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120326
Joined: 18 May 2008
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 12:51 pm Post subject: Would you recommend architecture as a profession? |
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I am a high school student from Canada getting ready to enter university, by the end of may I have to decide wether I am going to study architecture or mineral engineering at university.
I would like an opinion from any architects as to why or why not they would recommend it as a profession, what kinds of things do you like or dislike about your job, and any advice in general that you could give.
thanks |
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lekizz
millennium club
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 1074
Location: UK
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| Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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| If you enjoy designing, drawing and communicating, and you want to be paid a modest salary for being creative then architecture is very good. If you don't want to work harder and for longer hours than you have ever done in your entire life (considerably harder than mineral engineering or any other college course) architecture may be the wrong choice. |
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csintexas
millennium club
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1865
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 8:36 am Post subject: |
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Well architecture schools are pumping people out by the thousands so it can't really be all that hard -certainly not harder than any other college course. (At least here in the USA)
There are an estimated 100,000+ registered architects in the US and probably 3 times that or more non-registered. I would guess that the reason architects pay has been dropping over the past several decades is over saturation.
I think you should do what you enjoy -it makes life a lot more fun.
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Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
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djswan
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 767
Location: Montana, USA
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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I picked between Forestry and Argricultural Engineering when I was 18. I was told to be an Architectural Engineer by a test and a counselors advise. And that there were no jobs in it, I looked for a good Peace Corps degree. ended up in the Marine Corps with a degree or two in Business.
Today I'm a timberframer, or a fancy name for an architectural engineer.
Just enjoy the journey.
Derek
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The Stig
Joined: 16 May 2008
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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In a word.....no.
I'm speaking from experience in the UK so i expect things are different in your part of the world. In Britain the building regulations are increasingly moving in the direction of becoming specialised which is de-skilling the Architect. Specialists are now being brought in to play their role in the design such as M&E engineers, fire engineers (more so now), disabled access design consultants etc. along with the usual suspects such as Structural Engineers. What with the demands being made by signing up to Kyoto and the lowering of carbon output of buildings, sustainability is increasingly playing a key role.
So thus the role of Architect is changing to a design management one. No longer can the Architect have his/her way on how the building will look. It will be the other specialists who will determine the finished article.
As for money you are better placed to set up on your own. Something i am trying to do (my other thread which no-one has replied to!!!!!!). Like most professions you won't make serious money working for someone else.
But with hindsight i would have chosen a different role in construction. In the UK the M&E Engineer is moving to the forefront, particularly with sustainable construction and my hunch is that is where the big bucks in construction design will be. |
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Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 154
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| My question is why architecture or mineral engineering? I'm not familiar with the field of mineral engineering, but just about any field can be fulfilling based on what you make of it. Financially, your early years in the profession is pathetic compared to other professional fields. But after five years or so, your salary will pick up pretty quickly. Like everything else, it all depends on your proficiency at your job. |
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120326
Joined: 18 May 2008
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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I am considering mineral engineering because I really like being outdoors and my favorite subject is earth sciences, its a very small program and mining companies grab up grads as quick they can.
The thing is I think I'd be bored if I weren't doing something creative, I am torn 50/50. |
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Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 154
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:54 pm Post subject: |
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| One thing that you should consider is that if you're looking to do something creative for a career, there is no guarantee that you will achieve that in architecture. Not many career architects get to be at the design level. You can almost guarantee that every office have their designated lead designer. You will most likely come in and be a drafter and permit processor for the next five years. You might try to take some beginning architectural classes to see if it is something that you might want to explore further. As for enjoying the outdoors, how much of the outdoors do you really want? When you are required to be outdoors for a job, your outlook may be different. Graduates being picked locked up for employment now may not be the case when you graduate, just look what happened to the engineering program five years ago. |
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navinr
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 7
Location: west l a
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 8:49 am Post subject: |
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I'd reccomend architecture but only because it may allow you to get into many different areas.
I'm a registered architect and a licensed general contractor in 2 states plus I have a bunch of building code certifications.
I worked as a draftsman and then as a project architect for about 15 years after graduating school.
My modest public university had a very tough program; my class went from 300+ first year to 20 something 5th year.
I passed all parts of the 4 day architects exam the first time. (Back then it wasn't on the computer and you had to take it all at once the first time.)
I note the above only to indicate I come from a modest background but I'm no slouch and through hard work became a very good project architect.
The problem with the architecture profession is as others have noted; generally low pay. generally long hours, the work can be very mundane; only the top people generally do any interesting design, everyone else does very basic design issues or just works endless hours on construction documents and construction administration.
Most architecture firms tend to pay people on a salary basis and then work them very long hours; you end up making a very poor hourly wage when you consider the long hours.
Don't get me wrong; there can be moments where a project turns out very good and it's very rewarding, and the pay can be OK; but if you're looking to really accomplish something financially architecture wouldn't be my first choice....
Unless architecture leads to something else.
As noted I started taking a bunch of code tests a long time ago and eventually obtained a pretty good supervisory job with a Building Safety Division in Los Angeles with a City goverment. My pay is way better than anything I made as an architect, the benefits are much better; I work in a beautiful City Hall. I see the latest designs from all the top firms in the City, and I'm involved in a lot of different aspects of local government.
I'm obviously not designing anything but I can still do small time design work on the side; which I do.
The much improved pay in my goverment position has enabled me to build a 3 story duplex in west LA; with the very high prices in west LA something I never could have afforded on a typical architect's salary.
I talk to a lot of architects and I make more money and have better benefits than almost all of them.
The way to really get ahead is to start being your own developer; no matter how small you start.
Architecture can lead to a lot of different things; you have to keep working on adding to your qualifications and moving on to better opportunities.
Btw; I've moved across the US twice for different positions so that can be difficult too; a lot of people aren't willing to make major moves to get ahead; it's all in whatever you want to do.
I hope that helps; good luck. |
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solidred
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 596
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 1:02 am Post subject: |
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I agree with the notion that 'creativity' driving the architect's day-to-day activities is something of a myth but, probably because that myth is so compelling, a lot of very able people (your competitors) are willing to work long hours for rather modest incomes and because the profession's attitudes are slanted by both art and gentlemanly largesse, there's not the kind of committed focus on cash-for-services that, say, our M&E engineering or surveying colleagues have.
In short, to think that you'll be jetting around the world with a pretty free hand shaping glamorous buildings is a bit like assuming that because you're a talented musician who gigs around the local scene, it's only a matter of time before you're living the life of your favourite rock star.
But it's not impossible. Personally, I'm 37 and I haven given up on things yet. It's a slow burner, this business and if I can say one definite thing in its credit: the job gets better the older you get, which is not only rewarding but offers a nice antidote to the generally youth-centric world we live in.
Mineral Engineering sounds cool as well. My hunch is that your personal interests and qualities can make interesting, creative and successful work in all manner of fields. Then again, my image of such an engineer is based upon the jet-setting, suave protagonist of Volker Schlondorf's Voyager 
Were I to have the same choices as you say presented to me with this hindsight? I'd still be torn. I started replying to this thread thinking I'd just write 'no'. But now I'm saying 'yes'... only you can make your choice  |
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Antisthenes
Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 605
Location: Phoenix
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 9:30 am Post subject: |
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design management, i like it
that's y i approached it from the design side(before being a construction laborer) to be come one(an architect) so i can have my hands in all the pots of honey.
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mx2
millennium club
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 1968
Location: Miami, Florida
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| Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 9:34 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | ... that is where the big bucks in construction design will be. |
Construction Design....hmmm, is this what Architecture has become to most people? That reminds me of Architecture without Architects. I don't buy into the defeatist stance that we are being painted into a corner just because of the forces at play...we define the role of the Architect. What I have found though is that Architecture has expanded so far and wide into many things that traditionally are not part of the scope of an Architect that indeed other disciplines are filling in the roles that we have not been fulfilling. Engineering is the first and foremost of those disciplines. We've kinda shunned the science of it and embraced more the art of it...but then allowed others to convince us that the "art" of Architecture is hogwash...
I am generalizing of course...but it is clear to me in my experiences over a decade now that there is a wide array of choices facing a newborn...a young architect. What has shocked me is how self-centered the new graduates have become such that they feel they ought to be design stars in any firm making digusting money in less thatn 5 years and get all twisted in a bunch when they realize they won't be. I don't mind watching the agony play out like a Greek tragedy however it's the attitude that repels me. This profession like any profession requires serious dedication and effort in order to gain experience and sharpen the skills you may or may not have. There are no shortcuts. And in truth, it matters NOT what anyone says about it...life very rarely makes exceptions to this rule of thumb. Work hard and it will pay off, in whatever you choose to do in life. In turn you will be rewarded with fulfilling work....take it or leave it.
mx2.5
mx2.5
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*Art of Architecture: The conscious use of skill and creative imagination in the production of an aesthetic building.
*Science of Architecture: The calculated use of technical skill and knowledge in the construction of a functional building. |
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Absoluteherb
Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:50 am Post subject: Absoluteherb |
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| 120326 wrote: | I am a high school student from Canada getting ready to enter university, by the end of may I have to decide wether I am going to study architecture or mineral engineering at university.
I would like an opinion from any architects as to why or why not they would recommend it as a profession, what kinds of things do you like or dislike about your job, and any advice in general that you could give.
thanks |
I want to belief all of that are professional. For you to wait on to some body to advice you on which one to do is wrong accroding to me. I thing all depend on your personal ability and in relation to what you did in the high [url]school.[/url]http://www.absoluteherbal.co.uk |
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ARC1TEC
Joined: 27 Jun 2008
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:34 pm Post subject: is architecture really me |
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I believe architecture is art, is the ultimate art. I think that if that is what you believe and that is what you wish to achieve then that is what you should do.
When you become an architect no matter how small the commission. You are creating a work of art and that work of art will only have been made possible, by you.
Architecture is about mastering the discipline of manipulating knowledge to form one succint whole. |
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solidred
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 596
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I was thinking just this evening that, even though I'm trained as an architect and even if forms of self expression are the artifacts I hold most dear and the pursuit in life I, personally, most aspire to... maybe architecture simply isn't the right mode for such an expression. Maybe it is, indeed, the application of a certain sort of broad craft always in the service of the goals and needs of others: not other individuals, like-minded or otherwise, but of other groups of people, affecting them at different times and through different perspectives. Unless one is one's own client, of course.
On from this, is the society which one would hope to further enliven by architecture as art, chiefly defined, in nature, as a collection of fundamentally individual personas? If so, then for an architect to build 'as a person' is legitimate. However, if society is something entirely different say, as powerful in collectivity as an ox but also just about as dumb as one, then as an architect one more rightly acts as not someone who shares an expression of attitude but someone who acts as a more paternal figure; of providing the means to shelter. Is, in short, an objective agent rather than a subjective one. |
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