Architecture Stress Thread

I personally would not recommend following an architecture degree. Agreed, if you get through it and out the other side, it's a useful and interesting degree to have, as the above post suggests. However, I find it crippling and despite passing my first year (second attempt!) I have decided not to continue. Life is too short, if I carry on studying architecture I will meet an early and lonely cold and empty grave. It made me ill. I was fine before I studied it. Now, ill.

If a career in construction of some sort is of interest, I would recommend following something vocational. I lived with a friend last year who had previously studied an HND in Civil Engineering, after doing that, he was being paid £60 an hour by Carmichael, he's now studying for his degree in the same subject. I expect he will earn a lot more than most architects. Over the past summer he has been working for £30 per hour on the M25 road works. Work is always available in that field. Not so much in architecture. In the future, he will probably be involved in transport infrastructures of all kinds, water, gas, pipelines, bridges, all sorts.

There are no 'right' answers in architecture. That get's very frustrating. You need a skin of steel to take the knocks. You need a heart of stone to survive it.

There are 'right' answers in civil engineering.

Please, God, don't study architecture. Unless, you're willing to do the first year AS A TEST and freely risk, hmmmmm, £3200 fees + accommodation £5720ish, +food cost + hundreds of pounds on materials and equipment + £350ish trips abroad and nationally. There are more costs, too many to list.

There's a fantastic member to talk to on this forum about architecture degrees. His username is 'jrhartley'. He's a very well qualified advisor on these matters. Having studied and worked in architecture for (guess) 10 or 15 years, now at post grad level, he would be well placed to advise people.

I would agree with this, although there are some positives to studying architecture that we shouldn't discount. It allows you to develop a broad understanding of why things are designed the way they are and will enable you to look at the world differently. You will also develop skills in drawing, model making, visualisation and being able to balance creativity with practicality. There are also great opportunities to travel and (some of) the tutors who you will be traveling and working with really know their stuff and having them show you around places is very educational and will open your mind to the world. But choose your tutor and school carefully.

Yes, the criticism and constant pressure on students is depressing. It doesn't help students enjoy their time at university and does mean missing out on a valuable part of university life. Most architecture students neglect their basic living requirements - eating, sleeping, washing and become unhealthy. Most students are unable to relax due to the worry that they should be working on their project (waking up in the middle of the night with worry, not sleeping at all and generally working yourself into the ground). Your life pretty much becomes consumed by work - which is not a good place to be as an 18/19 year old. To an outsider that may sound crazy (and in hindsight it is) but when you are constantly being criticised and put down it does get to you. There is also a peer pressure element, with tutors comparing and ruthlessly mocking students work in front of large audiences. Many tutors believe this to be not only be funny but appear to find it enjoyable and will go out of their way to knock 'particular' students. The subjective nature of architectural education means tutors can say pretty much whatever they like and get away with it - your work is not based on formal examinations, but a big social game played out in the studio.

By all means flirt with architectural education, but approach with caution!

Yes, civil engineering is a good occupation, but it is seriously hard. The level of maths required and complexity of the course means that you need to be very strong in maths in order to do it. A lot of engineers I have met also complain about the lack of work/ life balance (not as bad as architecture though), the pressure to meet tight deadlines and the lack of appreciation for your work (there is little opportunity for recognition) and the projects are often not seen as glamorous. Engineering is also rarely seen as enjoyable.

LondonRushHour- What are you doing now that you have left architecture?

I agree with what you've said, it has changed the way I look at things, forms, shapes, colours, designs, layouts....pretty much everything. I've taught myself a lot (the tutors weren't much help at all, in fact, they were hinderances). I would feel confident in designing my own bits and bobs now, a bookcase, a small home, a shed, a cabinet etc. I wasn't able to do that before. There's no way on earth I would have ever learned so much without doing those two years. It was the pressure to produce huge quantities of work which developed my organisational and time saving skills, efficiency basically, and also forced me to learn time saving methods (computer programs generally). It's just that at that pace, I started to die. Within the past two years I've been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, sciatica (bad bad bad back pain) and a hormonal imbalance...all due to stress. I'm sure I've used up a few of my nine lives. The skills I've learnt will be with me forever, and will be useful and bring me joy at times. Was it worth it though? Two years of the worst form of torture I have ever endured, or ever will. I knew who I was before I started architecture, I feel as though I am just 'existing' right now. Have to add, I just lost my father so it's not just architecture I'm feeling bad about and recovering from. Unfortunately, I was "one of those" who my homosexual with 3 kids and a white little dog weirdo tutor decided to pick on. What could I do!? He was the one who was gonna mark my work. Bastard. Funnily enough, he's left the uni now, my year was his last, he didn't get along with anyone. Infuriatingly, he wasn't even a RIBA qualified architect...he was a landscape architect....he didn't know how to work with scale or do basic mathematics.. jesus, makes me cross.

SO, what do I plan on doing now? Getting healthy again, working in somewhere interesting but not too stressful, playing to my strengths as opposed to trying to improve things I'm not good at or can't cope with. There are loads of things I could do. To be perfectly honest, although some people might turn their noses up at Kitchen design, I have seen some beautiful and well thought out kitchens that would have made the designer / company huge amounts of money and have taken lots of consideration to do. No planning permission. No council involvement. Quick project turnaround. No engineering to think about. I don't think designing plush kitchens would be the worst thing in the world.

Product design is interesting but hard to get into.

Graphics / reprographics / advertising is alright, not brilliantly paid. Bathroom or Kitchen tradesmen get paid a lot more for that.

At the end of the day, we want to be paid so we can have families, go on holiday, eat nice food and retire and die reasonably satisfied. I'm thinking that normal jobs like working as a kitchen designer / salesman / surveyor wouldn't be such a bad life choice.

I'm interested in a lot of things, one mainly office based role I am quite interested in getting into is Fraud Investigation. I've always been able to spot something not quite right. Police work might be interesting but sadly I don't think I would fit in with their culture.

What is your background, and future prospective activities??

Would you say that Architecture can open many doors for you ?

Yes it's does.

Doors such as......the psychiatric hospital , the door to the job centre, the door to the doctors surgery and the door to the local supermarket where presumably you'll start your career.

It gets ridiculous if you need to learn several types of AutoCAD as well as another kind of Studiomax! But having said that I have some weird passion for the degree and have forced myself through doors and learnt programs.. it's a weird gift I think.

jees..

I'm really starting to consider whether or not what I'm going to be doing is worth it - just from what I've read on here, I am now in no doubt what you guys are saying is reality - I've been trying to tell myself now for a while that they're just moaning - or making it sound worse than it actually is.

SCARYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

I'm in the process of applying to practices for my year out and I've bullsh1ted on my cv about how I know how to use all the major programs. *Most* I actually do know how to use, but if some practice uses, say, Microstation, which I've used once for about 5 minutes,

I'm in the process of applying to practices for my year out and I've bullsh1ted on my cv about how I know how to use all the major programs. *Most* I actually do know how to use, but if some practice uses, say, Microstation, which I've used once for about 5 minutes, I won't hesitate to apply to them and lie at interview saying I'm good at the program. And I sure as hell won't feel guilty for doing so. The plan is that if I get an interview with them I would use the remaining time from interview to start date to get really good at the program (an intensive few days). I'll make sure I ask which programs they use if I'm interviewed. This seems like a pretty good strategy imo.

Those people who quit architecture, what did you go on to do? do you feel it was a wasted course? do you think you learnt anything from it?

Hi, I did the first year twice. Failed first time. Passed second. Decided to quit due to obvious reasons. It wasn't a total waste, I did teach myself a lot, I wouldn't have my future kids do it though. It's hell.

I think there is enough evidence of the damage that this course can have on students for there to be an overhaul of the entire RIBA course structuring. It's about time. I don't know which body would have the power to instruct this though. The thing is, the course makes too many people actually ill, it's harmful, damaging, bad for peoples health. Imagine the amount of NHS money that is spent on architecture students!

I realise it's far fetched, but jesus christ, something HAS to be done.

Ive been having a flick through the pages of this post, some of it is pretty interesting!! You definitely cant go into it blind and not knowing how much effort is needed... Im starting Architecuture in september after doing a year of civil engineering part time whilst working in an engineering firm for the past 3 years and realising it isnt for me. In that time i've worked alongside architects and here is how i understand it (some people may agree or disagree, not really fussed but thought i would share my view!)......

Architecture is by no means a walk in the park- personally i think it partly comes under the 'artistic' umbrella that includes fashion/graphics/photogrophy etc. Ive got mates from art college who went on to do these, and ALL of them can be massively stress full and shattering in terms of crits, lecturers who tear your work apart, think they know best, amount of work etc. I dont think that will ever change and there wont ever be an overhaul because thats the way it works now and always has, and to a certain extent thats how it works outside of uni....

The other thing to think about is that yes, although it can make SOME (not all) people ill, Architecture isnt the only course that has the ability to do that, its not an anomaly- fashion/medical/science/maths/engineering..... the list can go on, and all of them have the ability to make people ill so it shouldn't put people off doing something if they really want to do it. I completely agree though that its not a degree that people should just think 'oh i like the sound of architecture, ill get into that' because it definitely needs commitment otherwise it will bite you in the ass!!

If you have made it through the uni degree, its still not a walk in the park once you have finished. Not every company is the same in terms of their hours/ethos etc. some places will do large work, some small, some work all hours, some work normal hours, some reward the staff, others dont, some let you design, others let you trace or draw up their designs........again like graphics/fashion etc. its pretty hard to get involved as the competition is SO high, unless you know someone that can help you out. so its a lot of hard work..............

at the end of the day it depends how much you want it and if you want to commit yourself to it. it can be massively rewarding, but it can also be massively upsetting.... personally i cant wait for that challenge, i loved it through art college and have missed it through engineering. if i make it to the other side then all is good!! if not ill be back on this forum slating it and rewording this post!!

My advice would be not to go straight from school and to go to art college first to get a feel of having your work go through a crit- like so many people here have said, there is nothing worse than being proud of time and effort spent on a design and having it ripped apart by a tutor who thinks (and sometimes does) know better. A-level is nothing like it......but by no means shy away from it....

rant- over. hope it helps.

I know most people do this but I'd be increasingly wary - I've heard of more than one applicant who BS-d about being able to use Microstation and before the interview they did a 30 min Microstation 'test'. Needless to say, it didn't go well....

So would you suggest going on an art foundation course first? What art college did you go to, if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks for your 'rant' in was very insightful

This is depressing. I think I'm going to go in to project management and do this whole architecture thing on the side in my spare time.