Four years back, I entered architecture college as a nervous freshman, my eyes gleaming with hopes and dreams. As I arrived, I saw a different world altogether, of iron-willed warriors with parallel bars and T-squares as their weapons. With huge dark circles and bruised fingers (years of cutter-cuts make your fingers immune), they seemed capable of embracing any challenge that came their way.
Like most newbies, I did not see myself becoming like them. But as the course progressed, I evolved. Presently in my fourth year, I finally realize that architecture college teaches you more than just designing great spaces – it teaches you a way of life.
Here’s a list of 10 things that I learned along my journey, in no particular order.
1. Time-management
When you have a competition submission left, 5 assignments due, and a pending jury, it’s impossible to survive without this essential skill. Eventually, you master this art so well that despite it all, you even get time for a midnight chit-chat with your friends. It starts with prioritizing tasks and cutting down on sleep hours (hello, dark circles). But here’s a tip, if you succeed in managing time in architecture college, future professional life will be a piece of cake.
2. Collaboration over competition
This is a personal preference. I have had my experience with competition, and it’s completely nerve-racking. It is difficult to give your undivided attention to the project when you start worrying about personal benefits. On the flip side, collaborations are fun, and the results are unique. Sky is the limit when you stop comparing yourself to others and start brainstorming with like-minded individuals.
3. Teamwork
With innumerable group projects and team competitions, architecture college sure does teach you teamwork, come hell or high water. This can be frustrating at times, especially when your teammates working style does not match yours. In situations like these, I have learned that it is beneficial to listen conscientiously to everyone’s ideas, compromise, and come to a mutual understanding. This skill will be useful later when you work in a professional environment too.
4. The process matters more than the final product
When you focus on the process, you focus on the present moment. After getting subjected to multiple redo’s and fierce criticism, you stop taking your projects (or yourself) too seriously. Living in the moment teaches you to look at design as an ongoing process. Such a point of view asserts that there is always room for refinement, and no final product is flawless.
5. Learning does not end in the classroom
School days are over. Now, your experiences and skills matter more than the grade on your mark sheet. The fact that architecture is such an extensive field gives you the urge to keep exploring it further. Reading about different perspectives and research papers, attending workshops and exhibitions, traveling and journaling, or merely having a stimulating conversation; learning can happen anywhere.
6. A person can go long hours without eating or sleeping
Breaking all biology laws, architecture students pull off all-nighters after all-nighters, unafraid of its health implications. In your first semester, sleeping at 2 AM could be a huge accomplishment for you. Wait for the final year, and sleeping at 2 in the afternoon after a night of toiling hard would be a far-fetched dream. Eating portrays an analogous story. It is only when your stomach growls that you realize how long you’ve been starving.
7. Public Speaking
One cannot survive architecture college without this skill. Whether it’s presenting your design to a juror who wouldn’t miss any chance to criticize you, convincing team members about an idea, or your thesis jury, architecture college is full of presentations. Furthermore, performing a case study compels you to interact with strangers, further boosting your confidence. This skill later assists you with interviews and meetings with clients as well.
8. Extra-curriculars are as important as classwork
Extra-curricular activities hone your essential non-architecture skills. You don’t have to give up on music, dance, photography, or spoken poetry, once you enter architecture college. If anything, these skills help you articulate your ideas in more enhanced ways. Interacting with people from different backgrounds and interests further broadens your perspective and boosts your confidence.
9. Creative Problem Solving
At the starting of each semester, architecture students are provided with a design problem to which students come up with unique solutions. Most architecture competitions test a person’s problem-solving skills and how well they present their ideas. Thus, as a consequence of repetition, architecture students become quick problem solvers (to use glass and a light bulb for copying sheets being a prime example of it).
10. Reading and researching
When your professor assigns you to write a report on an entire city (complete with its city plan, street layout, important features, etc.) overnight, you’re left with no choice but to master the superpower of going through enormous pdfs in seconds. Irrespective of you being an avid reader, or not before joining architecture college, you will leave as a literate genius. You will get acquainted with every library in your vicinity and would be found there, scribbling hastily in a little notebook.
