Hey! Just wanted to ask how was your first architecture class? Like was it scary? How is it turning out for you? What type of architecture classes have you taken? Sorry for so many questions, but I'm going to start college this fall and I'm going to be taking an architecture class and I'm pretty much freaking out about it. Sorry for the bother! Thanks!
Hi! Don’t be sorry I absolutely love getting any and all questions, and especially this kind of more in depth one! But before I say anything, I want to explain that I did a year doing an art foundation and I chose to focus on architecture. So, it’s not really like a class, like what US universities have. It’s literally all you do for one whole academic year, and you get a diploma at the end of it. You can even do it instead of A levels.
When I first started, yeah I was terrified. I thought that. as two art foundation courses had rejected me, I wasn’t going to be good enough. The things was, I made a friend on the very first day who had been rejected from the exact same two schools. As the year went on, there were some parts that did feel daunting, but not in a way that I am unused to. With any course, I think, you’re going to be worried by the amount of pressure there might be to branch out into an industry-based placement and I think that if heightened in design courses, because that’s where your future can really take off. I would just say, that you should have confidence in your own skills and your designs, but always be open to other opinions and constructive criticisms and try to take them on board.
As for how it’s turning out, I’m not exactly sure what you mean. But, I think its been a good thing for me to have done overall. I enjoyed it, but I decided that it wasn’t what I wanted to spend the rest of my university life doing. I missed essays, and there being right and wrong answers. That being said, I definitely think that I want to keep going along this path in the far off future. I am really passionate about design, I just don’t think I can keep up with it. You have to be creative with all that you do, and its really tiring. The only thing is it’s also really rewarding. There’s something about having a solid, tangible result of your work and effort, and to create something that other people can enjoy is really exciting. Next year, I’m going to be doing Geography at Bristol University, but I think that doing architecture for this year has given me more understanding of how an environment affects a population. There is such a strong link between geography and architecture and I would love to keep that going for myself.
And to answer your third question, technically just this one long one. The way an art foundation in the UK works is you have an “exploratory phase” a “pathway stage” and a “confirmatory stage”. Basically, there are lots of different “pathways” you can take, and at my uni those were 3D Design, Fashion, Graphics, and Lens-based Media. So in each of the pathways, you literally create whatever you want to week to week following different kinds of briefs, and practising different skills. For the 3D Design pathway we did solid works, google sketchup, autoCAD, as well as learning more about the role of photoshop in architecture. On the physical side, we created sketchbooks, a lot of models, and kept up a weekly blog to evaluate our progress. Then, in the final two to three months, you use the skills you developed over the year to create a final piece, which can be whatever you want it to be. So, really, I took one massive class, that was almost entirely self directed lol. I’m not really sure how the US class things works. I’d love to hear back from you to learn more. In the UK, you basically choose at age 17 what you want to do, solely, with no other subjects to learn, for the next three to five (or more) years. It’s rubbish imho.
Please don’t freak out. Be experimental. Know that some things you create will work really well, and people will think you’re a creative genius, and others will flop and you’ll feel like you’re the worst in the class. BUT YOU AREN’T. Have confidence in yourself, but keep an open mind. Be creative, and have a crazy-messy sketchbook that you can throw your ideas onto like you’re jackson pollock. In the early days, architecture is all about what you can think of and how you can push boundaries. It’s only later on you’ll have to think about the technicalities like “will it collapse and kill possibly thousands of people?”. I think I really discovered parts of myself this year, but lost others. The fact that it was so self directed, I feel a bit isolated and introverted. I’m hoping to get my ENFP-ness back.
I hope this helped a bit. Please don’t be nervous. Have fun, play with shapes and materials, push the boat out! You’ll be fine, but don’t feel like you have to keep going with it if you’re not liking it. xxxxxxxxxxx emily
