Hi! I'v been on here for sometime now and decided to post my first thought, hoping to get some feedback and advice, I'll try to be as clear and short as possible. I'm Ronald, 26, from New Jersey, US and currently living in New Zealand. By the time i head into any form of education aligned with what i want to do with my life, I'll be 27.
The passion and principle view I have for this industry is tightly correlated with environmentally responsible buildings e.g. variables from earthships, passive homes, bamboo construction, shipping container homes, straw-bale construction, earth bags (flexible form rammed earth construction) and so on.
I’v always been a huge believer that hands on experience is a better way to polish skills and knowledge in order to get a head start. In regards to environmentally responsible buildings, I am fortunate enough to have landed a small gig with a company called Solid Earth here in New Zealand. I need to expand and continue searching for environments I believe will help achieve my career goals. With these acquired experiences, I plan to build a portfolio illustrating projects I was able to be a part of. I'll attend an academy founded by Michael Reynolds called Earthship Biotecture based in New Mexico this upcoming September. With them, I'll obtain skills and knowledge I can apply to my future's work. Although I have heard pros and cons of this academy, I feel adopting variables can work as a great advantage and tool. I’ll be joining another architectural academy founded by Elora Hardy called IBUKU based in Bali, Indonesia this upcoming August. They focus on bamboo construction which incorporates sustainability into the modern world. Of course, with this pandemic changes may occur.
I feel stuck with wanting to apply to a University for architecture or go into carpentry. My goal in life is to build schools/clinics in countries that are first to be affected from climate change disasters. To reduce the amount of time NGOs spend in these countries, which ends up being long term contributing to the poverty cycle. If you had to share some advice to someone in my age group with similar aspirations, what would you advise? thanks so much!
kenchiku
May 2, 20 4:53 pm
Did you dig into actual testimonials for these academy workshops you're planning to attend? They're the cost of one of my entire semesters at school but last ~11 days? That's wild.
Anyway, you might be interested in the work MASS Design Group does.
ronaldalava
May 2, 20 8:09 pm
yeah i did, i sent a bunch of emails asking questions left and right, i do agree it is a bit pricey but i feel like it might be worth it, i could be completely wrong and lose out on money but i hope that's not the case. i'll definitely check out that design group! thanks a bunch
Wood Guy
May 2, 20 5:35 pm
If you want to build interesting houses and change the world, you should build interesting houses and change the world. If you want to be an architect, go to architecture school. Or do one, then the other. If you're not sure if you want to be an architect, try working in the field for a while (on projects that have architects--not all do--a detail I did not think of when I was in your shoes).
Check out this organization for a practical education in sustainable construction methods: http://endeavourcentre.org/.
If you do a bunch of hands-on work and decide to go back to school, you'll be invested in it. If you're not sure you want to be in school, you won't get as much out of it.
Hi! I'v been on here for sometime now and decided to post my first thought, hoping to get some feedback and advice, I'll try to be as clear and short as possible. I'm Ronald, 26, from New Jersey, US and currently living in New Zealand. By the time i head into any form of education aligned with what i want to do with my life, I'll be 27.
The passion and principle view I have for this industry is tightly correlated with environmentally responsible buildings e.g. variables from earthships, passive homes, bamboo construction, shipping container homes, straw-bale construction, earth bags (flexible form rammed earth construction) and so on.
I’v always been a huge believer that hands on experience is a better way to polish skills and knowledge in order to get a head start. In regards to environmentally responsible buildings, I am fortunate enough to have landed a small gig with a company called Solid Earth here in New Zealand. I need to expand and continue searching for environments I believe will help achieve my career goals. With these acquired experiences, I plan to build a portfolio illustrating projects I was able to be a part of. I'll attend an academy founded by Michael Reynolds called Earthship Biotecture based in New Mexico this upcoming September. With them, I'll obtain skills and knowledge I can apply to my future's work. Although I have heard pros and cons of this academy, I feel adopting variables can work as a great advantage and tool. I’ll be joining another architectural academy founded by Elora Hardy called IBUKU based in Bali, Indonesia this upcoming August. They focus on bamboo construction which incorporates sustainability into the modern world. Of course, with this pandemic changes may occur.
I feel stuck with wanting to apply to a University for architecture or go into carpentry. My goal in life is to build schools/clinics in countries that are first to be affected from climate change disasters. To reduce the amount of time NGOs spend in these countries, which ends up being long term contributing to the poverty cycle. If you had to share some advice to someone in my age group with similar aspirations, what would you advise? thanks so much!
Did you dig into actual testimonials for these academy workshops you're planning to attend? They're the cost of one of my entire semesters at school but last ~11 days? That's wild.
Anyway, you might be interested in the work MASS Design Group does.
yeah i did, i sent a bunch of emails asking questions left and right, i do agree it is a bit pricey but i feel like it might be worth it, i could be completely wrong and lose out on money but i hope that's not the case. i'll definitely check out that design group! thanks a bunch
If you want to build interesting houses and change the world, you should build interesting houses and change the world. If you want to be an architect, go to architecture school. Or do one, then the other. If you're not sure if you want to be an architect, try working in the field for a while (on projects that have architects--not all do--a detail I did not think of when I was in your shoes).
Check out this organization for a practical education in sustainable construction methods: http://endeavourcentre.org/.
Check out this group for real world-changing potential: https://living-future.org/lbc/
This group is known worldwide and does a great job of training to control energy and air quality: https://passivehouse.com/
If you do the Earthship training, also check out my friend Rachel's book on how to address their downsides: https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Earthship-Search-Earth-Shelter-EveryBody/dp/0986115525.
If you do a bunch of hands-on work and decide to go back to school, you'll be invested in it. If you're not sure you want to be in school, you won't get as much out of it.
thanks so much! i really appreciate this