The Journey to Becoming an Architect
My comment on Roberto’s blog post this week became too long,
so I decided to turn it into my blog:
I agree with Roberto’s argument that architecture schools’ encouragement
for creativity could be interpreted as superficial. Students are pushed
to innovate before they are trained in conventional construction methods.
Right now, Dan’s graduate assistants are watching this very story
unfold in the Community 1:1 class. We have been observing their attempts to
design an ‘innovative’ Corten feather cladding system for the Botanical Gardens
project for 5 weeks now. Based on what they have produced thus far, it’s
obvious to us that they don’t understand how to waterproof a structure or know
feasible from nearly impossible. Is it their fault? Should schools be responsible
to teach this earlier on? Should schools create more opportunities for students
to learn these things elsewhere, i.e. summer internships?
I believe architecture schools need to do a better job of
communicating to students that the architectural education journey does not travel
exclusively through school or terminate upon graduation. It’s okay that architecture
schools exist to produce creative thinkers, while firms are responsible to turn
those thinkers into practitioners.
Based on my experience, students earning degrees in
architecture are not tested much on technical knowledge. It’s not until the ARE
exams, are they tested rigorously. It’s not uncommon for architecture graduates
to feel as if school left them ill-prepared for practice. I believe architecture
schools need to do a better job of smoothing the transition from school to
practice. We’re lucky that Clemson hosts the annual career fair because a
resource like that is certainly not normal.
After all, we are masters of none: we only know a little
about a lot. Clichés aside, it makes sense that it typically takes a decade to ‘graduate
from the architect's educational journey’ and become a licensed professional. I
stand by the role that architectural academia plays in the evolution of the
architect.
I absolutely agree that architecture schools should play a better role in their students' transition from education to practice. That gap is much larger than most are willing to admit to, and our professional mentors should not solely be responsible for assisting students/recent graduates through that journey. I do find it most beneficial to obtain some form of in-office experience while still in school, and believe that internships should become a co-requisite during the educational phase of our journey to licensure. As mentioned above, we are pushed to think so conceptually and design outside the box, then one day during your graduate education, you're tasked with implementing the technical aspects. I'd say it's rather difficult to grasp those concepts, when most of that understanding came from a book or homework assignments, and you've never actually had to successfully proceed with those in a design.
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