Do you want to study Architecture? Here’s what you need to prepare!
Ever dreamt of becoming one of the world’s renowned architects? Ever dreamt of building an organic curvy shape building? Or maybe a breathtaking monumental landmark for your beloved city? Or you may have a rather simple goal, that is to build a comfortable home for your parents and your family?
At this point, you start thinking that maybe being an architect is your calling. Then, what’s next? The next second, you find yourself googling lists of architecture schools. You start from the one nearest to your neighborhood, and then tab after tab, you find yourself looking at the other one across your continent.
What makes an architecture school differs from one another? Its curriculum and credibility? Its prestige? Its alumnus? Well, in my case, firstly I chose my architecture school because it is a design-based school. Most architecture schools in my country are engineering-based schools, so being in one architecture school that focuses more on design exploration is a plus point for me. Secondly, my architecture school has a great set of promising lecturers. They have the capability of not just teaching architecture theoretically, but also show you the mindset of a true creative problem solver. And I think being an architect is not always about producing visually good design, but a good architect designs to solve a problem. My second reason is also supported by the fact that these lecturers have the right connection to professional architects out there. Sometimes my lecturers would invite professional architects to give public lectures or even review our designs.
So, first things first. You need to know what kind of architect you want to be. If you don’t have the answer yet, fret not. A lot of time, this image of a good architect of yours can change along with your study. The important thing is that you have to choose an architecture school that allows you to grow as an aspiring architect.
But hey, you have made it this far. So, as promised in the title, I will list down things that you (may) need to prepare before officially becoming an architecture student. (Or at least based on my own experience)
- Get prepared for your wallet and bank account screaming “Help me!”
Now that you have found the architecture school of your dream, the tuition fee (sometimes) can be the cause of that dream to fade away. Architecture school is often highly priced. That is because this field of job deals with huge responsibilities. If one day you graduated and become a real architect, you are not only responsible for creating unique designs, but you are also responsible for the well-being of people who are going to use your building. Therefore, architecture school is there to help you understand the role of spaces you created and their impact on human lives. Architecture school will also help you understand the risks of your design and help you minimize those risks.
Not only the tuition fee, but you also need your money to buy some drawing tools. Pencils, drawing books, Copics, Sharpies, rulers, a drawing table, and so on. There are lots of drawing tools to buy and they are going to cost you a lot, only to find out that you are going to ditch those tools with a laptop in your second year. And why is that? As someone who is going to work in a creative industry, you need to understand first how to work traditionally. This includes the ability to pour your ideas into sketches, then drawings. Sketches are the traditional ‘show and tell’ in architecture design. You are going to use your sketches to pitch ideas to your clients. But, on the other hand, the world today is digital. Working your drawings in digital will help you work faster and minimize mistakes in your drawings. Sometimes when you draw manually, you will find yourself using the wrong line thickness or you may accidentally make your drawings dirty. That is why I suggest you have a set of skills in both traditional drawing and digital drawing.
Next, you also need your money to make models of your design. Printing your drawings that took pages is not enough in architecture school. You will also need to build scaled models of your design. This is to show people your design from a three-dimensional perspective, and in some cases, to show that your design is buildable. There are various ways of model building, varied from manually cutting and gluing them, laser cutting, 3D printing, and using CNC machines. Of course, the more sophisticated they are, the more expensive they become. But, each of these techniques gives different expressions to your model. So you need to consider what kind of project you are designing and what kind of technique suits best for your design.
There is also an optional expense, which is architecture books. You may also want to consider reading some architecture books to broaden your insight. Some books may help you better understand designing, while others may help you better understand building technology. But, if you are lucky enough, some basic architecture books may be provided by your campus library. So definitely check it out!
2. Prepare your camping equipment
Being an architecture student is very exhausting. With all the tasks given, followed by class credits that you need to fulfill, it is not strange if 24 hours a day is never enough. You will encounter times when you need to spend the night in your campus studio. You even may not have a proper sleep schedule. There are several times when some of my friends brought their sleeping bags to stay overnight. Some of my seniors even bought a sofa for their studio. Or if you don’t mind sleeping on top of your drawing table, it’s also fine.
But, I find this thing is how we, architecture students, interact socially. Most of the time you are going to be very focused on your projects so there would not be a lot of time to interact with your friends. Having an overnight together sounds like a great opportunity to know each other better and have fun together. To be frank, this is also my top-of-the-list of things that I miss so much in architecture school.
3. Be friends with van Gogh, Mondrian, Kandinsky, or even that 5-year-old kid in your neighborhood
The creative mind is going to be your main weapon in architecture. Often your design idea starts with something very abstract. An abstract can be your identity as a creative designer. It can also help you and others to understand the meaning of your design idea. From that abstraction, you will develop it into something more concrete and meaningful. You need not only the ability to produce abstraction, but also the ability to convert it into physical spaces. Only when your design has a physical form can it truly be perceived by people. Thus, I suggest you explore lots of abstract designs and paintings. You need to hone your skill in deciphering an abstract painting. What does the painting really mean? What does it try to portrait? Who is it for? What was the context of the abstraction? This is also the sole reason why abstractions are priceless.
You can find that a lot of starchitects started their design idea with abstraction in form of sketches. Sometimes those sketches felt rushed, unpleasing to the eye, or even seemed meaningless. But that’s how the creative mind works. It has no meaning until it can be perceived.
The challenge for this is your consistency in portraying your abstract’s meaning till the end when your design is built. The design process itself is not an overnight process. An architect need weeks, months, or even years to complete one project. Often in the design process, the initial meaning of a certain design idea can change, and sometimes the change doesn’t always bring good results. But in the end, what makes your idea priceless is the value and meaning put in it through your design.
4. Be healthy physically and mentally
Now that you know how busy an architect student can be, you should not neglect your own body. People cope up with things differently, including stress. The creative industry is also a realm full of stress and it is not good for the body. You need to prepare yourself to go through stress every day because you are trained to be a great problem solver. That’s part of what being a great architect is about.
Learn how to manage your stress! You will feel physically exhausted, tired, and bored from what you are doing. But, you also need to remember that in the end, everything is going to be worth it. Don’t skip your meals! No matter how busy you are. If you have time to exercise or play sports, then you should go for it. Sometimes my friends and I would play basketball or badminton on campus. That is also a great chance to have quality time with your friends. Stress-free! Learn how to meditate for at least fifteen to thirty minutes a day each morning. Manage your emotion internally, so you can live your day as an architecture student better.
There you have it! Things that you need to prepare before becoming an architecture student, based on my own experience. Being an architecture student is not an easy job. You have to deal with a great length of problems every day. But, this adventure is an enjoyable one, especially if you have friends to grow with. I hope you find this article helpful and I wish you the best in your architecture journey!
Now, if you want to know what kind of experience I got from architecture school and what has it taught me, you can read my next article, “What has Architecture School taught me”.
