As an architect or an aspiring architect, you must have experienced a few humorous situations in college. From maddening deadlines to site visits, whether good or bad, we all have a cherished memory attached to our college years. Our lifestyle changes and we all face the norms of sleepless nights, but at the same time, the experience of creating something brings us a different kind of satisfaction and joy that cannot be explained in words. Those five years in your college shape you to become the kind of architect you want to become.
Here, we will be talking about six things every architecture student experienced in college. These experiences will take you on a trip down memory lane and you can’t help but nostalgic remembering the crazy five years of life that can’t help but bring a smile to your face.
Why Architecture?
One of the most annoying things every architecture student experienced in college is the question – why architecture? I don’t think there’s anyone who didn’t get bored from these questions. For the entirety of your first semester, there were countless times you were asked this question by professors and seniors. But that’s not all. It gets worse when people start making assumptions on your behalf.
For example, maybe you chose architecture because you don’t like maths. Or that you didn’t want to study engineering. Although, for a few people, that is indeed the case.
Forgetting T-Square
An architecture college is a place where you probably won’t get into trouble for sleeping in the studio, but forgetting a t-square is unforgivable. You must have gotten into trouble countless times because of forgetting to bring your t-square in class. This is one of the most embarrassing things every architecture student experienced in college.
In such cases, the professor normally gives you two options; either to go back to the hostel and bring it or not attend the class at all. The good part is that it is only for two years. The torture finally ends in your third year when you don’t have to use t-squares or set squares and instead, switch to bringing laptops in college.
Where is the North?
Putting the north sign in your sheets may be an important and common thing for everyone. However, in the beginning, you will forget about it every time just before submissions. It can’t be helped because such a common thing is often overlooked while handling the pressure of meeting deadlines. This results in the professors asking the most common question in the history of architecture colleges – Where is the North? Of course, it gets worse when you’re asked for a redo for forgetting it.
Lettering
“To achieve something, you have to start everything from scratch.” Architecture colleges take this idiom way more seriously than needed. Your first assignment must be composing a lettering sheet where you have to write different styles of alphabets and numbers in different sizes. And of course, you’d get a redo because what better way to start your life as an architect with a redo? However, apart from different font styles, you also get to create your unique style.
Site Visits
Site visits are one of the best things every architecture student experienced in college. Regardless of the place, as long as it’s a site visit, you’d have the most amazing time of the semester. As an architecture student, you get to travel a lot and visit so many new places in the name of learning. Whether we call them “educational trips” or “case studies”, every trip helps us create great memories. Also, while having fun, we learn a lot of things. Visiting historical places is a different experience altogether.
Being Called “Architecture”
For an aspiring architect, being called “architecture” would be reason enough to get your blood boiling. This is one of the common things every architecture student experienced both in college and outside. However, by the time you get used to it, it is actually pretty hilarious. While working in the profession, you will meet many people who will refer to you as “architecture” or maybe even “engineers”. So it’s best to prepare yourself mentally for this.
Lastly, whether your experience in architecture college was good or bad depends solely on your interest in the field. Those sleepless nights working to meet deadlines can be either torturous or joyful, depending on the person.
However, I believe architecture is a marvelous profession. It gives you the ability to create something and you experience a kind of delight that you can’t explain to others. You can’t help but find it comforting to know that there’s something out there in the world, that wouldn’t exist, if not for you. Whatever the experience was for you, the college years made you a different person than you were before joining the college.
