0009 How to Prepare for First Year
The Brief
Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemen to the Architecture Student Diaries where it is my mission to help you kill it in Architecture school whilst making you, the best you in the process. In today’s article we will be discussing the best ways to prepare for your first year of architecture school. Architecture School can bring quite a challenge, however with some basic preparation you will be on the right track to nailing your first year like it was nothing! Not to mention these skills will put you ahead of the rest of your cohort and help you to stand out to the university staff.
Below is a breakdown of what we will discuss in today's lesson:
Learn About Your University
Learn Your Basics
Practice Your Basics
Read The Architecture Student Diaries
Read and Watch as many Resources as you can
Work On Your Confidence
Get Inspired
Now, let’s get into it. Class is now in session.
Learn About Your University
One of the best things to do prior to starting at your university is to learn about it! Most universities prior to the start of the academic year hold open days which provide an opportunity to experience the university, go on walking tours and to meet with academic staff and other new students. This period is typically called ‘O Week’, which stands for Orientation Week; during this time the universities will put on several activities to bring in the new year with plenty of experiences and usually free food. Free food in university is something that you do not want to pass up on, typically going through university your budget is small, so anything free should be welcomed.
Another terrific way to learn about your university is through the internet, universities typically have good website and resources to get you prepared for starting your course and learning what it is like to be a university student. Typically, there may be a series of modules that you can go through which will teach you how to succeed as a university student, how to study, how to use the library and other helpful topics. Universities typically will also have YouTube Channels that may provide helpful insight into your new school. Furthermore, most universities provide mobile apps for several things such as on campus safety, parking, timetabling and campus maps, making an app folder on your phone and downloading these apps into it is a wise move to make your university experience just that little bit simpler.
Something that I did prior to starting my course (which I would recommend to everyone) is that once you have your timetable, go to your university on a day before you start, and have look around to find where each of your classes are being held. This will eliminate the stress and panic of being lost on your first day. And trust me on this one, Universities are some of the most confusing places to navigate in the world so it is a wise move to pre-plan.
Learn Your Basics
I was lucky coming into architecture school having an already sound knowledge of the basics of architecture through working in the industry prior to university. I cannot overstate how much this knowledge assisted me in first year and I urge you to try your best to learn as many basic skills and as much basic knowledge as you can in the lead up to commencing your degree. These include some of the following:
Understanding different types of architectural drawings such as sections, elevations, floor plans, perspective drawings and renders and how to draw them
Understanding architectural terms such as form, space, parti diagram, symmetry asymmetry, column, beam, rafter, truss and façade
Basic physical model making techniques and materials
General digital literacy
How to work in scale and with points on a compass
Practice Your Basics
It is important to practice these basics in order to remember them and for them to put you ahead of the rest of your cohort. Practice architectural drawing with your own house, draw your house as many ways as you can as floor plans, elevations, cut sections through it and do perspective drawings, once you have mastered your own house, make it a bit more fun and design a renovation to your house or find a building that you like and start drawing it the same way you did your own house.
When you are walking down the street start looking at the buildings and try to use architectural language to speak about the buildings and dissect them. Look at structures and see if they are constructed with rafters and purlins or with a trussed roof, anything that gets you in the mindset of adding architectural words in your everyday vocabulary.
Read The Architecture Student Diaries
Of course, I couldn’t write a post about how to prepare for architecture school without adding in reading The Architecture Student Diaries! This is your one stop shop to prepare for starting architecture school and making your way through it in style. You’re reading this article, so you are clearly already a well-educated superstar who is on track to nailing their course, but make sure you stay tuned and keep following The Architecture Student Diaries as I will be posting heaps of terrific content that will continue to assist you all the way through your degree.
Read and Watch as many Resources as you Can
There are however plenty of other great resources other than The Architecture Student Diaries that I wouldn’t be offended by if you were to check out. I am here to assist you in making your degree as simple and successful as possible, but there are other people who want to help you with this too, in different ways. There are terrific resources online, in books, journals and videos that will assist you along your way. Some of the best examples of this that I follow and that I have learnt from over the years and continue to learn from include:
Bob Borson, an architect based in Texas who runs the highly successful Blog and Podcast ‘Life of an Architect’ where he speaks about you guessed it, the life of an architect. Bob’s blog and podcast are typically more compatible with American architects due to his location, however, most of what he speaks of is compatible with architecture globally.
Eric Reinhodlt, an architect and author based off the coast of Maine and runs 30x40 Design, which is not only an award-winning design studio but also a YouTube Channel, where Eric teaches many terrific lessons for architects which can easily be adapted to the architecture student.
Mathew Frederick, an architect and author who wrote the well-known reference book ‘101 Things I Learned In Architecture School’. This is a small and easy to read book with minimal words that is a brilliant resource to keep in your backpack for quick access when you need a little bit of help with some basic skills.
Instagram and YouTube have multiple terrific quick and easy video tutorials to help you learn new skills and better your skills, however, you need to be careful with these as a lot of the people on these platforms are not professionally trained teachers so it is possible that you may pick up some bad habits if you rely too heavily on these learn fast tutorial type videos.
Work on Your Confidence
Are you scared of standing in front of a group of people and talking? Well... you are going to need to get over that... In architecture you will be doing this a lot. Both as a student in reviews and as a professional in client meeting and presentations you will have to stand up and talk in front of audiences that will range in size from 2 tutors, to possibly 200 peers and professionals depending on where your course or career takes you. You also need to be able to stand up for yourself because you will have peers or tutors that will inevitably at some stage say your design is no good. This is a test; architecture is an art and it is about expressing yourself and designing something that you think is beautiful. I am not saying that you should completely ignore your tutor's comments, take them on board, but sometimes the best option really is what you are doing and not what others think you should be doing; that is also an important lesson for life, not just architecture, so remember that one.
It is similar in architecture to acting, in acting you need to believe in the character you are portraying and believe in the way you are portraying them, architecture is the same. You want to design something that you truly believe is a good design, roll with that and do you. Sometimes though, the tutor is right and you need to scrap the design, but that is preparing you for your career; sometimes the client will throw your tracing paper at you even though you really liked your design, but after all, they are the ones paying for you, so you need to take it on board. The self-confidence comes into play here also where you can’t just yell at them that they are wrong or crawl into a ball and cry, you need to take the comments and work with them, you will get used to this in time. Do not however, take abuse, that is never okay. You don’t need to be abusive back, but there is always a route to fix the problem whether it be having a chat with a superior or a professor who can help.
Get Inspired
Architecture is a passion fuelled profession where you are able to be creative and you will throughout your years typically find your personal design ‘style’. The best thing to do is to find designs, architects and eras of design that really speak to you and that you find beautiful. This is a great place to start to get inspired to begin your course as you will go in with ideas and be ready to start designing. Instagram and Pinterest are incredible resources for finding inspiration and new work that you may not be familiar with. Use these resources, find a few architects who's work you really love and try drawing some of their past work or finding buildings that are similar to find inspiration. If you are feeling particularly excited by the work you find, try to design something yourself using those styles and see what you can come up with. You may surprise yourself.
Final Notes
Starting university is a massive step in a person's life both personally and professionally, and it is a step that shouldn’t be taken lightly; so, doing as much as you can to prepare is the best option. If you follow these steps above, you will be in a strong position for starting your course and being ahead of the pack, so stay on track and practice, practice, practice. These tips are also ones that you can take into your course and continue to undertake throughout to ensure you stay up to date on your skills. I have said it before and I am sure I will say it many times going forward, architecture school are some of the best years of your life, but they are some of the most challenging, so take it seriously and give it everything you have got; in the end it will all be worth it. Work hard, work smart and smash your goals, you’ve got this.
Ladies and Gentlemen, class dismissed.
Iain Colliver, SONA, YBA, GKIHS
