The short answer
I am good at math and I like to draw!*
To draw, draw, raw, aw….
Not only do I like to draw, I can draw well, a talent I inherited from my father. That skill came in handy when I had to draw a still life, to prove that I was worthy of attending the College of Architecture. I remember sitting at a drawing board in a studio, alongside a batch of other applicants, sketching the objects that were carefully arranged on the table in front of us. That was 21 years ago, so I don’t know if they do that anymore, but it sure set the crowd apart right at the outset. I should mention that this was before we had personal computers!!! (If you’re trying to do the math and it doesn’t make any sense, it might help if you knew that all this happened in India, in the middle of the dark ages!) So if you cannot draw and you made it into architecture school (dumb luck or reservation politics), you were screwed i.e. you would repeat first year architecture for a long time! But as it was, it was a class filled with kids who were well endowed with artistic talents.
Good at math, at math, math, ath, th.…
Before architecture, I spent a semester dawdling in mathematics. That’s right! I wasn’t kidding when I said I am** good at math. But being good wasn’t enough. I had no passion for it. While going from trigonometry to algebra to calculus to analytical math all day long was all fun and games, I had no idea what I was going to do with a B.S. in Math. Does anyone?! I was no math prodigy and I had no intention to be the next Ramanujan. (Dad - let’s not go there again!)
** I should correct that to was good at math. Those brain cells have long since atrophied.
Say what?!
I spent most of my schooling secretly hating the abstract concepts and intangible theories of the sciences. I could not wait to go to college to focus on real life learning! Things I could touch and feel and see. (No disrespect to my physicist friends.) Perhaps, I forgot that part when I signed up for being a math major, because by definition, math is an abstract science. Architecture, on the other hand…except for that one class I had in grad school that was so academic, we were reading Marx and Engels. Worst. Class. Ever.
I preferred applied math to pure math anyway. And now, I'm just looking at the problems from the other side of the lens. These 10 amazing examples of architecture inspired by mathematics showcase what I mean.
Why I enjoy doing architecture
I am one of those people who use their right and left brain almost equally.*** The practice of architecture fans the flames of my artistic/creative side and feeds my analytical/logical mind.
***Of course, this is not a requirement. Take this test to see where you stand. And read my post architects come in all shapes and sizes, to identify your architect avatar.
Actually, these are reasons why I became an architect and why it’s a good fit for me. They are not why I continue to be an Architect. And that brings me to…
The long answer
You see, at several points in my life I’ve taken the opportunity to question whether this is the right career path for me.
Right after I graduated. 85% of my friends who graduated with a B.Arch degree branched out into other fields – advertising, industrial design, graphic design, landscape architecture, construction management, business, engineering, etc. 5 years in architecture school and they had had enough. I did the opposite and decided to spend another 2 years in (grad) school!
Right after I decided to pursue licensure. I found out that my undergraduate degree was not recognized by NCARB (if you don’t know, you don’t need to know), and my graduate degree (from UT!) was not accredited, so I had to accrue 8 years of work experience before I could start the ARE (Architect Registration Exams, i.e. the licensing test). @#*$!!! I waited patiently (silently plotting) and then took 9 exams in 9 months (one during every month of my pregnancy) and got licensed.
Right after I had my first child. I realized that the firm I was working at was not very family friendly and I either needed a new job or a new career. I had just got my license! So I got a new job.
Right after every dreaded “salary talk”. Ugh.
Right about now! Hind-sight IS 20/20.
I have, on a couple of occasions, talked about changing careers - that usually lasts until I get over my funk. I am either too persistent or too stupid.
Or I found my real reason WHY.
THE BIG WHY?
If you’ve heard Simon Sinek’s TED Talk Start with WHY, you know that the core reason WHY you do something is a very elusive thing.
I like to think of architecture as ideation. Architects create ideas. Small ideas and big ideas. Ideas that can change our energy consumption, enhance our quality of life, stimulate our senses, connect us to our family, friends, and neighbors, beautify our surroundings, solve our mundane and most gruesome problems, and in so doing, change our lives and our future.
The end
Architecture is a tough profession. You don’t make much money, you have to work really hard (it takes a toll on your body too), and there are no fast results - much like anything worth pursuing in life. It’s the long game.
I like being an Architect. I love the practice of architecture. It's my craft.
Cheers,
Sharon.
* Read Bob Borson's post on Life of an Architect, Architecture and Math (it'll shed some light on that reference)
This post is my contribution to #ArchiTalks series organized by Architect Bob Borson, who writes Life of an Architect. To see other architect blogger’s musings on "Why I am an Architect", click on links provided below.
Bob Borson - Life of An Architect @bobborson Why I am an Architect (and not an Astronaut)
Marica McKeel - Studio MM @ArchitectMM Why I am an Architect
Lee Calisti, AIA - Think Architect @LeeCalisti Why I am an Architect
Lora Teagarden - L² Design, LLC @L2DesignLLC Why I am an Architect
Jes Stafford - Modus Operandi Design @modarchitect Purpose in the Profession
Michele Grace Hottel - Michele Grace Hottel, Architect @mghottel Why I am an Architect
Meghana Joshi - IRA Consultants, LLC @MeghanaIRA Why I am an Architect
Michael Riscica - Young Architect @YoungArchitxPDX Why did you become an Architect
Stephen Ramos - BUILDINGS ARE COOL @sramos_BAC I like to make and create
brady ernst - Soapbox Architect @bradyernstAIA The Agrarian Pantheon
Brian Paletz - The Emerging Architect @bpaletz I am what I am
Emily Grandstaff-Rice - @egraia Why I am an Architect