When we enter a school, excitement exists about the new phase of life, and an unknown pool of things you will get to learn. Exploring the chapters of architecture has been overwhelming, and it also changed the notion many have that a degree can teach about the concerned course only, and nothing more. We will learn about architecture for our entire lives as it is a process that goes on forever however, my architectural education taught me some things I will never forget, which turned out to be great lessons for me.
Let’s look at the 10 out of many things that I learned in my architecture school that you surely will relate to.
Hand drafting
My 1st year was all about the basics like everyone else had. The first learning was that Architecture is quite bland without hand drafting skills. You can have plenty of great ideas in your head, but sketching them out correctly is crucial to explain to others what your mind has to tell. From holding a pencil right to maintaining the pressure on it to knowing about mirroring your ideas on a paper through isometric and perspective drawings, it has been the most fun.
Software
As hand drafting is one of the most important things to master in our profession, 2nd year brought the next in line, software. Knowledge of the basic software became important due to all of the attached benefits they came with. AutoCAD, SketchUp, and Photoshop were the first few software that I learned and instantly knew what advantages they brought with them. They improved the accuracy of the work, 3D visualization made it easy to picture the idea, even a typical design could be produced, and last but not the least they increased the efficiency as the work took less time to get completed.
Pulling Together
Architecture is a team profession, you always work in a group to execute a project. Studying teamwork since the very first year has taught me the importance of pulling it all together to make a task possible. We worked in group projects with people of different opinions, so working in harmony and getting to the final stage merging all the minds was the biggest task to get the hang of, and I am glad that I did.
Public Speaking
In architectural school, we all give juries almost every week a month, and explaining your design to the faculty is a tough thing. It is where the stage fright turns out to be a real issue. Although I never had it, I surely improved my existing skills during those juries, and I could see the graph going up from the first year to the last year. I was more excited than scared of speaking in front of many people. Moreover, all these years of juries have made it easier to sell the design to the client as now convincing them is a tough thing.
Perseverance
Besides so many lessons I gathered during my degree, I have promoted this one the most. To never give up became a prime concern as I got familiar with the nature of this course. No matter how many times a sheet was given a re-do or how many times you were told to bring up a better design than what you already have, commitment towards your work is essential. I tried my best to grip this thing tight throughout my 5 years of school that consequently developed into a habit and is helping me still.
Sensitivity towards built-environment
This will without any doubt be a common thing on the list of many architecture students as apart from mastering several abilities, getting sensitized toward the environment has been quite vital considering the current world around us. With the visible increase in problems, our environment is going through, becoming aware of it and planning in the favor of our built-environment hold the utmost priority. I learned that even a small room should be planned to keep sensitivity towards the built-environment in mind.
Manage things better
The syllabus I had included 9 subjects in the 1st year and up to 7 subjects in the following years, so juggling between all the different course topics along with maintaining the curriculum became a task to manage. Now I look back at the years I spent at my architecture school and show my gratitude as it taught me one of the greatest life lessons that are to ace at dealing with numerous responsibilities. Although I am still learning this skill, the school prepared me well to tackle any problem, any task, and to manage any team.
Knowledge is greater than marks
Throughout our lives, we heard that scoring good marks held the most power over anything, but that changed after spending a year in architecture as gaining knowledge and practicality took the front seat without which studying architecture has no value. 2nd year onwards, the topics that were introduced mainly focused on giving attention to practical knowledge while designing as that would help to build a project in real life.
Enjoy the time
One thing I realized being an architecture student and surrounded with several workshops, seminars, trips, architectural convention meets, all being both academic and non-academic, that enjoying the time is quite important together with the studies. To carry out work with full concentration, one needs to have a few breaks to pause the monotony. The faculties and even the curriculum included such breaks itself, which made it possible for us to deliver better.
Best out of waste
During various workshops I attended, we always tried to look around and use the things we found to create something out of it. We often neglect waste and there potential to be reused, so learning to make the best out of waste was sustainable and enjoyable at the same time. And how that helps me now is what the people call DIY projects.
