Every so often, when discussing my career, schooling will get brought up. It seems a lot of people are pretty curious as to how Architects become trained. After explaining the long studio hours, and the even longer studio nights, along with working on projects throughout the weekend the question usually comes up of, “If you had to do it all over again, would you?”
I’ve answered this question nearly the same way every time. “I don’t know what else I would do, so yes.” And looking back even though it was one of the hardest things I would ever go through, there are a lot of things I miss about Architecture School.
No Budgets
You want to talk about fun?! How about designing a museum with no budget to get in the way? Or a gas station (yep, did one!) I get curious sometimes when I look back at my designs and wonder what they would cost to be built in the real world today.
But that was what school was for! School gave us the opportunity to make big design strides because we could; because if it technically couldn’t work (and was being held up by SketchUp magic) then school was the place to find that out.
For instance, I learned (and pushed) the rules of cantilevering in my final thesis project. This is something I probably will not be able to do today cause it is so expensive for the client.
Another project of mine consisted of huge panes of glass that in the real world would be divided into more nominal sizes. But man, did it make my Lobby look cool!
The Physical Models
So, for me this was somewhat frustrating. I spent nearly five years improving and trying to perfect my physical modeling techniques to then be thrusted into the real world where… I HAVE NEVER DONE A SINGLE MODEL!
Looking back I can see the value in the physical model for students. It obviously depicts spatial conditions well, but it will also make the students slow down and be more tedious about the details in their projects.
Maybe one day I’ll get that client who wants a physical model (like in the movies!) and I’ll have my chance again. But for now, it’s CAD, BIM, with a little SketchUp thrown in for me.
Curious about how I render? Check out my post here discussing the three easy steps to follow to create more realistic SketchUp renderings!
Thesis, Theories, and Philosophy
The big picture. I miss designing for the big, dense picture. Now let me start by saying that Mississippi State could be a more theoretical Architecture School. The professors pushed their students to find meaning in their designs all the time. Answers like, “I dunno” or “cause it looked good” would not go over well.
By fifth year I had had a good grip on finding thesis ideas for my projects, had a couple of Philosophy classes under my belt, and was taking my Theory class.
I loosely remember my fifth year thesis project: It was essentially about the awakening of humans and how people just are walking through life numb. My project aimed at creating a moment to cause an “awakening” and make people wonder, think, and maybe even be a little uncomfortable.
Do you think I have clients coming up to me wanting these types of solutions to their problems? Nope. And that’s ok. I was able to design and re-think about what it is I think I “know” in school.
Learning Instead of Teaching
More and more I find myself teaching as opposed to being taught. It’s not necessary a bad thing really, but having no other responsibly than to learn and apply what I learned is missed by me.
I’m not talking about having to complete continuing education courses (though, I do learn a lot with good ones!) I’m mainly talking about the classes that provided brand new information to me and opened the door that allowed me to look at the world differently. I miss History, Philosophy, even my Structural courses! All of which I wish I had taken more advantage of at the time.
As Architects, we are constantly providing our knowledge to our clients in a way that makes sense to them. To the everyday layman, Code, ADA, and basic design principles sometimes do not make sense; it is up to us to bridge the gap and extend our knowledge and educate them on what we know.
From time to time, I have to sit back, slow down, and remember that this “stuff” just comes naturally to me now cause I have been trained to know it.
“4th Meal”
Ahhh, the late night Taco Bell run. There is a couple reasons why I look back and miss this so much. One reason is that nowadays I don’t push deadlines to the point where I need to stay up late like I did. So at midnight I’m asleep! The second being, flash forward 10-12 years and my waistline just can’t handle it anymore!
But anyone who has gone through Architecture School, or is currently going through school, can attest to the ritual of leaving studio late at night (or early in the morning) with your friends to grab a quick bite, or a coffee.
Honestly, I don’t think it’s even about the food run as much as it is about the bonding experience with your friends. You’ll look back on and will miss this, I’m sure. So kids, have a Nacho Supreme for me!
Comradery
Yep, piggybacking off of good ole 4th meal is missing my studio friends. I’m lucky enough to still be in close contact with a couple of my best friends through Architecture School. We work in the same city, with the same engineers and contractors, and are all in our local AIA. So I do have the opportunity to meet up with them from time to time.
However, with life, work, responsibilities, and family comes less time to do this. We all have our 9-5’s now. We all are under tight deadlines and as such, getting together just isn’t that easy anymore.
I miss being able to just walk into studio and see my friends all there; head down, headphones in, drawing or modeling. I miss being able to get up, walk over to see how their projects were doing and see if they had any ideas for mine (cause I was probably stuck.)
I have great friends who didn’t go to school with me. But there is a completely different bond that my studio friends and I share that nobody can really understand.
And yes, whenever we do meet up you bet it’s like a day hasn’t passed as we go on and on with our ArchiSpeak!
It’s true how the song goes, “You don’t know what you got, til it’s gone.” Architecture school is one of the most difficult schools to go through. But looking back I have some really good memories.
So are you in school currently or have any great memories you’d like to share from school? Anything you DON’T miss about it? Let me know!
