Earlier in the year I received the questions below from Kate, the daughter of an old friend of mine. Kate is in high school and was considering architecture as a career. I thought they were good questions and wasn’t able to respond thoughtfully right away – and then it took me some weeks to finally sit down one evening and reply. Re-visiting the Q&A now, I would be tempted to make multiple revisions, and may do so yet in another format. In any case, I will let the original answers stand here, but would welcome the thoughts of others on how they might provide guidance to someone like K, or to me for that matter.
Q – March 2017
Hi ……
Hope you are well. I am starting to think about what I might like to study in University and architecture is one thing I am considering. I wondered if I might ask you a few questions.
Do you think there are any particular courses in high school that I should take?
If I am not particularly good at drawing can I still be an architect?
What do you think the Job prospects are for architect graduates?
What are your favourite things about being an architect?
What are your least favourite things about being an architect?
Where did your interest in architecture come from?
There is no particular rush so feel free to respond at your convenience.
Thank you very much,
Kate
A – April 2017
Hi Kate – I am following up on your questions below. I think you should also talk to a career counsellor – I expect they would have helpful material
Q – Do you think there are any particular courses in high school that I should take?
A – A broad high school education is good. Many people suggest sciences and maths, but some level of arts is also good. I took several drafting courses – today I assume people are learning drawing and modelling on computers.
Q – If I am not particularly good at drawing can I still be an architect?
A – Yes – some level of innate drawing ability is great – but many architects are not particularly good ‘drawers’, and you can learn. My drawing ability is not exceptional, and what I can do, I learned.
Q – What do you think the Job prospects are for architect graduates?
A- I would say ok – not particularly good or bad – those who are really interested will find work.
Q – What are your favourite things about being an architect?
A – Lots of variety – at least that has been my case. I’ve worked on a whole range of projects. I also like looking at project scope and trying to make whatever I am working on better architecture.
Q – What are your least favourite things about being an architect?
A – It’s not all fun – deadlines, meetings – it is work.
Q – Where did your interest in architecture come from?
A – Good question – It was there. But I did have other interests too.
Conclusion
As noted above, I am tempted now to make revisions to the text sent to K in April. In some cases the answers, while perhaps holding some bit of truth, appear glib. That may have been partially the result of expediency the evening I sat down to reply – the interest in not further delaying a response.
The questions presented an opportunity to lay out a broad assessment of architecture as a career – to present a balanced outlook that can certainly be viewed positively. And this was an opportunity to provide the story of an individual in the field. There are millions of answers to this set of questions, and I would be interested in hearing other perspectives.
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