Architecture Apprentice

Year 7 of architecture. The opinions shared on this blog are solely my own. My inspirational blog: architecture-appreciation My twitter: ArchiApprentice

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Goodbye

After seven and a half years of hard work I am finally an architect! I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my experiences of student and professional life over the years on architecture-apprentice and the many opportunities this has brought. From scholarships to working at the venice architecture biennale and the ability to connect with other architecture students and professionals around the world - all experiences that may have otherwise passed me by.

However, times change. Working in a large firm you find many projects are confidential and more of what you work on is in the long-term - those thick-pen concept sketches become rarer! And with that the content on the blog becomes thinner. For that reason I feel now is as better time as any to bow out.

Thank you to all who have supported the blog over the years and I wish you all the best on your future career paths and your explorations of architecture as both a career and a passion. Peace out. 

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Guest tutoring undergraduate students at MMU today. Feeling excited! 😄 #architecture #fcbstudio #architecturestudent (at Manchester Metropolitan University)

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Lunch at Portico Library 🍽 #architecture #stainedglass (at The Portico Library)

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The research for the book chapter I am writing continues!! FYI it's bloody difficult doing a full day at work then tackling this sort of thing! Enjoy your full days in the library as a student kids.

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Last weeks site visit to check out theatre and auditorium equipment. Sounds great but a day spend with 8 mechanical engineers talking about CAT32s and RLPs isn't all it is cracked up to be!

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Architecture shop? Spotted on the way home. #amen

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Back at he Whitworth again! My Mum has been visiting this weekend and I took her to the Cafe for breakfast. She told me "you've never taken me to a bad building for food". The joys of having a daughter in architecture!

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Late night visit to the Whitworth Gallery. A discussion in the practice today revolved around the conspiracy theory that the only reason the Whitworth in Manchester didn't win the Stirling prize last year was that the Everyman theatre in Liverpool won the year before. Theory goes that the London centric RIBA couldn't possibly have two winners in the same region two years in a row. Thoughts?

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Spot of urban sketching down by the canal. Making the most of the autumn evenings.

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Friyay

It has been a long week of late finishes. Time for a well earnt pint.

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When your friend gives you their university login and its a great university library thats scanned in ALLLL the books!!!

I have started writing a paper to submit as part of a larger catalogue and it is astonishing how hard it is to get hold of precise architecture books in your local library. Let alone a copy of the architects journal from the 1970s!! Appreciate the vast array of books in your university libraries whilst you can kids!! You’ll miss them when you’re gone (or they charge you £400/year to access them...)

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Woodland burial building by Fielden Clegg Bradley. Possible one of the oddest architecture tours I have been on but the staff were very accommodating letting us look round. Overall an impressive build for the budget with really effective timber louvres on the south elevation. The shadows they cast in the service room behind create a peaceful atmosphere with views out over the natural landscape.

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Weekend trip to... A woodland graveyard and to see this thing! #fieldencleggbradley #fcbstudio #architecture #timber #cladding

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Best

One of the best things about my new flat is there is an architecture practice in the block opposite me that never seems to finish till at least 9pm. I say this having finished work, sitting on my balcony, glass of wine in hand watching them at 6pm.

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This city is full of contrast. I recently moved flat to an area of the city where a lot of the old Victorian industrial building have been retained which is making the contrast between the old and new more stark than usual. (Side note, the architect who designed that tower lives in the top penthouse. Stereotype architect or what?!)

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Bedtime reading. Gordon Cullen's "Townscape". I'm not sure how this escaped me throughout my university education. One of the most simple, informative and straight talking books on town planning you can find. It sets out the basic principle of what makes a place with quirky illustrations to boot!

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Absence

A note of absence. I am in year 7/7 of my architectural training in the UK. I originally started this blog to record my experiences throughout my university and industry training and it feels like in many ways my "apprenticeship" is coming to an end. For the past year I have been working in industry and unlike my part I in a small practice, happy for me to share the work I produced, I now work for a large commercial firm where that is no longer applicable given the nature of the work I produce (my explanation of absence). However, what I have come to realise is that my "apprenticeship" goes much further than that. In the past year I have attended events and lectures as well as giving some myself! These are things I should be sharing and that are contributing to my architectural knowledge. Furthermore as I near the end of my studies I now realise that year 7/7 is not the end of the learning process and to use an old adage - the more I learn the more I realise I don't know. It's seems this is an apprenticeship that will last a lifetime!