Architect and urban designer Matthew Frederick states in his book, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, "architects are late bloomers. Most architects do not hit their professional stride until around age 50!" Taking Frederick's statement into consideration how does age play into an individual's job decision and transition over time? How does age affect individuals exploring a new career in architecture?

Statistician Nathan Yau uses his professional experience with data and data visualization to create a graphic exploring the correlation between age and 100 common jobs individuals switch to overtime. Ranging from age 15 to 90 each job is listed on its own timeline. Any peaks within the timeline reflect the age where individuals are most likely to make a job switch. With this data, Yau then organizes the graph ranking jobs people are more likely to have when they are younger to when they are older. Although the graph does not have a designated "architecture" category, he does list a "design" category which can reflect various professions within design, architecture included. 

Yau collected data statistics from 113,000 surveys which focused on participants who switched jobs between 2011 to 2018. For design's timeline, the two highest peaks hit between 20 to 22 years of age and mid 30's. These peaks represent the ages where individuals make the switch out of design related professions. However, between the ages of 35 to 90 a switch within design professions become less frequent showing a steady flow of individuals settling into their chosen career. Architecture is no easy profession and a practice that is not for everyone. However, if we look back on the careers of several architects, many have either pursued the profession later on in life or started to develop a reputation and professional recognition well into their 30's, 40's and 50's. It is also not uncommon for individuals to pursue a career in architecture after having pursued a career in another field entirely. As Frederick explains, "there is perhaps no other profession that requires one to integrate such a broad range of knowledge...[it] takes a long time, with lots of trial and error along the way."

Discussions throughout our Archinect forum have addressed this specific topic. Based on comments and responses from several Archinectors, architecture is a field that works in conjunction with knowledge and experience. Time allows for individuals pursuing this career to assess and reassess their design aesthetic, ethos, and approach to the field. Architecture is often a question of patience and persistence. Mastering the profession does not happen overnight, and even so-called "wunderkinds" will not have the same design prowess as some of their "senior" counterparts. Yau's data visual reminds us that finding the right profession consists of a lot of job transitions before settling into the right one.  Although other factors like the job market and economy affect one's professional career in architecture, "success" in the field corresponds with ones persistence to grow in the profession. 

Below are more articles on the subject of choosing architecture and creating your own path. Learn more about aspiring architecture practices in Archinect's Studio Snapshot Feature series.

• Profession Growth and The Power of Observation
• 19 Young Architects on Why they Decided to Start Their Careers With Their Own Firms
• "To be or not to be" A Licensed Architect
• Margaret Griffin & John Enright on Defining the Projects that Define You