Architecture school is a journey. Whether you are in it for three years or five, the process is still fatiguing. None the less it teaches you life lessons and earns you good friendships along the way. There is a lot you discover at architectural school depending on your major. No one gets in school with the correct amount of knowledge for everything. You cannot always know everything. Learning is a lifelong process and architecture may be the best way to show this. Spending my years in school, I learned some things through the professors, some during the research I did or even by the projects I developed. It is all like a small package that you have to unwrap slowly. There will always be something left in the box but, I guess that is the beauty of it.
- Researching
It is the foremost thing that I learned was a starter from year 1. Without adequate research, your projects never complete you, don’t fully understand the concept, and nor can you explain it to the jurors. Your research needs to be so through that any question bombarded at you does not leave you in a fix.
- Time management
Something I may still struggle with, although I drastically improved within architecture school. During high-school days we had a schedule set out for us and, we didn’t have to plan it but in university, when things are left upon you and, you underestimate the time needed, all-nighters somewhat become regular. But I can say that architecture taught me the importance of time and how I could accomplish my goals.
- Taking Criticism
During school years it’s all about the subject you study and taking tests on them. Learning the subject, a little, but that’s all. In architecture school, you are what your work is, and trust me the first few juries are not so cherry on the top for most people. You need to accept that your work needs some criticism before it is near good.
- Presentations
Standing before a large crowd that may not be your classmates or your professors may be a big thing for a few. Upon hearing that external juror where to see the project, a sense of fear would be installed in our system. But this was rather only for the first year because all the criticism and feedback only helped us to grow and over the years, we were more than eager to have them.
- Teamwork
A component, not seen so cohesive in any other field. It is so remarkable that in a field, as architecture people, work in groups in perfect coordination and don’t want to pull at each other’s hair. In the first year, this was one of the most shocking things I had seen, because unlike school, there were tasks assigned and everyone did their work while also helping others.
- Peer competition
I was also highly stunned by the fact that no one was competing. It was, rather, a place for everyone to put forward their ideas and receive feedback on it, and nobody tried to steal the work or rise higher than the other. It was a large group to help each other climb the ladder.
- Problem Solving
A sort of tact that I acquainted myself with during the first few months. Every design idea started with a problem that needed to be solved creatively. The design needed to function, but it didn’t have to be boring. There was a list of problems one after another, but the process never got tedious.
- Thrash it
Architecture students must be on common grounds with his term. Something our professors always tell us when they are not satisfied with the design. At first, we tended to be frustrated with most of our hard work being thrashed away in the bin, but we soon realized that our final design was the best from our potential. Our professors realized things much faster than us.
- Sketching
A term we were confused with before being in university. A simple logical word that got us worried. Everyone can sketch, and it is true, you can be the worst sketcher but you can sill sketch to show your ideas. They don’t have to be understood by everyone, but it is significant in the design process.
- Think outside the box
Every architecture student would be tired of hearing this phrase because that is how much it has been, told to us. We learn some basic principles of design in year 1. We also learn how to apply them to our projects. One thing our professors regularly picked upon is the fact that we never attempted to bend or break those rules.
In my opinion, all the little things that I learned or continue learning in architecture school have not only been helpful to me academically but even in life. Those that are applied differently according to the situation. Some simple tricks and tactics that only architecture school would be able to teach.
