoot for that in my opinion, architecture is a rough road and and you mostly design pretty standard stuff in the real world, become a engineer with interest and appreciation for good architecture.

http://www.arup.com/Services/Advanced_Technology_and_Research.aspx

So if you can maintain EE and Architectural professional registrations you may end up being quite valuable to many small to medium firms. The prequalifications in Michigan for architectural firms changed they need to have mechanical and electrical engineering in house, you can do two things with one salary, I think you might have a new niche market to exploit. I assume you want more complex problems to solve with wild and unpredictable variables (clients) and interesting interpersonal challenges to resolve (clients and Lawyers) or you always wanted to design the complete building not just one major system.  I say go for an internship or just ask to job shadow to see if the culture is compatible but hold on to the professional registrations and training that you have, the more hats you wear the more places you could fit in.

Over and OUT
Peter N

would'nt worry28 is nothing, would'nt leave it longer though as it takes a while to get trained up, even in the uk where i am from its 7 years min but mor likely to be 10 years or so to being fully qualified. Funny thing was there was this guy in one of the uk architecture forums who is looking to start an architecture degree at the age of 57!!! and i dont think he was thinking of doing it just for the interest, like by the time he gets trained up it would be time to retire, pointless.