Sorry everybody, for not being around in some time, but I have good news for the future of our profession. Looks like things are looking up. Here is what US News/Money are saying:
As one of the Best Jobs of 2012 is Architect, this profession should see significant growth over the next decade.
The Rundown:
Think of all the places you go in a single day: coffee shops, train stations, office buildings, restaurants, grocery stores, city parks, and so on. What may not dawn on you in the rush of the day is that all these places are the creation of architects. To ensure their creations are practical, safe, and aesthetically pleasing, architects are involved in each stage of the construction process, from the initial planning session to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. This level of involvement requires a diverse skill set, which includes designing, engineering, managing, supervising, and interacting with clients and builders. Communication skills are especially important.Architects must effectively convey their unique vision for a project and interact with professionals from many fields.
The Outlook:
With steady migration to Sun Belt states and many baby boomers retiring in the next few years, there should be an uptick in demand for new homes, healthcare facilities, and office buildings. This means the job market for architects should remain solid. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects architect employment growth of 23.1 percent between 2010 and 2020, adding 31,300 more professionals to the 135,400 already-existing jobs in this field.
Money:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the median annual wage for architects was $72,550 in 2010. The best-paid 10 percent in the profession made approximately $119,500, while the bottom 10 percent made approximately $42,860. The highest-paid in the profession work in the metropolitan areas of Sarasota, Fla., Allentown, Penn, and Sacramento.
Architect Salary Range:
75th Percentile Wage: $93,020
Median Wage: $72,550
25th Percentile Wage: $54,650
Education and Preparation:
Most states require architects to possess a professional degree in architecture from one of the nearly 120 schools of architecture accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. However, state architectural registration boards specify their own standards, so a degree from non-accredited program may suffice in select states. Therefore, check the requirements for any state where you wish to work. There are a few routes to obtaining a degree in architecture. Most architects choose the five-year degree intended for students with no previous training. Others opt to enroll in a graduate program, which can take one to five years to complete, after obtaining an undergraduate degree in a field outside of architecture. Graduates must complete a training period, typically of three years or more, before they may sit for the licensing exam. Requirements for this training period vary by state.
On Landing an Architect Job:
Architects interact with a wide-ranging group of people on each project, so working well with others is a must. “You need to show that you work well in teams—especially with people different than you are,” Richard L. Hayes, director of knowledge resources for The American Institute of Architects, wrote in an email. According to Hayes, demonstrating that you “can think about the best path through a complex problem” is another important element to getting a job in the field. Healthcare architecture, such as designing healthy communities and buildings, is a growing area of specialization that Hayes recommends for aspiring architects.
What is an Architect Job Like?
Architects spend most of their time drafting plans or corresponding with clients from comfortable office spaces, but they also frequently visit construction sites to check on the progress of projects. Successful architects are able to juggle a number of professional relationships for each project while still completing other job responsibilities. Most architects work less than 50 hours per week, but as deadlines approach, many are forced to work long nights or weekends to finish in time.
I find it fascinating that the other 9 out of 10 best jobs in 2012 are in the field of Medicine or Computers and the most interesting thing is that “they” are suggesting the architects to take studies in design for healthcare facilities … simply fascinating. Makes you wonder,a?!
From the article: Become an Architect!
“To be an architect, you have to be an optimist…You have to be a realist, but you have to be an optimist.”
~Sir Norman Foster, Architect’s Challenge: A Sliver of a Space, in the New York Times
“A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.”
~Frank Lloyd Wright, quoted in Visionaries: The 20th Century’s 100 Most Inspirational Leaders by Satish Kumar, Freddie Whitefield
Now, it’s your turn.
What qualities do you think it takes to be a great architect? Optimism? Realism? Persistence? Insanity?
They must have the ability to know the constructability, resources, environmental impact, social impact, material durability, understanding of how the environment effects the mixture of materials introduced and many other aspects of the building, while maintaining the expression of art or ideology that the building represents and have the leadership to coordinate this endeavor with the countless people necessary to make the project a reality.
An architect should be organized, creative, and resourceful.
An architect must be a person who is able to transfer little ideas of a thing into bigger ideas. He is a good innovator.
These days all it takes is a truly great photographer!
He should be focused, creative, flexible, able to satisfy ninety percent in his project and leave room for future innovations.
A great architect will be a visionary; an artist with the highest technical knowledge and understanding of how structures work, and why. Using this, a great architect will sculpt forms and matter around space, or vice versa. That great architect will be conscious of the end user, the neighbor, the geographic location, the culture, the economics, the politics, the environment, the weather, the light, the textures, the sound, the smell and the sight. Just that. Easy.
A good architect is one that cannot just think and do design, but one that can produce functional design solutions that are workable within the designed environment.
A great architect is someone who is optimistic in everything he/she does.
A real architect has the ability to produce functional working drawings that are actually buildable, with consideration for the buildings mechanical, electrical and plumbing sytems. Most of what we are seeing today is what I would call “Whole Building Decorators”. They are basically designers posing as architects who have very little knowledge of what it takes to make it all work.
Architects are great when they master the details without losing sight of the big picture, and master the general idea without overlooking the details.
If you cannot question your life, your family members’ life, your neighbours’ life, the life of people living in the cottage (while you were driving you’ve seen the cottage in the middle of the forest), the economical crisis… if you question why some people are still living in the caves, on the streets or some in the villas, if you loose yourself while questioning the system, then if you find yourself and your answers, if you loose yourself while thinking about the ultimate answers to the very dangerous questions… If you can think, if you can ask the real question, you can become an architect. Otherwise you become “another brick in the wall” type of architect. I would add much much more, but it s enough for now.
An architect is a person who should be able to handle many co-related jobs simultaneously. Who should have knowledge of geography, history, sociology, and psychology. And capabilities of learning about new building materials in the market, learning about everything, in addition to thinking and designing.
Architects should have the awareness that they are the creators. Architects are responsible for the feelings, emotions, and lives of those who are going to live in the building. Their work and thinking should reach the level that their building transmits peace and cheerfulness to the inhabitants.
For the last 4 years, I’ve been an architect. According to me, a great architect must be a great observer. Only then can he design comfortable, peaceful, relaxing spaces and structures, which is his job. Other than being observant, a great architect should have qualities like truthfulness and compassion.
He\she must love what he\she is doing. There must be some steps to make architecture more orderly.
An architect needs passion and the rest just comes by heart!
A bit of luck added to passion, talent, and intelligence. To be willing to wake up at three in the morning and still be excited - that’s the way I’m going :)
Seems compassion is the most important. Architects with no compassion are just artists. Compassion lets you design for someone else, truly feel someone’s need/problem and fix it with design. Good communication and visualization skills seem priceless.
A good architect is the one that knows something about everything and ready to learn new things as they are being introduced.
I’m sort of naive in architecture as I’m about to begin college, but I feel a good architect has to possess the quality of longevity, creativity, an intrinsicality. He has to be steadfast with his work; be very out-of-the-ordinary and also distinguished in the delivery of his work. Also, the quintessence has to exist right from the draft/sketch to the finished goal of his project. I feel if an architect emits all these, then the sky is the limit.
He must have love and passion for the career. Like Gorege Washington said,”anything you love enough must reveal its secret to you.” He must understand that being an architect is more than piling stones to erect a building. As a desiger he must not only design to satisfy his client but also to satisfy his deepest feelings. He must be patient and he must have a high level of tolerance, courage to stand critics, because they will critize your work.
A good architect should be able to think broadly and be able to imagine. An architect should also be so creative and should be patient in the sense of earning quick money. Many people want to be become architects because they say they earn lots of money. Yes it is true, but that should not be the major reason as to why one should take up architecture.
An architect should certainly have an inquisitive attitude towards everything. Only then would he/she be able to experiment with his/her designs.
I think the qualities that make a great architect are that he must be able to stay focused, he must be a thinker, he must be a person who likes a quiet environment, and finally he must be a person who has lots of patience and a person who likes creating new things.
If Frank Lloyd Wright was still alive, I believe he would say passion. Why mention him? Consider this, a college dropout and unlicensed (if I’m not mistaken) he went on to become one of the most prominent architects in the 20th Century. He was recognized by the AIA for his work about 2 years before his death. Having a good imagination doesn’t hurt. Albert Einstein said that “imagination is more important than knowledge.” The built environment would be nothing more than mere talk without imagination (ie. “deconstructivism”- Frank Gehry’s arena). Regarding faith, one may ask what does faith has to do with architecture? The best demonstration of one’s faith (or belief) is to create something out of nothing, hence the essence of architecture (depending on who you ask). In a sense, every person is an architect. Why? because we have the ability to design and build our lives.
Flexibility, very good exposure, optimism, knowledge, sociability, friendliness, and continual practice can make a good architect.
Reblogged from archsy (Source: architecture.about.com)
Inspiring. My opinion also moves between these borders :)
btw - if you have anything to add, please free to do so…
I am between major roads right now and I don’t know which way do go.
My plan for the summer was to go on some random Greek island and spend my whole summer there. The beach, the beautiful sea, the sun, working at some beach bar, just chilling. And i so much need this break from architecture.
On the other hand, I’ve just got an offer to stay here and work for the summer at the firm that I was working last summer. The offer is, I have the whole summer working on a building that would house 100-120 families and the best thing - no tied hands.
On this project I would work myself and I have all the time I need, technically speaking, but 3 months - lot of time.
And the best thing is that the building would be 100% build. So till I finish school, I will have, something like, 30000 square meters, build, portfolio.
I don’t actually know how much money I’ll get from the project, but for working on the island i’ll make something like 2200 euros.
What to do people??
So, I’m back on tumblr. Maybe if today I wrote a post like a review from the last few weeks, it might be more interestig, but these past few hell weeks and the great conversation I had with my todays-rae-of-sunshine a while back, made me write this post about the fucked up “movie” some architecture students live in.
I was “watching” this movie for some time now, but these last few weeks was very intense. It made me vomit a few times in my mouth and made me have some very serial killer thoughts.
PEOPLE!!!
… don’t go through architecture school, thinking that at the end, there is a Prizker’s waiting for you with handing on your diploma. NO, this is the biggest mistake and you can’t afford to live with this illusion.
It’s ok to have personal dreams about - “how it’s going to be when you get a limitless budget on a project, with a non-metaling client and get world famous for the project”. This is OK, every single one of us does it, it’s a mission impossible, but we do it.
But displaying this publicly and acting in front of everybody like this, just makes you an asshole.
- Just because you finish early every time, doesn’t mean that your project is the best.
When I look at those projects I can find at least 5 mistakes that will change their whole design, or even if there aren’t any, the graphic presentation is shit. A PROJECT IS NEVER FINISHED IN IT’S FINEST.
- Just because you are a suck up and do everything the professor tells you, doesn’t mean that your project is the best.
When I present my project, I want to know that, the final result is my own little master peace and I like to sell it as one. I don’t mind that I, maybe have some mistakes, but as long as I can give my soul to my product, I’m happy.
The fact that, all of you Zaha Hadid’s wannabes, do everything that your professors tells you, even though you don’t like some of the suggestions, will bring you a better grade, does not make you a great architect. SUCK IT UP and make you project - YOURS.
- “NO!!! Black frames, doesn’t make you a good architect.” - This makes me sooo mad.
So here is the brutal truth…
Almost, every single great architect that you know of, was rich. They have/had enough money, so they could afford not to work a single day and still leave millions to their children.
This means, that they have all the time in the world to make that single project that will make their carrier skyrocket.
I’m not saying that they don’t have the talent, but if, lets say, 60% of the architects have the money and time, so that they don’t have to worry about this main factor in their lifes, can make an ass-kicking project, that can bring them a Prizker.
When you finish school, you will spend years working like a CAD monkey, in some big firm, so there is little space, where you can get above the others, only if you really have the talent and know how to sell yourself and you have to take that chance that will be given to you in a millisecond.
You will have to have some big politic connections. Lets take Frank Gehry, for example. This guy has some interesting designs. But they are always over-budget, have million of technical problems and they still get build. We have to ask ourselfs -How does somebody agrees to build his designs, that always, have problems?CONNECTIONS people, CONNECTIONS is the main thing you need to get BIG.
Maybe just one or none of the students here on tumblr will make big.
You just have to face the truth, that we are going to work like regular architects, doing nice designs, that will, form time to time, be presented in some magazine or website and forgotten after few months.
This is the real world. If you can’t take it, go to Hollywood and try out for a big movie star, you have a better chance in that.
