General Chat / The Future Architects' Thread

^My finger slipped..

Ah. Gotcha.


Nah, pretty much every college will accept a student with zero architecture experience. Drafting classes in high school help, but they're by no means mandatory or anything.

You can take art / drawing classes to work on your sketching. If your school offers a class that teaches you computer modelling using programs like 3D Studio Max or Maya, go ahead and take it. Those tools are very useful in architecture.

From a general standpoint, I'd stick with more of the maths and sciences. Contrary to popular opinion, you don't need to be a math nerd to be an architect, but it helps. If you can take physics, that's great. Life sciences aren't as helpful.

So aside from your minimum requirements (i.e. so many years of math, English, history, etc...), you can concentrate your remaining academic classes on those that teach you about calculations.

Oh, and woodshop is helpful simply because you'll probably make models once you get into college, and it's always useful to know how to cut wood, etc...



Again, this isn't really mandatory, though. I didn't have any drawing or drafting classes in high school, or wood shop.

But I *did* have a really good GPA, so that pretty much wiped out anything else that might have mattered.

If your school offers AP Calc and AP Physics take them, get 4s on the exams, and you will love yourself for it come college time. Most schools don't offer any classes that are really going to get you ahead in the game, but there is a lot you can do on your own time if you know you want to be an architect. Any experience you can get drafting or using computer programs like autocad, sketchup, or 3d Studio Max will give you a great edge. A lot of colleges offer summer programs, which I would highly recomend. I did one at University of Illinois and that gave me a good headstart by the time I got into college architecture classes. Really anything you can do on your own to just get exposure to architecture will put you ahead of everyone else... because in my experience every incomming architecture student I have met is completely retarded. They know absolutly nothing about architecture and have no idea why they want to be an architect.

take your humanities in highschool for college credit to get them out of the way and do what pyro said, the ap calc and physics. a head start is great, and it can allow you to take the more interesting sophmore classes when you're technically a freshman.

They know absolutly nothing about architecture and have no idea why they want to be an architect.

I wouldn't say retarded. I find it interesting though that many of them don't have an interest in it (when they come in). They don't know about the big name firms/architects, or well designed local buildings. They don't read related magazines or books or visit websites.

I'm curious though, Pyro (and anyone/everyone else), why do you want to be an architect?

^ I can probably fit the bill you describe there... I don't read the magazines or know any of the famous designers (yet), but I'm currently in my first year of architecture at Georgia Tech.

I think I'm here because I like desing. I remember as a kid drawing the layouts to everything- real or imagined. I like seeing design go from conception to reality and how what's built affects the environment around it. Since I'm Atlanta now, there's been tons of urban renewal projects in the past years around here and that's something that really interests me. But for the most part it's the design that draws me in. Creativity on the part of the firm and the client to create something interesting and functional.

I always knew I wanted to do something that involved design. From a healthy obsession with legos as a kid to RCT, I'm never really fully entertained unless I'm designing something. So then it was just a matter of figuring out what. And once I realised that most people just don't find buildings as interesting as I always did it was a pretty easy choice. My mom never let me have the camera on vacations because all she would get were pictures of the buildings. I also took an architecture summer thing at a local high school when I was in fifth grade where we designed bird houses, a library, and a city. But I really got interested after I took a summer program after my junior year in high school, that was when I really started reading up and practicing to get ready.

I like architecture because it is creative as well as functional. It is like a puzzle to design a building, make everything practical, fit together nicely. You have to make everything have a purpose and balance aesthetics with comfortable use of the building. It's just so much fun to work through.

And yes, retarded is a strong word to describe architecture majors... but come on. If you decide you want to be an architecture major and you don't have a clue who Frank Llyod Wright is but every non architecture major you talk to can tell you, then you know you have a problem. That is not an exaggeration either. Not a sole in the architecture department at CU I spoke with could name one famous architect. Most depressing.

Edited by PyroPenguin, 08 November 2006 - 11:59 PM.

I chose it because I like design as well. Unfortunately the program at my school is more oriented around the engineering of the building, but there is definately design nonetheless. I find buildings works of art, yet functional, so much so that they affect the way we live. I'm taking a stab at that is what I want to do: design buildings to satisfy my creative and artistic interests, and to craft them to be as satisfying as possible to the aspects of living.

Also, my parents said to me since I was in 5th grade I think that I wasn't going to art school (that the money isn't in that field and I would more than likely not even use the degree), I have almost a full ride here (the only state school that offers that type of program, I could go private, but that would be like about 40 x's more expensive), and I think architecture, to me, is a compromise.

Edited by penguinBOB, 09 November 2006 - 12:40 AM.

Here's the other thing. You don't necessarily have to go into architecture with an architectural degree. There are lots of careers you can choose even with a BA in Architecture. You can move on into industrial design, urban planning, real estate development, contract, theater set design, automobile design... there's a lot of things available.

Most people don't really consider that.

I think I've always loved looking at buildings at houses from since I was little. I dont know why but I just love houses and I would like to be able to design them for a living.

I get to build my first model soon (due. Nov. 28), but I haven't quite finished the plans yet.

Here's a rough sketch I did with sketch-up. It's just a very general idea of the home. I barely know how to use sketch up, and I didn't have the time to enter all the proper measurements. Anyways, I start construction tomorow.

Sketch Up is probably my new favorite program... its just so much fun to screw around with design ideas in, and so easy. I like the roof Nate, do you have floorplans readily uploadable?

Also, I am trying to put together a Christmas list and could use recommendations on some interesting architecture books if anyone has any, I always like growing my little library.

I couldn't live without it.

Sketch Up is probably my new favorite program... its just so much fun to screw around with design ideas in, and so easy. I like the roof Nate, do you have floorplans readily uploadable?

Also, I am trying to put together a Christmas list and could use recommendations on some interesting architecture books if anyone has any, I always like growing my little library.

I don't have any floors plans that I can upload right now. Maybe by the weekend. They're not that spectacular. The requirements for this project where completely over done. House 16 people in 2200sqft for a recreation home. Hence, everything is done to the minimum and crammed in there. It works, but not to the level I would want my home to.

I love getting architecture books for Christmas! I just ask for gift certificates to the local stores (Inform, Oscar's Art Books) and choose myself. I'm somewhat of interested in "Dream City," which is about Vancouver (not that you'd be interested). One book that I'm really keen on is "Patkau Architects" (a local firm). I will however, warn against "Transit Spaces." It has more to do with urban planning anyways. Here's my collection:

-Modern House 2
-Up North
-Architecture Now 4
-Substance over Spectacle
-Poetry of Westcoast Modernism in West Vancouver
-Designing Disney
-Frank Gehry Complete Works
-World's Top Architects
-Pocket Version of Phaidon's Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture
-Transit Spaces

And many magazines, including:
-19 Architectural Records
-2 AIBC Magazines (Architectural Institute of British Columbia)
-1 Japan Architect
-1 Harvard Design
-1 Domus

Architectural Record has quite a few book reviews each month. The problem I find is that the really good books are so expensive! If I get a $100 gift certificate, I can get one book, at best, at Inform.

i like my one about frank lloyd wright's smaller houses. i forgot what it's called, but it's worth it.

edit: link.

Edited by penguinBOB, 14 November 2006 - 10:21 PM.

I wish I could just go to a bookstore and get decent ones, but the bookstores by me like Borders and Barnes and Noble always seem to have just skim the surface kind of books as far as architecture goes. I have all the basics so far:

-Architecture Now 2-4
-Architectural Graphics, Design Drawing, Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Form, Space, Function (Ching)
-Gehry Talks
-Towards a New Architecture
-Book on Wright, Corbusier, Kahn, Gaudi
-Modern Architecture: A Critical History
-Praire Style
-Smart House
-Breaking Ground- Got to go to a lecture/book signing by Libeskind for this one, was pretty cool
-Two plus years worth of Record
-Massive Learn-It-Yourself manual for 3ds, Architectural Desktop, AutoCad... I wish the sketchup one wasn't $80
-And pretty much all of the Disney books if you wanna list em Designing Disney, Architecture of Reassurance, Art of Show, and the two field guides released so far

I think this year I want to shoot for more sustainabile design/human experience books, so if anyone has recommendations I would love to hear them.

Perusing Amazon I came up with a little list so far, so if anyone has read any of these are they worth having.

-Sun, Wind, & Light: Architectural Design Strategies
-The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture
-Body, Memory, and Architecture
-How Buildings Work: the Natural Order of Architecture

Edited by PyroPenguin, 15 November 2006 - 02:24 AM.

Design Drawing, Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Form, Space, Function (Ching)

Whoa, that's expensive. How much did that cost? My instructors tell me that it's $500 or so.

No, its four different books. Each one is like $30 to $50. Ching books are probably far and away the best for basics drafting/drawing/presentation and the Visual Dictionary is awesome because it has a page or two about every concept you could need to know about with all these little illustrations. If you haven't read a Ching book go get one now, they are great books.

Okay, here are the floor plans (PDF). They're subject to change, but only slightly. I need finish them by tommorow, as I have to colour them on the weekend. Sorry about the big name, I know it covers things but I like to think I require it.

Here

This is a draw a started a while ago...I'm not sure if I'm going to finish it. Since I want to be an architect when I grow up, I would like to know what do you think of my very early and insignificant work...


It's just for fun...