B Macedo Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 I realize that, as in most professions, you will learn a great deal from working experience. With that in mind what are the skills you need to have when leaving school and would help to have? Aside from learning acad and all the fundamentals what other classes/programs might be of benefit to tack on? What are the requirements to becomming a licensed architect? On a side note does anyone have any links to other sites and/or forums focusing on the field of Architecture? [ March 01, 2003, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: B Macedo ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Macedo Posted March 1, 2003 Author Share Posted March 1, 2003 I realize that, as in most professions, you will learn a great deal from working experience. With that in mind what are the skills you need to have when leaving school and would help to have? Aside from learning acad and all the fundamentals what other classes/programs might be of benefit to tack on? What are the requirements to becomming a licensed architect? On a side note does anyone have any links to other sites and/or forums focusing on the field of Architecture? [ March 01, 2003, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: B Macedo ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 I'm not sure how to answer this but here goes... To become a licensed/registered architect in my country (Australia) you'll need to go to university and get a Bachelor of Architecture, then get a job as an intern/graduate architect, keep a log book for a few years recording what projects you worked on and your professional duties on each of those projects, then takes a few more exams, then an oral exam/interview with RAIA (Royal Australian Institute of Architects), which costs money. If you pass all that you'll become a Registered Architect. This is probably quite similar to the Canadian requirements. Here there's a sort of Grandfather clause that says if you've been working the role of an architect (project management, etc) for X number of years then you may be given the chance to go through the procedure of becoming licenced without having a Bachelor of Architecture. This is helpful for people who may have only studied as Architectural Drafter/Technician but have been running a firm and/or managing projects for some time. If you've solely been drafting for 20 years with very little project management responsibilites then it would be highly unlikely that the RAIA would let you pursue registration. Knowing ACAD or any computer program really won't help you with becoming licensed/registered. Knowing ACAD and other programs will however put you in a favourable position when looking for your first job out of school. But even then, most architecture graduates will have to learn that software on the job. e.g. You may have used Form.Z during your studies but then the firm you apply to work for uses ACAD. As an architect you're not really employed for your software knowledge in the overall scheme of things, but it helps if the firm can see that they won't have to send you on a heap of expensive crash courses and other training for you to get up to speed with their proceedures. The other advantage to knowing various software is when you do private work. You know how to do it yourself rather than delegating it to others which may be the case in the office. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 I'm not sure how to answer this but here goes... To become a licensed/registered architect in my country (Australia) you'll need to go to university and get a Bachelor of Architecture, then get a job as an intern/graduate architect, keep a log book for a few years recording what projects you worked on and your professional duties on each of those projects, then takes a few more exams, then an oral exam/interview with RAIA (Royal Australian Institute of Architects), which costs money. If you pass all that you'll become a Registered Architect. This is probably quite similar to the Canadian requirements. Here there's a sort of Grandfather clause that says if you've been working the role of an architect (project management, etc) for X number of years then you may be given the chance to go through the procedure of becoming licenced without having a Bachelor of Architecture. This is helpful for people who may have only studied as Architectural Drafter/Technician but have been running a firm and/or managing projects for some time. If you've solely been drafting for 20 years with very little project management responsibilites then it would be highly unlikely that the RAIA would let you pursue registration. Knowing ACAD or any computer program really won't help you with becoming licensed/registered. Knowing ACAD and other programs will however put you in a favourable position when looking for your first job out of school. But even then, most architecture graduates will have to learn that software on the job. e.g. You may have used Form.Z during your studies but then the firm you apply to work for uses ACAD. As an architect you're not really employed for your software knowledge in the overall scheme of things, but it helps if the firm can see that they won't have to send you on a heap of expensive crash courses and other training for you to get up to speed with their proceedures. The other advantage to knowing various software is when you do private work. You know how to do it yourself rather than delegating it to others which may be the case in the office. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Steadman Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Hello Macedo, The kid is right. The Australian and Canadian systems are very similar. The RAIC Royal Architectural Institute of Architects is the governing body. They also offer a syllabus program method of becoming an architect. I see that according to your profile your a student. So the first place that you may want to look is the Guidance/Career counsellor at your school. After that you could contact the Ontario Association of Architects www.oaa.on.ca for more information or the AATO Association of Arhcitectural Tecnologists of Ontario www.aato.on.ca There are several universities in Ontario that offer bachelor of Architecture degrees, such as University of Toronto, U of Wateloo, Ryerson University, Carleton University, etc. Also have a look at the Colleges for Architectural Technologists. Sheridan College, George Brown... If you want some good reading check out a small book called "Architect? A candid guide to the Profession" written by Roger K. Lewis (MIT Press). It talks about the american system but a lot of the topics still apply. It is very good reading if your serious about becoming an architect. You may have to order this book from the book store or if you're in Toronto go to Ballenford books. They specialize in Architectural books. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Steadman Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Hello Macedo, The kid is right. The Australian and Canadian systems are very similar. The RAIC Royal Architectural Institute of Architects is the governing body. They also offer a syllabus program method of becoming an architect. I see that according to your profile your a student. So the first place that you may want to look is the Guidance/Career counsellor at your school. After that you could contact the Ontario Association of Architects www.oaa.on.ca for more information or the AATO Association of Arhcitectural Tecnologists of Ontario www.aato.on.ca There are several universities in Ontario that offer bachelor of Architecture degrees, such as University of Toronto, U of Wateloo, Ryerson University, Carleton University, etc. Also have a look at the Colleges for Architectural Technologists. Sheridan College, George Brown... If you want some good reading check out a small book called "Architect? A candid guide to the Profession" written by Roger K. Lewis (MIT Press). It talks about the american system but a lot of the topics still apply. It is very good reading if your serious about becoming an architect. You may have to order this book from the book store or if you're in Toronto go to Ballenford books. They specialize in Architectural books. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethace Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Have you looked at this web site? Finding and documenting new approaches to design in architecture is the declared objective of a-matter - architecture and related. Here, a platform is being erected for international projects completed at higher institutes of education. It has a section about education and architecture, where it looks at different courses around the world and does a feature on their methods etc. http://www.a-matter.com/eng/about/di-00-01-dip.asp I came across this web site before xmas some time, and i would say it is one of the 'better' architecture school web sites out there: http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethace Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Have you looked at this web site? Finding and documenting new approaches to design in architecture is the declared objective of a-matter - architecture and related. Here, a platform is being erected for international projects completed at higher institutes of education. It has a section about education and architecture, where it looks at different courses around the world and does a feature on their methods etc. http://www.a-matter.com/eng/about/di-00-01-dip.asp I came across this web site before xmas some time, and i would say it is one of the 'better' architecture school web sites out there: http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Actually from what I have hears even recent grads with BA of Arch know little cad. Schools don't like being seen as favoring one software over another. I am not quite sure what your goals are but if you want a job; work construction, learn drafting and how to use a cad program, learn another cad program. Learn how to use computers real good. If you can exel at one of these things almost any company will be able to lean on you. If you want to be an architect and do bad assed designs that get you international approval then go to the best school you can buy. Don't settle for any second or third tier firm remeber 90% of what architects do is metal/concrete boxes to hold people/stuff. You have to distiguish yourself to get the interesting work. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Actually from what I have hears even recent grads with BA of Arch know little cad. Schools don't like being seen as favoring one software over another. I am not quite sure what your goals are but if you want a job; work construction, learn drafting and how to use a cad program, learn another cad program. Learn how to use computers real good. If you can exel at one of these things almost any company will be able to lean on you. If you want to be an architect and do bad assed designs that get you international approval then go to the best school you can buy. Don't settle for any second or third tier firm remeber 90% of what architects do is metal/concrete boxes to hold people/stuff. You have to distiguish yourself to get the interesting work. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethace Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 I always would have liked to attend a school of architecture with a strong design bent. Unfortunately, in a country as small as my own, the only schools available to me are just as you have described - qualifying people to design steel or concrete boxes to hold stuff/people in. Which really isn't what i would like to do. I would love to have had the finances to go and do a good architecture course, but have accepted now that will never happen to me in my lifetime. So I decided not to be sad about it any longer, and knock the most i can out of my life in future. One can really 'beat oneself up' a bit too much over a profession that sometimes doesn't really care all that much. [ April 05, 2003, 08:03 AM: Message edited by: garethace ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethace Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 I always would have liked to attend a school of architecture with a strong design bent. Unfortunately, in a country as small as my own, the only schools available to me are just as you have described - qualifying people to design steel or concrete boxes to hold stuff/people in. Which really isn't what i would like to do. I would love to have had the finances to go and do a good architecture course, but have accepted now that will never happen to me in my lifetime. So I decided not to be sad about it any longer, and knock the most i can out of my life in future. One can really 'beat oneself up' a bit too much over a profession that sometimes doesn't really care all that much. [ April 05, 2003, 08:03 AM: Message edited by: garethace ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Macedo Posted April 5, 2003 Author Share Posted April 5, 2003 Thank you all for your feedback. I'm not in school at the moment so my options are still open to all avenues of education. I'll check out the links you guys have set me up with and hopefully go from there as well as the book you mentioned Steadman. Would I be wrong in assuming the creative process will be one of the strongest influences after graduating and looking for a job? With the school an important aspect as well. Thanks again guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Macedo Posted April 5, 2003 Author Share Posted April 5, 2003 Thank you all for your feedback. I'm not in school at the moment so my options are still open to all avenues of education. I'll check out the links you guys have set me up with and hopefully go from there as well as the book you mentioned Steadman. Would I be wrong in assuming the creative process will be one of the strongest influences after graduating and looking for a job? With the school an important aspect as well. Thanks again guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Would I be wrong in assuming the creative process will be one of the strongest influences after graduating and looking for a job?Yep, you would be wrong As a recent graduate your role within the firm will not to be creative. People above you will be doing that (if anybody at all ). Your role as a recent graduate will be to develop the creative idea into a set of instructions for the builder to make that idea a reality. As Sawyer said, things that will make you employable include knowing construction, knowing how to draft with CAD, also knowing specification writing, and maybe some contract knowledge (but this is the bulk of what you should be learning in your first few years in the profession). The better you know these things the quicker you'll move up in the profession. If you have no grasp of construction or drafting you'll probably be drawing tiling plans and door schedules while more competent people will be given greater responsibilities. The goal of being an employable graduate is quite different to the goal of becoming licenced. One step at a time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Would I be wrong in assuming the creative process will be one of the strongest influences after graduating and looking for a job?Yep, you would be wrong As a recent graduate your role within the firm will not to be creative. People above you will be doing that (if anybody at all ). Your role as a recent graduate will be to develop the creative idea into a set of instructions for the builder to make that idea a reality. As Sawyer said, things that will make you employable include knowing construction, knowing how to draft with CAD, also knowing specification writing, and maybe some contract knowledge (but this is the bulk of what you should be learning in your first few years in the profession). The better you know these things the quicker you'll move up in the profession. If you have no grasp of construction or drafting you'll probably be drawing tiling plans and door schedules while more competent people will be given greater responsibilities. The goal of being an employable graduate is quite different to the goal of becoming licenced. One step at a time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethace Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Good post kid, I know what its like to be stuck doing door schedules while other young graduates are managing site projects etc. But thats how life can go sometimes. :angeuhoh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethace Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Good post kid, I know what its like to be stuck doing door schedules while other young graduates are managing site projects etc. But thats how life can go sometimes. :angeuhoh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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