5 Things I wish I knew Before Starting Architecture School
Reflecting on my first year Masters of Architecture Program at UofT Daniels
Fall is almost here which means schools’ about to start again. This will be my second of a three year professional Masters of Architecture (MArch) degree at the University of Toronto (UofT) Daniel’s Faculty of Architecture. 2020 will be a different year with the pandemic forcing an online curriculum but in joining a newly formed mentorship program for new inductees, I’ve spent some time reflecting.
A little background
In 2013 I graduate from UBC in Vancouver with a degree in civil engineering. I then I worked as a professional structural engineer for 5 years. I’d always wanted to be an architect and I found myself doing quite a lot of architectural related work so I decided to make the switch. I thought that if I didn’t I’d regret not trying. What scared me most was some of the crazy things I’d been told about architecture school; like how people lived in studio, how all-nighters were a weekly occurrence, and just how it was the hardest thing ever. It was honestly a little intimidating but a lot has changed over the past few years, especially as institutions become more aware of mental health issues, so the horror stories of the past are just that, the past. What I found, at least at Daniels, was not what I expected and I actually had a lot of fun.
With that in mind, here are five unexpected things that I wish I knew before starting architecture school.
1. Studio is the best Place to Work
Without a doubt the best place to work on studio projects is in the studio itself, one large open workspace. I noticed that the people who worked in studio usually had better projects because they were surrounded by their peers who they could tap for advice, inspiration and general know-how. If you work at home you’re in isolation so you could be stuck on a problem for hours. Your 3d model might be buggy or you might stuck and not know how to proceed. If you’re at home you might try Youtube or take a break that goes way longer than you expected but at studio you can just lean across the table and ask someone. More often than not, this will solve your problem immediately. Everyone in studio is struggling with similar problems but has a different skill set so there’s always someone around to ask for help or inspiration and it will save you so much time. You should never spend time problem solving when you can spend it creating.
2. School is Expensive
Everyone knows that tuition is expensive but no one tells you how much it costs to make physical models and to plot drawings. I was excited to be in a program where physical model making was not only encouraged but required but I soon realized that it came at a cost. In the first term I spent over $600 on model making material and machinery — and this was being cheap. I would regularly raid the recycling bins or make my drawings smaller so that I could plot less but some of my friends spent over $1,000 which is insane.
Why is it so expensive? There’s no mandatory school supply list but at the beginning of term you’ll need to get some tools like an exact-o knife, ruler, T-square, cutting mat and glue. If you’re savvy you can get them from the recycling bin from people who left them for the summer cleaners but otherwise you’ll have to buy it and it’ll probably cost around $100.
Next every 2–3 weeks there is a review critique where you’ll pin up drawings on the wall and present your project with a physical model. You’ll need to buy the material to make the model and then cut it up. Our laser cutters cost 20 $/hr and our plotters are 35 cents an inch. At first it doesn’t seem like much but when you have to laser cut and plot 10 drawings out every two weeks it adds up quickly.
3. You Choose When the Project is Done
One thing no one ever teaches you is how to manage your time. Architecture and studio life are notorious for sucking all the life out of students and for all-nighters but this doesn’t have to be.
First be prepared that there will never be enough time to fully resolve your project. You don’t need to resolve every detail but you do need a design you can communicate. There’s no point on refining details that won’t be shown so it’s important to focus on the bigger picture. Your drawings and models should be presentable to convey the purpose and intent. Everything else is frivolous.
4. Don’t Leave Your Physical Model to the End
Time and time again professors tell students not to leave the physical model till the end but students complain about not having enough time to finish their design so they inevitably end up pulling an all-nighter to make their model last minute. You don’t have to be one of those guys. With good time management you can avoid all-nighters and get a good night’s sleep before every crit.
After you design something you have to make 1) drawings and 2) a model. These are mutually exclusive tasks so there’s no reason one has to be done before the other. A good strategy is to make your model before your drawings. A lot of people like to do their drawings because that’s what they’re good at but a model is worth so much more than drawings. Do your model first and your drawings last. This is so that you’ll be doing the hardest part when you’re least stressed and less prone to errors as well as avoiding the rush for machines like the laser cutters (which is a waste of time if you have to wait in line). You’ll also have something you can present which explains your entire design instead of just pointing to drawings on the wall that don’t show everything in 3d.
5. Grades Don’t Matter
Before I entered the masters program I expected the grades to be similar to undergrad such that it would be tough tests that were bell curved for a specific average. I thought they would be trying to fail a certain percentage of the class but this wasn’t the case in the masters program.
Some classes were easy with open book quizzes exactly what the professor lectured. Other classes were more difficult. In visual communication we had to produce art that was critiqued and I was so caught up with trying to do what would be liked that I didn’t really experiment. In the end everyone got an A-, A or A+. On the flip side history didn’t give any grades back until well into the next term and I got a B-, one away from failing grade. The professor had lost about 10 student’s email-submitted midterms and just not told us. So I’d basically failed the midterm but passed the class.
If you worry about your grades you’ll never be able to experiment. At the end of day grades don’t really matter nor do they reflect how you did so put all of your effort into making good design. Don’t worry about your grades and just focus on becoming the architect you want to become.
