Arkitortured

Public policy and BArch | Current Architectural Designer | studying for ARE5.0

[arkitortured]

10.10.24

I miss architecture on an academic level

[arkitortured]

Hello I really like your blog! I'm going to be a junior next year in high school and I'm really interested in architecture do you have any tips like what can I do to practice/study to see if it's the right choice for me? Also what do I look for in colleges? Thank you so much!❤

Omg I hope you’re currently thriving in your studios 🥲 sorry I got to this so late, I don’t get notifications for asks

[arkitortured]

07.24.24. | lesson 4

Urban pathologies is a lot more interesting than form and function

[arkitortured]

07.15.24

My little study buddy for the ARE 5.0

[arkitortured]

06.23.24

Lesson 3 is hella slow. I feel like I’m back in studio 1 of archi school

[arkitortured]

06.13.24

Life has been hectic, had to switch firms but finally have time to study again.

Programming & Analysis

[arkitortured]

01.11.24

LEED Ap study session.

With everything that’s happening right now makes me think about how architecture and city planning is being weaponized by Israel and it makes me sick. The fact that the tools that were taught to us to improve quality of life for people are being used to starved and imprison multigenerational groups of people is disgusting

[arkitortured]

11.26.23

Chinese also pretty atrocious but can’t be worse than my Japanese or Korean lmao

How are you guys studying new languages please teach me this is so hard

Have not even touched my ARE 5.0 book yet weeeeee

[sayruq]

“A Wall of Fire Smashed Into Me”: Dispatches From a Month in Gaza

Excerpts from the diary of Atef Abu Saif, who has been in Gaza since October 7.

[arkitortured]

11.25.23

My Vietnamese is Lowkey atrocious

[arkitortured]

11.21.23

I’m back. Graduated but need to study for my NCARB exams and LEED accreditation.

I spent the last 2 months trying to figure out what kind of designer I want to be. Found out that the site for one of my analysis projects at work in Gaza was decimated. It was a residential block. I think the oldest building was from the 30’s potentially 40’s. Most were 1960+ but I remember taking notes of where third spaces are present. Where people built community within the block and spent their time with their neighbors. It’s just gone? It feels weird to mourn something that was never mine.

It’s stupid of me to be sad a bunch of buildings are gone when millions of people are dying from this genocide. It makes me so angry and disgusted to watch my industry peers detach themselves and joke about “new contracts once this is all over” A whole culture and heritage point is being wiped clean along with the people who were meant to pass on their stories, and all the architecture industry has to say is “we can start fresh and build new”

I don’t even know where to begin for the people willingly staying on the encampment planning projects.

[arkitortured]

01.06.23

It’s been 4 weeks since I finished my last studio. I’m 3 months into being a full fledge project associate and it feels so weird having free time again after work hours. I clocked out and was freaking out about maybe not having enough time before 11 pm to get hw done but remembered I have no more hw forever.

Weird.

Will start this blog up again when I start studying for my ARE 5.0 exams

[arkitortured]

09.09.22. | senior design build project

A couple updates since I’ve been so MIA. I’m graduating in Dec and start my job as an associate designer in October. Interning was fun but I’m glad I’m no longer getting paid intern wages

[arkitortured]

05.20.21. | 5:55 PM

Pesky final renders

[arkitortured]

04.09.2021  | 12:23 Pm 

Progression of my vignette designs for the Fillmore Library in SF. Final building will probably come out looking completely different but this space makes me happy.

[olivi-arch]

these pages took a while, part 2 of nottingham sketchbook

[gentlework]

"study tips" make me so mad because it's always about plan out your week! Don't procrastinate! Always have your goals in mind! and it's like "well really great katherine, but I have anxiety". Most of the time, those tips are unrealistic and don't tell you how we all struggle in school. Fake positivity makes more damage than it shows.

Whatever your circumstances are, my only study tip is that you should be gentle to yourself. Take your time. You'll always have another chance. Breathe.

[arkitortured]

Study tips for architecture school goes as following:

1. Learn when to cut your losses. You’re going to run out of time, you’re not going to finish the model if you spend 50 hours on the drawings.

2. Prioritize. Plan but be smart about it. Skip the “8 am - wake up, 9 am - draft” Nah, we run on big deadlines and the smaller deadlines before the big deadlines. Figure out what you NEED to do versus what you WANT to do. What’s more important a flawless model or a diagram that will explain your concept?

This is the same as setting boundaries for your personal life, learn to say no to plans. Don’t get FOMO and put yourself in situations that aren’t beneficial to you, it’s never worth it. Don’t want to do something? No. Need an excuse? Sorry, I’ve got studio.

3. Break your week up into chunks, list out EVERYTHING you need to do(draft, outline, render, model, diagram, revise) Everything. Monday to Tuesday : Draft + outline (and on and on)

4. Learn how to troubleshoot. You’re going to send in submissions for revisions at 2 am and think you’re done. Now you can move on to the next item on that long to do list. Wrong, you’re going to wake up to an email from your professor with a million revisions. This will throw off your planned timeline, figure what can be skipped and what can’t. Go cry, make some tea and keep working.

5. Learn how to talk to yourself. Literally out loud, talk to yourself like you’re working in a group. “What do we need to get done today?” “How long do you think that’ll take?” It boosts productivity when you’re not just wallowing in deadline anxieties.

6. Take breaks. Walk around your block, go cry in the shower, make some tea and snack on something, call a friend for 5 mins, do a face mask, and for God’s sake take a shower. Taking routine breaks have been proven to reduce anxiety and boost productivity and quality of work.

I would love to be those Studyblrs with calm and minimal desk, planning out their week every Sunday night but the reality is I can’t. We have supplies everywhere, half my bed is books and tracing paper. School will always be hectic and if I can’t keep up because I’m so busy beat myself up for not being perfect, I’m going to drown.