First Year of Architecture School
Clair Fromme
Dalhousie University
First Year - The Honest Truth
Thinking of going to Architecture school? infamous for its grueling studio hours and endless projects. My first year has been no different. Most of my days and nights are spent in the studio. I cannot count how many times I have stayed long enough to hear “those damn birds'', reminding me that it’s 4 am. There is something so peaceful about the studio at night. It feels like the night is endless, as if I have all the time in the world to finish my project. A place with limited distractions and more “time” to explore. I know it seems strange to most people and I will be the first to admit that staying up most of the night/morning is not healthy. My eyes slowly beg for closure and sometimes I just stare into the darkness. However, I get a strange sense of peace and satisfaction from spending my nights this way. It is certainly not for everyone and in fact, I highly recommend NOT staying up late. The best thing to do is to develop proper sleeping habits and maintain a life outside of school, good luck with that...I look like a disorganized scatter brain with all the time I spend at school. The reality of it though, is that it is a lot of trial and error. Experimentation to find what you are searching for from your project. It is definitely not the fancy final pinup that makes up the majority of what you do in school. It is about spending time with your idea from start to finish, watching to evolve.
You have to be open to building it up and sometimes ripping it down and starting over. That same thick skin and determination that comes from allowing distance between you and your project, will also help in critiques. If you do not know what a critique is, it is basically a project review given by teachers, students, and professionals. Sometimes the comments can feel pretty savage, even if they are well intentions. So having a thick skin and maintaining a healthy distance between you and your work is the best way to approach architecture school. Otherwise, the constant criticism and things to improve, feel overwhelming. Another thing to keep in mind is you will be engaged in a lot of group projects. Never underestimate the helpfulness of group projects. The sharing of knowledge and skills are many times over, more helpful then most classes or professors. Not only that, but they are also incredibly socially rewarding and fun!
For me, there will always be this aspect of loneliness as I produce my work thousands of kilometres away from my home. Most of the time I am oblivious to my surroundings or personal relationships while away at school. Yet, every-time I go home I find myself missing it more and more. Missing the people whose presence I once took for granted. No matter how scary it may feel to leave your family and friends, and uproot yourself for school, its important to follow that risk. Regardless of if it works out or not, it provides increased intellectual exposure and richer life experiences. Moving across the country to a province I've never been to before or frankly cared about, was a difficult decision for me to make. I left behind a very important relationship, my friends, and all of my family to try architecture school. I came from zero experience in the field and very limited experience as to what an architect even was. I used to think they were the same as civil engineers, which to me know is pretty funny. I still have so much to learn and as I mentioned previously, going back and forth between home and school is painful for me. However, when I look back at where I was a year ago, it is amazing how much I have learned in such a short amount of time. All of the software skills and things I have created. Things I previously would look in aw at, having no idea how they were created. Now I can create them, or at least I know how they were created and I am getting better all the time.
If you are wondering if you should move across the country for school, or try a totally new degree, why not just give it a go?