Becoming an architect as a professional is a difficult and thorny path. An unprepared applicant will not be able to just take and enter this specialty, since already at the first stage he is required to know the basics of drawing and painting. Let's take a closer look at the named profession and its prospects.
About architecture
Architecture is a specialty that requires full return from the student. It is not for nothing that university students of architects can be distinguished by circles under their eyes and tired sleepy gaze. Their curriculum is very rich and consists mainly of practical work: projects, drawings, creative assignments.
Typically, a student has to learn on the fly to work in programs such as ArchiCad, Photoshop, Artlantis. I don’t want to scare applicants, but entering this direction, you need to be prepared to complete a large amount of tasks in a short time, which means at night. One thing expects you for sure - you will not be bored.
Differences between an architect and an engineer
The specialty "architecture" and "construction" are two different things that are fundamentally different. Architects mainly develop creative solutions, draw up design documentation, visualize projects, mock up, evaluate structures. A good specialist should know the building structures and materials, be able to properly distribute the loads acting on the building.
Engineers, on the other hand, calculate and implement architects ' projects in the working documentation .
About landscape architecture
This science is a branch of urban development. A landscape architect works with open city spaces: squares, embankments, streets, boulevards, parks, squares, etc. That is, the improvement of the named area should lie with these specialists. But, as experience shows, the concept of "landscape architecture" is perceived in Russia as the same as "landscape design", although the latter is only a small part, an instrument of this specialty.
This profession is quite popular in the USA, Canada, in Europe. All developed countries have long passed the sustainable urban development program: environmental improvement is possible only by introducing nature into the urban environment.
Landscape architecture is a specialty that exists in some universities of our country (in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, etc.). It combines engineering, botany and architecture. A trend towards the development of this industry exists in Moscow - new landscape objects are being built here, historical garden and park ensembles are being reconstructed, greening is gaining momentum. But in a crisis, unfortunately, such specialists are forgotten, not required.
Landscaping students work no less than their fellow architects. The plus is that creative tests are usually not conducted on this focus. Basically, graduates working in the direction (architecture is a specialty) are arranged in private landscape bureaus, designing customer gardens.
About creative challenges
As mentioned earlier, applicants are required to pass creative tests in order to enter a university. The specialty "architecture" is at the intersection of creativity and engineering, which is why upon admission they check:
- creative orientation - the ability to draw from nature. Typically, applicants paint the gypsum heads of Apollo;
- knowledge of composition. It is also a drawing of geometric figures arranged in a composition;
- engineering focus - drawing. Typically, an applicant must manually draw a detail of a part or assembly (front view, top view, side view) and build it in a perspective view or perspective.
It is possible and possible to prepare yourself for such tests, but in practice, applicants who attended university preparatory courses receive higher grades.
Undergraduate and graduate courses
Modern education at the university has switched to a new system: most graduates are now graduated not by specialists, but by bachelors. The so-called level system has affected learning in the architectural direction.
Bachelor studies in an abbreviated program, 4 years. Unfortunately, they are often considered "underserved" with higher education. The master's program allows you to get an initial degree (usually in 2 years). All this was done to save time in order to release a greater number of "practitioners", but everyone knows: quality takes time, and the less it is spent, the lower the level of education of the student.
Architecture is a specialty adjacent to construction, art, design. It is quite prestigious, but requires great efforts and skills both from the creative side, and from the engineering side. Great competition should not scare a real architect, because only professionals rise to the top of the career ladder.