Dude, I've said this many times to other people... But if you feel inspired by work of your colleagues, learn from them. If you feel their presentation skills are satisfactory, do what they're doing! If their drawing skills are better, make YOURS better! If you feel their model making skills are better, make YOURS better.

These are your school colleagues and your peers that you are supposed to be learning from not your competitors! Being inspired by their work is a great thing and if you feel that their techniques are better, ask them how they do it. Some people get this impression that being inspired by other peoples work is tantamount to being jealous which couldn't be further from wrong. You will always have inspiration and influences that will govern your techniques. I'm always flattered when people ask me how I do certain things that I might be strong at and consequently I'm more than happy to share my techniques with anyone.

Also remember that there are many different kinds of architects. Your strengths may be in a certain aspect of it that you have yet to uncover. lot of people begin to figure it out down the stretch. Don't worry.

Just work hard and don't succumb to pressure.

Is it normal? Perhaps not - usual? Yes. Ideas are overrated, so let that bullshit go. If anything, you can learn the fundamental technical skills you need to communicate a design idea. That will serve you better professionally since you won't graduate and get handed a huge budget and praise for your 'concepts'.

So just stop with all the angsty drama - learn how to draw, how to draft, how to put things together, and how to create documents which effectively communicate basic ideas and strategies.

I don't know anything about your school's curricular theory or faculty background, but perhaps you need to first calm down and second contact a faculty member to talk about things during their office hours.

I like it!

As much as I appreciate and admire people for their abilities to communicate and understand philosophical/mathematical theories in architecture I usually just give people blank stares and wonder what the hell they just sat their and told me.

But for some people that's their strength and it's to be admired.

You've got some friendly responses here. They've given you the benefit of the doubt.

I'd say you seem unhappy and are clearly self-depreciating. Perhaps that's just depression. Or perhaps you've come to the realization this is not the field for you. Many people quit after a year. I read somewhere that there are more dropouts in the field of architecture within the first 2 years of school than in any other profession. You would not be the first.

I'm not telling you what to do, just letting you know that many have chosen that path. Architecture isn't for everyone. Some people learn this (or at least admit it) much later than others. Most of those people regret not quitting earlier.

Then again, maybe Archmed and Peridoibritches are right and you just need to apply yourself with more conviction and motivation and be more observant of the design approaches used by your peers.

good luck

A University is a learning community, not a school. Learning from your peers and self-learning are an essential part of this.

Couple of suggestions: first, if you're hopeless at drawing certain things, draw something else, but keep drawing - it might take thousands of hours of drawing before you are any good. second, don't feel inferior about not being from an art-school background. your science background allows you to see problems in ways art-school people might not. use this to your advantage - make diagrams, play with parameters...

The way you're feeling is very common.

Suck it up. This is just the start. It'll get a ton harder and a ton more fulfilling. Clarity will come from time. I had no clue what I was doing for the first two years and then it hit me. Honestly, it was like "wow".

Your classmates are the most important to learn from. Study the best students, talk to them, understand what they are thinking, what they look at, etc. Same goes for upper classmates - understand how they work.

Imagine what all of us did before we had the internet to go on and bitch about bs!!

First off, I didnt read your post, but based on the reactions i think I know what its about..

My second year of arch school I was considering quiting. Im not sure if everyone goes through that phase, but I certainly did for a bit. I am now enjoying quite a successful/fun young career, and cant believe I ever contemplated doing anything else. I think at one point I just sat down and REALLY thought about it. i thought, could I really be a lawyer or a pencil pusher, or whatever? Architecture's just too cool. Its too much fun. If you dont have those feelings at some point, that this is truly a fun profession, then you're probably better off doing something else.

Thats just my perspective/experience. Maybe it never hits people like it did for me. Maybe to other people its just another job. But to me that cheapens it for those people, and it cheapens the profession as a whole. Ok, ranting now

You said:
"Anyway, is it normal for the school not to teach anything to the students? I have been self-learning everything myself- from technical drawings to modelling. They only there to give us opinions and criticize."


Well, yes and no. I had a similar experience, felt my teachers didnt teach me how to draft, or how to model in carboard vs. concrete, or what a truss was. They'd kind of just say 'this is good, but take it further' or 'this needs work'--and then at that point I might have said 'what needs the most work?', and often they'd suggest looking something up or talking to a peer of mine w/ a similar problem. But you learn to model by modeling, you learn to draw by drawing. People come into architecture with various levels of skills, but the main goal is to improve on your skills, its meaningless when an already good drawer doesn't push themselves to become even better. As long as you are improve, no matter how much, you're on the right track.

I think a big part of architectural education is learning how to teach yourself, and furthermore I think that is so because so much of real world architecture is that way. And, often I felt my teachers didnt teach 'how' to draft because there are numerous ways, and for that matter, you may discover a great drafting technique on your own that you wouldn't have found had you been told how to do it, and been satisfied with instruction. Same goes for the rest. If you love architecture, keep at it.

dude most great architects draw for shit...so don't worry "be Happy"
Your studying to be and Architect and there is a heck of alot more to it than dreamy pictures my friend.

There was once a guy in school who used toothpaste in his models to represent water. It was fricking wierd, but he was young and damn if you don't know it by the time he graduated....people from the profession looked at his models in awe! No one held his hand, he just did it cause it was in him.

So go chill and have a "White Russian"...DUDE!

I think its quite usual for arch students to want to quit or throw themselves under a bus during times of stress and after when the marks come out. You gotta realise grades aren't end all be all. What of the people that fail a paper?

You gotta have the drive to keep going, have an aim, look at 5th year work, what are they doing that your not? the only way they got where they are is dedication and hard work.

first year is often a shock to students that are used to the structure of a typical educational experience: teacher talks, teacher shows, student takes notes, student retains information and regurgitates on test day, student gets pat on the head for performing well. I teach first year students and it is very common for students to struggle with how design studio works - especially if a student has succeeded in the classroom previously.

In design studio, you have to be prepared to learn by doing, not by observation or reading about something. If you think your skills need work, then it is up to you to develop those skills. It is your instructor's charge in first year is to lead you through the design process until you have the hang of it on your own - the sooner the better.

You should feel good about your technical skills, and be confident in your ability to think critically about your work (rely on your experience in the sciences). Your technical skills are what will get you a job at the intern level anyway.
Don't be so hard on yourself either...hang in there. Every single person on this forum has a hard-knocks story from first year in architecture school: you are not alone.

Hey everyone. I just had my critz. It didn't go so well as my tutors don't like my design. Anyway, it's okay :) I feel so much inspired by what you guys said and feel more purposeful as I chose to continue along this line of profession.I'm not sure if I can make it or that I am a pencil pusher now but what hold me in this line is that I really like architecture. I Want to give my best shot in doing what has always inspired me :) Like many of you, I can't imagine myself in another profession and if that ever happened, it'll be an unhappy life.

Eventhough I have been working hard but I think I'm just working with brute effort. I should work smart and obviously, improve my drawings and etc. It's a relieve and inspiring to know everyone here who are senior in this field were once struggling in the same issues as I am right now. I thought I'm the only one as everyone around me seem 10 times better than I am in everything.

Anyway, I'm glad that I did my ranting and got a lot of useful advices :) Thank you guys, everyone of you are inspiring :)

Kken - they may not be 10 times 'better' than you in the sense I suspect you are using it (ie: they are more valuable human beings, and i am not because my work is shit, time to throw myself in traffic or get that business degree), which suggests to me you have not emotionally separated your identity from the work you are doing, which suggests to me a lack of knowledge about who you are, what you want, etc (which was my condition while in school).

'I can't imagine myself in another profession and if that ever happened, it'll be an unhappy life."


What do you know about the profession? Who knows where you will end up - undergrad is just the foundation. You learn the fundamental technical skills for both design communication and architectural thinking. But it is far from an analog of what working in the industry is like.

Find a way to disconnect your emotions/anxiety from the work at hand so you can actually begin producing in a manner which is helpful for you as a student. Go to the gym, or join intramurals or something.

'I can't imagine myself in another profession and if that ever happened, it'll be an unhappy life."

yeah, that's a dangerous statement. I went through 7 straight years (9 total) of arch school, did well, get in where I wanted to go, won some awards, etc., etc. and then I learned in the 6th year what the 'profession' was like.

I love architecture, but I do not like the profession. They are two completely different things. I am very happy with the path I chose.


FYI - while I left the traditional path, I have no regrets about my education, although I do wish I got my MBA in RE Dev at the same time (still considering that)

I don't know how it is there, but here at UNLV the 1st year is pretty much a filter to rid all those that arnt' 100% dedicated to architecture. I got a C+ first year, and I know my skillZ are better than most people. Although it may also be the affects of our incompetent faculty (some are great). "The filter" may be sad to hear and even wrong but that's the truth.

"my skillZ are better than most people"

Good christ you are going to be one big pain in the ass for your first employer.

kken of course your tutor didn't like your design. do you have any idea how many designs your tutor has seen before? it can be quite hard for a teacher to get excited about first-year work. But that's not the point - what did you get right about the process? what could you have done better on the way?